Yelp was founded in 2004, making it 10 years old this year. In the decade since its inception, Yelp users have contributed over 57 million local reviews.
Today, Yelp announced a new tool called Yelp Trends, which provides insights into ten years worth of review content.
> From food trends to popular slang to short-lived beauty fads (Brazilian blowout anyone?), Yelp Trends searches through words used in Yelp reviews to show you what’s hot and reveals the trend-setting cities that kicked it all off.
The wealth of data available in Yelp Trends is made possible by analyzing the consumer trends and behavior shared in user-contributed reviews.
In the announcement of this new tool, Yelp emphasizes its usefulness in gauging the popularity of certain trends in specific cities:
> For example, are San Franciscans still sipping PBR or craving craft beer? Is the CrossFit fad still going strong or losing steam? Are Londoners loving bob hairstyles or feeling more fringe (that’s bangs, for you Americans) these days?
While it could be fun to use Yelp Trends as suggested, there’s a lot more value in how it can be utilized by SEOs and search marketers.
With Yelp Trends, you can explore what your local market is loving right now, identify declining trends, and use the data to anticipate the next big trend in your city.
Yelp Trends offers search capabilities in 98 cities across 20 countries worldwide.
