Yelp Helps Gamers With Pokémon GO

It’s not just Nintendo, kids and twenty-somethings getting in on the Pokémon GO craze. So is review website operator Yelp.

On Friday (July 15), Yelp, which transformed the customer-driven review process, announced it has added a new filter on its mobile apps and on its website to help game players find businesses and other places that are close to PokéStops. At these stops, players of Pokémon GO get in-game items, including Poké balls and potions, which help them get further along in the game. Yelp is relying on the crowdsourcing community for this new feature. Pokémon GO’s crowdsourcing users will check in to locations or write a review, and that is where Yelp gets the information from. The service is available in the U.S, Australia and New Zealand.

“Good news to all you Pokémon trainers out there: We know you want to be the very best (like no one ever was), so today, we’re launching a new feature and search filter to better help you catch ‘em all. We know you’re going to Diglett,” Yelp said in a blog post. “As you head into a weekend full of wild Zubats and Charmanders … you can now find places to simultaneously run errands AND stock up on materials needed to catch that Eevee you’ve been eyeing.”

Pokémon GO is reality game that relies on GPS and sends players out into neighborhoods to search for virtual Pokémon creatures that help them advance in the game. In the little more than a week it’s been on the market, it has become a huge success with millions of Americans playing the game. Niantic, the development studio that created Pokémon GO, is gearing up to expand the game, with CEO John Hanke hinting in a media report last week the company may let retailers partner with the game.