Yelp will add new tool to search for black-owned businesses
The company is also donating to the Equal Justice Initiative and NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Yelp will be adding a new tool to search for black-owned businesses within the next two weeks, the company said.
Yelp is adding a new tool that allows businesses on the platform to self-identify as black-owned. The new feature aims to make it easier for users to find and support black-owned businesses amid the calls for racial equality in the US.
Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said in a blog post Thursday that the new tool follows an increase in user searches for black-owned businesses. Over the last week, Yelp reported seeing "a 25x increase in the frequency of searches for black-owned businesses across categories on Yelp compared to the same time last year."
Yelp has also put together a collection of black-owned businesses for users to support.
The moves comes as people across the US (and around the world) continue to protest racism and police brutality, sparked by the killing of George Floyd, who died after being pinned down by officers in Minneapolis.
The company said it will be donating $500,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative and NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which both work to lift up black communities across the country. Yelp will also double its match of donations made this month by employees who contribute funds to select black-led or black-serving organizations, including Black Futures Lab and Know Your Rights Camp.
Yelp says the feature will be available within the next two weeks. The app added a similar feature in February for women-owned businesses in honor of International Women's Day.
Black Lives Matter. Visit blacklivesmatter.carrd.co to learn how to donate, sign petitions and protest safely.
