The year has seen quite a bit of volatility for Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) stock. Then again, this has been the case with many consumer-focused internet plays. Hey, even Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) hasn’t been immune to the swings.

Yet despite all this, the year-to-date return for YELP stock is still a respectable 7%. In fact, the shares are only 8% off their 52-week high.

OK then, so what now? Might the stock be poised for a bull move?

Well, the company certainly has some key advantages. The brand, which has been around since 2004, is powerful. The word “Yelp” is the top-of-mind service that millions of people think about when they search for a place to eat or stay for the night.

The good news is that YELP has also been able to make a successful transition to mobile, as the company is the No. 1 local guide based on smartphone reach. The penetration in the U.S. is about 36%, compared to 28% for Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) and 23% for Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP), according to ComScore data.

Here are some other metrics to consider about Yelp:

– There are 148 million cumulative reviews.

– More than 70% of page views come from app users.

– App user views lead to more 10 times as many pages as website users on average

YELP should also get a boost from its strategic relationship with GrubHub Inc (NYSE:GRUB). That is, the Grub service is now integrated into the Yelp platform, which will allow for “thousands of new diners and millions of orders.”

The Issues With YELP Stock

When looking at YELP stock, there are some nagging issues. Let’s face it, the competitive environment continues to get more intense. Mega internet operators realize that the local market is a big opportunity and are investing heavily in this category.

Just look at Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL). The company has many inherent advantages with the local market, such as its Maps platform and Android operating system. Then there is the massive online search business, which has the benefit of huge amounts of data.

Here’s how Yelp describes the situation, in its latest 10-K filing:

“Because Google in particular is the most significant source of traffic to our website, accounting for a substantial portion of the visits to our website during the three months ended December 31, 2017, our success depends on our ability to maintain a prominent presence in search results for queries regarding local businesses on Google. As a result, Google’s promotion of its own competing products, or similar actions by Google in the future that have the effect of reducing our prominence or ranking on its search results, could have a substantial negative effect on our business and results of operations.”

Then there is Facebook Local, which is getting better and better. It also helps that the company has over 2 billion users.

Unfortunately, the competitive forces are already taking a toll on YELP. The company’s full-year forecast calls for growth on the top line of only 11.5% to 14%, and the margins are projected to erode. To put things in perspective, Yelp was growing at 30% just a couple years ago.

Bottom Line on Yelp Stock

Now it’s true that YELP is taking steps to improve the growth rate. To this end, the company has assembled a set of assets like Yelp Reservations, Nowait and Wi-Fi, which focus on the restaurant category.

Yet these are still in the early stages, and the results are likely not to hit critical mass until a few years from now.

So in the meantime, there are few other catalysts for growth. And this is particularly troubling since the forward price-to-earnings multiple on YELP stock is at a hefty 85X. In other words, there’s probably no rush to get into the stock.

Tom Taulli is the author of High-Profit IPO Strategies, All About Commodities and All About Short Selling. Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.