As part of its winter release, Yelp is introducing new features like a more visually appealing feed, AI-powered business summaries, and the ability to disguise phone numbers when contacting businesses to enhance privacy.

Updates on feeds and discoveries

With an Android launch scheduled for the coming months, the business discovery platform is revamping its feed on iOS to feature more visual material, such as business videos and collections from Yelp Elites. The company launched the capability for users to upload 12-second video reviews last year. These videos will also be included to the updated feed in the upcoming months.

Furthermore, Yelp is introducing a new search interface for its iOS app that displays frequently viewed companies, popular searches, and recent searches before you even start typing in a query.

The search results will have an image-forward interface that displays pertinent photos from the listings, much like the home feed. Additionally, Yelp will include carousels titled “People also search for” and “Popular dishes nearby” (which are based on reviewer-posted photographs) to improve discoverability.

Yelp began using artificial intelligence (AI) to highlight pertinent reviews last year. The capacity to match more queries is one way the company claims to have enhanced that feature on the back end. Furthermore, Yelp now employs AI to present a business summary on its website upon page opening. This is predicated on user-posted reviews from recently.

In order to assist users in starting a review, Yelp is also introducing review-related enhancements, such as badges for reviews and more interactive review topic areas. In the coming months, the platform will begin to display the badges next to user reviews to indicate that the individual is probably very passionate about this particular area.

Updates on the state of the services

Yelp uses a form to ask consumers questions about the problem in advance in an effort to match them with more qualified service providers. The form asks questions about the type of services you require, what needs to be repaired, and what the problem is.

Additionally, the website lets you submit pictures and videos to service providers so you don’t have to merely use text to explain what you need.

Yelp said in the past that after sharing your number with service providers, those businesses would frequently contact you long after the job was over. The company now connects you to businesses using a temporary disguised number via a partnership with Twilio, protecting user privacy. Additionally, you may SMS businesses straight from the platform rather than opening the app every time you want to chat with them.

The business launched the “Yelp Guaranteed” service last year, promising users a money-back guarantee of up to $2,500 in the event that a project didn’t work out. According to Yelp, the protection is currently offered nationwide.

Yelp also introduced the option to send prompt responses to companies and archive projects along with the winter release. It is launching a redesigned home page, an improved onboarding process with updated budget recommendations for ad-sends, and an option to book meetings with Yelp advertising experts for businesses.

Yelp reported $345 million in net revenue for the third quarter of 2023. The company will reveal its latest earnings on February 8. Additionally, the company increased its 2023 annual sales forecast by a small amount, from $1.332 billion to $1.337 billion, at that time.