Yelp Adding Videos To Reviews To Put A Face To “Worst Falafel Ever” Rants

Because the world needs more hastily uploaded videos with strange aspect ratios, Yelp will soon be rolling out videos for reviews.

When you’re looking for a restaurant — or a dry cleaner, or plumber, or prison — and checking out Yelp on your mobile device, you’ve surely said to yourself, “If only I could watch video of this Yelper’s completely reasoned and not at all reactionary 1-star review!” Well, you’re wish may be granted with the news that the crowdsourced review site is adding video reviews to its mobile apps.

Yelp’s mobile product manager tells Business Insider the thought behind the feature — which allows people to add short (3-12 second) video clips to their reviews — is to give readers information that couldn’t be captured in photos or words… which we take to mean that self-aggrandizing Yelpers will soon try to turn themselves into Internet celebrities with quippy little rants. It could also lead the growing number of amateur food photographers to use their smartphones even more at restaurants, which is not annoying in the least.

“It will be a reward for businesses that go to great lengths to achieve a certain ambiance, whether by having a certain lighting or the music at just the right level,” says the product manager, obviously glossing over how that carefully crafted ambiance could easily be ruined by people constantly shooting mini-movies while others are just trying to eat.

“Encouraging ‘live reviewing’ means that Yelpers might not take the time or energy to think through what they are reporting before posting a review,” cautions Eater’s Hillary Dixler about the new feature that will begin rolling out in June to “Elite” Yelpers.

The rest of us will have to wait to start not uploading or watching the video clips.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist