Yelp Debuts D2C Platform Yelp Audiences

Yelp’s new “Yelp Audiences” platform will help advertisers target consumers around the web, according to a press release.

“Yelp Audiences offers an opportunity for location-based, direct-to-consumer, consumer packaged goods, and online advertisers to reach Yelp’s high-intent audience at all stages of the buying cycle,” the release stated.

Yelp has rolled out the new product with the help of KitchenAid after pilots were successful with food technology company Eat Just and comfort technology company Purple, according to the release.

With Yelp Audiences, the popular restaurant reviewing platform hopes to connect advertisers with customers who have shown interest in a product or service, the release stated.

Yelp’s research shows that 90 percent of people make a purchase within a week after visiting the Yelp site, according to the release. Yelp Audiences will allow advertisers to undergo more full-bodied strategies, letting a client work one-on-one with a single advertising partner.

“For years, advertisers have wanted to make more meaningful connections with consumers, and Yelp’s unmatched data allows us to support that,” said Yelp Senior Vice President and Head of National Go-To-Market Tom Foran in the release. “Yelp’s high-intent audience can uniquely help brands better develop these important and meaningful connections with the right consumers. With Yelp Audiences, we are able to help advertisers reach our engaged, down-funnel audience in a way no other platform can.”

In separate news, an NFIB report found that 46 percent of small business owners said they had job openings they were unable to fill.

It was a decline of 2 percent from May, but the report was still above the 48-year historic average of 22 percent. The report found that 89 percent of small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) had found it hard to find workers they thought were “qualified.” That also came as 39 percent of jobs reported to have raised compensation and 26 percent said they planned to do that in the near future.