• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, December 11, 2024

Yelp has introduced more than 20 features to support local businesses, focusing on using artificial intelligence (AI) to simplify ad setup and optimization and create comparison tools.

Craig Saldanha, Yelp chief product officer, believes AI has enabled the company to make it easier for businesses to advertise and buy media -- and in the process, change the way people discover and connect with them.

Smart selection, for example, is a free AI-powered tool to help Yelp advertisers automatically test the best reviews and photos to showcase or build out ads, optimizing content for the highest return on ad spend (ROAS).

A competitor measurement tool for business owners who advertise can find it on the Yelp for Business home page. It compares their Yelp page performance with up to three competitors of their choice, helping to better inform their growth strategies.

A new ad budget option allows seasonal advertisers to temporarily reduce the amount spent on ads with automatic restarts at their convenience.

AI-driven product release includes Review Insights that surface reviewer sentiment for common topics. It uses large language models (LLMs) to analyze and summarize reviewer sentiment on various aspects of a business, such as food quality, service, and ambiance.

Insights are displayed above a business’s reviews as aggregated sentiment scores for each topic — positive, neutral and critical — ranging from 1 to 100.

Related reviews for each topic are available. The product is supported on iOS for restaurant, food, and nightlife businesses.

Simplified ad setup and optimization for business owners has been added to strengthen ad performance.

Services also included Yelp assistant improvements meant to make it easier for users to connect with service professionals and manage project details.

Enhanced business pages that explain tipping policy displays, reviewers' recognitions, and quick connection options to streamline user-business interactions.

Yelp also began testing AI stitched videos that use real photos, videos, and information from the site, a service many tech companies have begun to build out.