The Next Yelp: The Future of Local Discovery
I love food. Growing up, I only ate shades of brown - bread, rice, and butter. No vegetables please. But there’s nothing like moving to New York in your 20s to open up your eyes & your palate. The restaurants of New York were the first to introduce me to the concept of food as pleasure, vs food as sustenance.
That love of food followed me to San Francisco, where I’ve lived for the last eight years. SF is the city that introduced me to bun cha, birria, and borscht. One of my greatest joys, pre-pandemic, was trying out new or new-to-me restaurants and cuisines. Between Yelp, Eater, and co-workers, it was relatively easy to map out possibilities. I knew what I liked, and I knew where to turn. But as I venture back into the world, something curious has happened. I no longer know where to eat, and who to turn to for guidance. My once reflexive habits now feel rusty.
For so long, Yelp has been the dominant player behind local discovery. It’s Zagat’s guide for my generation of older millennials. Founded in 2004, pre mobile, pre video, pre personalization. And yet they’ve survived the threats of Google and FB (no easy feat) to become the defacto starting point for discovery. It’s content moat was vast and overflowing, continually refreshed by the community at large.
And yet here we are, in 2021, and I wonder, “Is now the time for Yelp to pass the torch?”
For one, its content moat is no longer invincible. Unfortunately, somewhere between 10% and 15% of restaurants in the US closed permanently in the last year (1). In California, that number may be even higher, hovering close to one-third (2). What’s re-emerging isn’t a carbon copy of its former self. Not only do we have new faces, we have new formats - everything from popups, DM only delivery, to ghost kitchens.
So what could the new contender look like?
For one, I imagine it’ll be highly personalized to our individual preferences. In a world that prizes customization, the notion of blunt force rankings seems quaint and antiquated. Your TikTok feed likely looks nothing like mine, and yet our local Yelp lists likely look very similar.
Secondly, I’d surmise there’s an optional social layer that supports both discovery and offline action. Today, I need a combination of Yelp, Open Table, Google Calendar, and texting to schedule a dinner with friends. The amount of effort required sometimes stops me from actually making plans. Enabling the jump from inspiration to action could be as simple as enabling a list of ideas for future plans. Anything to combat social inertia.
It would earn the trust of local businesses from the get-go. There’s a love / hate relationship between Yelp and local businesses. Small businesses know they need Yelp, but the lack of transparency around how reviews are shown, and how rankings are calculated has left a lingering sense of distrust. Given the tumultuous last two years, small businesses are looking for partners and communities they can trust.
Yelp came into a world that didn’t yet have mobile and short form video. We are now in a world that’s desperately seeking joy and connection. Separate from functional features, the winning contender should remix existing capabilities to deliver against our human emotional needs.
If you’re building the future of local discovery, we’d love to hear from you!
At Venrock, we love to brainstorm and discuss ideas at the earliest of stages. If you’re building in this space and welcome feedback, sign us up to be your beta tester! We’d love to hear from you.
Sources
(1) https://www.nrn.com/fast-casual/datassential-more-10-us-restaurants-have-closed-permanently
(2) https://abc7.com/restaurants-coronavirus-pandemic-covid/10663697/
Image: https://www.katemccaffrey.com/Favorite-Restaurants-In-Alameda