Since 2004, Yelp was founded on the mission of building stronger communities by connecting people to the best local businesses for the job needed. Yelp is celebrating its 20th anniversary in a big way — by adding all new features that will increase business visibility online and help customers find answers much quicker.
1. Upgraded Accessibility Tools
“Wheelchair Accessible” is one of the most used attribute tags businesses across all of the Yelp business listings. In fact, searches for wheelchair accessibility increased 40% from 2020 to 2023. To better serve the 42 million Americans with disabilities, Yelp has introduced several new searchable accessibility attributes, such as:
- Accessible Parking
- ADA-Compliant Entrance
- ADA-Compliant Restroom
- ASL Proficient
- Braille Menu Available
- Closed Captioning on TVs
- No Steps or Stairs
- QR Code Menu Available
…and more.
In partnership with several leading disability advocacy groups, Yelp has also introduced several new AI-powered tools for searchers who need assistance during their active search experience, such as alternative text descriptions for photos, improved color contrast, and other enhanced screen reader functionality.
2. Multi-Location Updates
Yelp has made several improvements to their Multi-Location Brand API capabilities, making it easier for business chains to manage multiple listings at a time with ease:
- Request a Quote for Brands: Businesses with multiple locations no longer need to manually manage and nurture leads from multiple Yelp pages separately. The new Leads API will enable them to seamlessly manage all Yelp leads within their existing customer management tools.
- Yelp Guarantee: The customer satisfaction program is expanding to support eligible projects with national services businesses that advertise and activate Request a Quote in popular categories.
- Verified Licenses & Portfolio: Yelp is rolling out their Verified License program and Portfolio products features to national services businesses.
3. Off-Platform Advertising
Yelp has also made key changes to their off-platform advertising opportunities:
- Spotlight Video Ad Updates: Yelp is expanding its ad formats, including Spotlight Video Ads that now appear in more locations on-page, such as the business page photo galleries which is the top-used section across all business pages.
- Yelp Audiences Expansion: Yelp Audiences has been extended to audio platforms such as Spotify, Pandora, and SiriusXM. They’ve also expanded connected TV (CTV) offerings to include cost-effective, yet premium inventory sources, including platforms like Hulu, Disney+, and Paramount+.
- Cookie-less Tracking: There’s a new conversion API (CAPI) to help measure ad performance without relying on cookies.
What This Means For Businesses
With 80 million active monthly users, Yelp is still a strong marketing channel for businesses of all sizes. If your business currently uses Yelp as a marketing channel that drives more traffic, leads or customers, it’s time to revisit your Yelp marketing strategy. These latest updates include both profile optimization and paid advertising opportunities that should be strongly considered.
At Katava Marketing, your vision is our mission! Our full-service marketing agency offers search engine marketing, SEO, video and photo services, and everything else your business needs to increase its revenue. We can work with you to create an effective multi-channel strategy that will drive results. Contact us at 973-998-8008 to get started today!
