Sunday, August 17, 2014

Yelp Adds New Video Feature To Their Website Via Phone App

By Josiah Bashir


It is always fun to check out reviews on Yelp which can be highly informative and save you plenty of time and money. Reading reviews have helped many people decided on what restaurants to dine at and what businesses are worthy of checking out. Now, thanks to Yelp's new video feature, users can experience a whole new level of interactivity.



Yelp has now added a mechanism where iPhone users can download an app that allows them to take 3-12 second video of a place of business and post it at Yelp. This feature is designed to capture the ambiance, atmosphere, lighting and noise levels so a consumer can make an educated decision on whether or not to go to that location. It is not intended to be a review, but rather a look into the place visually speaking.

Another great example of video helping consumers is in the way of consumer service. Many times people post negative interactions with a business but you never know exactly what happened because you weren't there. Now with video, users can see right in front of them what the customer service is like and how the business handled it, especially if it was a negative interaction. Likewise, if a user can post a positive video of their experience and really highlight the good parts of the business.

In one way a video review can harm a business is if the customer service is poor. Although these videos are not intended to be reviews, a poor employee experience can really harm someone's review of that business. So in a way video's are good for both the business and consumer because everyone must be on their best behavior, or they could wind up being a part of a negative review.

Yelp has decided to take their review website to a much higher level by including the addition of video to their website. Now consumers can upload 3-12 second video reviews of local businesses via a Yelp mobile app.

Although Yelp doesn't want it to be about reviews, it should be more about consumers getting to see they type of atmosphere and ambiance at the business. This should give consumers a chance to see the business before visiting the place. In the past one could only see pictures and read text reviews of the business, but now users will be able to see what the place is like.




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