TikTok is increasingly similar to Yelp

TikTok is part algorithmic television, part Nextdoor group and, increasingly, part travel agent — a role the platform appears to be leaning into.

Users have been able to tag their geolocation for some time, but now the company appears to have revamped landing pages to certain locations such as Boston, New York and Texas. Now, instead of just showing videos that mark that location, TikTok has created categories like “food and drink”, “hotels” and “shopping” full of relevant videos.

Clicking a button labeled “explore more places” opens an Apple Maps integration that shows a map of businesses in the area that have been tagged in TikTok posts. Below the map is a list of locations with details such as address, price level and how many tags the business has on TikTok. It looks less like the For You page and more like Yelp or a travel website.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on when the features were introduced, but they appear to be relatively new. The updated location page is not available for all marked areas.

In recent years, TikTok has become similar to other platforms – and in some cases has successfully replaced competitors, at least for younger people. TikTok is still not a perfect replacement for Google Search, but he does generate significant business for local restaurants when a video goes viral. Personally, I don’t use sites like Yelp to find a new restaurant to try; I just looked for recommendations on TikTok. Likewise, travel is important on the platform (has anyone else seen companies advertising their “TikTok famous” status?), and the company’s decision to gather and organize this type of content in one place feels like an acknowledgment of that.

The deluge of paid content from influencers makes it difficult to fully rely on TikTok – and indeed other social media platforms – for recommendations. But if you’re already browsing TikTok and see restaurant recommendations in a city you plan to visit? TikTok is betting that users can simply accept them.