Our country has a long and fraught history of systemic oppression and anti-Black racism that we have shamefully not yet come close to overcoming. Police brutality, disproportionate incarceration, income disparity, the opportunity gap, and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black and other minority communities, are only a few of the symptoms of this crisis…. Read more
Saving small Main Street businesses has rightfully been a priority for Congress since discussions that led to the CARES Act began in March. Since then, $660 billion has been allocated to aid small businesses as part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), but the first $349 billion vanished quickly and was mired in problems, and… Read more
In these unprecedented times as we all do our part to social distance and keep one another safe, we remain committed to our mission – to connect people with great local businesses. Many local businesses, who rely on foot traffic or human contact in their day-to-day operations, have been forced to close their doors, reduce… Read more
Today Yelp announced a new way for business owners to understand their performance and manage their presence on Yelp. Yelp for Business is an entirely reimagined platform designed to improve the business owner experience with a fresh new user interface that gives business owners more transparency and insight into their Yelp Business Page. This release… Read more
COVID-19 has changed the way we do just about everything – especially how we celebrate special occasions. This year, Mother’s Day will be particularly difficult for many, especially for those who are unable to celebrate with mom in person, or may be mourning the recent loss of a loved one. Given these challenging circumstances, Mother’s… Read more
In an internal email this morning, Yelp co-founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman shared with all employees that due to the impact of COVID-19 on our business, the company is taking the painful but necessary step to reduce the size of our workforce through a combination of layoffs, furloughs, and reduction of hours. It’s been an… Read more
Yelp Foundation and GoFundMe Announce $1M in Donation Matching Update as of April 13: After pausing the rollout of the GoFundMe partnership, we have worked with GoFundMe to provide a seamless way for businesses to opt into the feature, as we received a great deal of interest and support for the program from both consumers… Read more
The global pandemic caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) that has impacted nearly every corner of the world and disrupted daily life has been especially hard on independent local businesses. Main street businesses are such an important part of who we are as a country. They play an integral role in our economy and our society… Read more
Yelp has been actively monitoring the rapidly evolving situation surrounding the spread of COVID-19. While the potential outcomes of this pandemic are uncertain, we have been preparing for a range of scenarios and have assembled an executive taskforce to enable us to respond quickly to ongoing changes. Our top priority is the health and safety… Read more
Have you ever seen a Consumer Alert banner over a business’s reviews while browsing around Yelp? These warnings appear when we see brazen attempts to manipulate ratings and reviews. The Consumer Alerts program (part of Yelp’s broader Consumer Protection Initiative) launched in 2012. In 2019, we issued more than 1,300 Consumer Alerts, which run the… Read more