Searches for Black-owned businesses have spiked more than 7,000% on Yelp

Yelp searches for Black-owned businesses skyrocketed amid protests following the death of George Floyd.

Black-owned businesses were searched on Yelp 2.5 million times from May 25 to July 10, according to the online review company’s Economic Average report.

That’s a 7,043% increase from the same period in 2019 during which time Black-owned businesses were searched only 35,000 times.

Black-owned restaurants have proven especially popular, with Yelp searches spiking 2,508% along with Black-owned bookstores for which searches have increased 1,437%.

Searches for Black-owned boutiques and Black doctors were also up 330% and 181% respectively, according to the report.

The staggering increases came as demonstrators across the country took to the streets to protest police killings of Black people following the death of George Floyd.

Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed Black man, died while in police custody on May 25 after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes, as three other officers didn’t intervene. All four officers have since been fired and face charges.

The coronavirus pandemic has been especially tough on Black-owned businesses.

About 440,000 Black business owners permanently closed their doors from February to mid-April, CBS reported. It was a 41% decline in Black business owners compared to a 17% plunge in white business owners during the same period.

To help bring attention to Black owned businesses and an estimated $1 trillion in Black spending power, activists launched the Blackout Day 2020 campaign. On July 7, participants were urged to shop only at Black-owned businesses, Complex reported.

This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Searches for Black-owned businesses have spiked more than 7,000% on Yelp."