Lazy Customers Can Now Search Yelp Using Emojis Fewer characters? Sure. More convenient? Probably not.

By Kate Taylor

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Looking for a [thumbs up emoji] place for some burgers and beer? Yelp has you covered.

The customer review site now allows mobile users to search for local restaurants and businesses using emojis instead of keywords. The app takes any symbol on the emoji keyboard entered in the search box – whether it's a happy face or an image of an eggplant -- and returns with Yelp's interpretation of the closest relevant businesses.

Yelp's emoji search works well with food-based searches – enter the spaghetti emoji and Yelp will provide you with an array of Italian restaurants nearby, as demonstrated in the screenshot below. Other emojis that clearly represent objects also produce good results: the eyeglasses emoji leads to recommendations of eyewear stores and optometrists, the diamond ring emoji showcases jewelry stores and the Statue of Liberty emoji presents the landmark.

Related: Yelp Listings, Reviews to Be Featured in Yahoo Search Results

Emojis can also be used for multiple keyword searches. If you're fluent in emoji and looking for somewhere you can dance and get drinks, you can type in the fancy salsa dancer emoji and the beer emoji for cocktail bars and pub recommendations. If you want dinner as well, add a burger or spaghetti emoji to the search.

Lazy Customers Can Now Search Yelp Using Emojis
Yelp results for emoji searches
Image credit: Kate Taylor

Since Yelp seems to have categorized emojis by matching each symbol with a keyword, more abstract concepts tend to yield less promising results. For example, the top three result for the winking face with its mouth puckered into a kiss are a stationery store, a coffee shop and a lingerie shop. However, Yelp has taken the time to define a few nonfigurative symbols, with the flying cash emoji resulting in expensive restaurants (those Yelp labels as '$$$$').

Even for the laziest Yelp-users, scrolling through the emoji keyboard will likely take as much time as typing in a keyword such as "hotel" or "pizza." Non-English speakers and true emoji-addicts may continue to use the function. For most, however, the fun begins and ends with seeing what Yelp will recommend when presented with bizarre emoji keywords such as dancing twins and smiling poop.

Related: Yelp Co-Founder: 'There Has Never Been Any Amount of Money You Could Pay Us to Manipulate Reviews'

Wavy Line
Kate Taylor

Reporter

Kate Taylor is a reporter at Business Insider. She was previously a reporter at Entrepreneur. Get in touch with tips and feedback on Twitter at @Kate_H_Taylor. 

Editor's Pick

A Leader's Most Powerful Tool Is Executive Capital. Here's What It Is — and How to Earn It.
Lock
One Man's Casual Side Hustle Became an International Phenomenon — And It's on Track to See $15 Million in Revenue This Year
Lock
3 Reasons to Keep Posting on LinkedIn, Even If Nobody Is Engaging With You
Why a Strong Chief Financial Officer Is Crucial for Your Franchise — and What to Look for When Hiring One

Related Topics

Business News

More Americans Are Retiring Abroad, Without a Massive Nest Egg — Here's How They Made the Leap

About 450,000 people received their social security benefits outside the U.S. at the end of 2021, up from 307,000 in 2008, according to the Social Security Administration.

Business News

Woman Ties the Knot at White Castle Almost 30 Years After the Chain Gave Her Free Food as a Homeless Teen

Jamie West was just 12 years old when she ran away from the foster care system.

Business News

Lululemon Employees Say They Were Fired for Trying to Stop Shoplifters

Two Georgia women say Lululemon fired them without severance for trying to get thieves out of the store.

Business News

7 of the 10 Most Expensive Cities to Live in the U.S. Are in One State

A new report by U.S. News found that San Diego is the most expensive city to live in for 2023-2024, followed by Los Angeles. New York City didn't even rank in the top 10.

Business News

New York Lawyer Uses ChatGPT to Create Legal Brief, Cites 6 'Bogus' Cases: 'The Court Is Presented With an Unprecedented Circumstance'

The lawyer, who has 30 years of experience, said it was the first time he used the tool for "research" and was "unaware of the possibility that its content could be false."