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Facebook steps on Yelp's toes with new 'Places' directory

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

November 13, 2014 | 2 min read

Facebook has sneaked out a new ‘Places’ local directory which collects the site's local business ratings and collates them in a comparable fashion for users – somewhat clashing with the already established Yelp's business model.

Facebook did not announce the return of the site

The local search site now showcases the ratings and locations of nearby businesses including restaurants, bars, hotels, cafes and attractions using Graph Search, Page Locations API and other features.

Places brings together business reviews from the site and will inform users which of their friends have visited or commented on certain businesses. Each review will be linked to the establishment’s Facebook profile in a move which could see the feature widely used to critique local businesses.

The social network will utilise reviews from users’ friends and trusted sources on their network in a move which could trump Yelp's reviews from an assortment of strangers.

Facebook previously phased out ‘Places’ in November 2011 but told the Drum this was not because of privacy concerns from users.

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