Yelp Users Can Now Personalize The App Based On Their Lifestyle

Photo illustration by Juliana Jiménez. Photos by Gustau Nacarino/Reuters and Nir Elias,Paneikon/MED

Bella Breakdown

Yelp is changing the way they do things and it will make a lot of people happy. The business reviewing company is introducing a new personalization feature that produces custom search results based on each user’s general preferences.

What this means is that users can now set up profiles with their dietary restrictions, lifestyle interests, and accessibility preferences, and places that meet those requirements will be elevated in the app. The function marks the first time that Yelp has offered personalization options, as the company has been expanding its focus beyond food.

Customers won’t just have dietary, lifestyle, and accessibility options, but the app also lets users set more specific interests for restaurants, attractions, and businesses. Called “For You,” the latest options can be toggled on and off to show up in search results. Yelp says the information customers provide will only be used to “personalize their experience.”

“This is not just about an algorithm trying to listen to what you did and make biased decisions about who you are,” Akhil Ramesh, Yelp’s head of consumer product told The Verge. “What we built through personalization is an experience that gives control to the user.”