Yelp Adds Vaccine Status to Restaurant Platform. Buckle-Up.

What a crazy time to be a restaurant.

From ongoing economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic to labor shortages and cost increases across the board, the restaurant industry has been on an 18-month roller-coaster ride and not just any roller coaster; specifically like the one at Six Flags that is in a dark building, so you have no way of seeing what’s ahead. You thought it was going to be all fun and games, but now are just looking for some light.

But, it’s not a ride at an amusement park. It’s lives, livelihoods and careers.

Yelp is trying to help. Maybe. On Thursday the company announced it is launching two attributes that allow restaurants to clarify pandemic precautions they are (or aren’t) taking.

“Proof of vaccination required” and “All staff fully vaccinated” have been added to the business platform for restaurant, food and nightlife businesses. Users can filter searches by those two attributes.

We all know that anyone with a keyboard can virtually trash a business, especially if they can get a small army behind the effort, which is called “review bombing,” as in when there was a tiff over Vietnamese coffee at Toast that resulted in a bomb of bad reviews for a Brooklyn-based coffee roaster.

In a statement, Yelp explains, “With the uncertainty surrounding the spread of the Delta variant, we’re seeing an increasing number of businesses implement new safety measures to protect their employees and communities. Unfortunately, this has also led to a rise in “review bombing” when a business gains public attention, largely driven by people’s varying stances on the pandemic.”

So, to counteract “review bombing” based on a restaurant’s stance on the vaccine, Yelp will monitor all pages of businesses on their platform that activate these attributes.

Despite data that shows vaccines are good for business, especially the restaurant business, there’s a tug-of-war between personal freedom and the good of society that is being played out in dining rooms. And no matter how much they throw their hands in the air and scream, restaurants can’t get off this ride.