Yelp now offers businesses the option to identify online as Asian-owned. In partnership with nonprofit Gold House, the crowd-sourced review platform is making it easier for users to support restaurants and shops owned by Asians and Pacific Islanders.
The searchable attribute is free and opt-in only, “as the decision to self-identify should rest solely with the business,” Miriam Warren, chief diversity officer at Yelp, wrote in a blog announcement. Merchants can edit their Yelp page to highlight amenities like diversity (Asian-, Black-, Latin-, women-owned) and COVID health and safety (contactless payments, mask required, social distancing enforced, temperature checks, etc.).
“With the escalation of anti-Asian hate crimes and violence we’ve seen across the nation during the pandemic, there’s never been a more important time to support the Asian American community,” Warren said, citing a 130% increase in Yelp searches for Asian-owned businesses in February 2021.
Greater visibility, however, only increases the existing target on these companies. With that in mind, Yelp is proactively monitoring business pages for hate speech against the Asian community “to mitigate and remove any hateful, racist, or harmful content that violates our content guidelines,” according to the blog.
The app last year began slapping warning labels on firms accused of racist behavior; garner enough media coverage for a discriminatory act, and Yelp will link to a credible news article explaining the incident.
“Asian American and Pacific Islander crimes haven’t stopped—alarmingly, they’ve come even closer to home, present in our communities from Chinatowns to Filipinotowns,” Gold House co-founders Mikkoh Chen and Megan Ruan said in a statement. “We hope Yelp’s new business attribute for AAPI business owners helps drive safe foot traffic into each enclave, benefits local communities economically, and provides community-driven oversight and action into the safety of our neighbors and elders for years to come.”
