It says it will take the online ratings into account to improve public services, from the Transportation Security Administration to national parks. Carly Fiorina (or, more likely, her PAC/campaign team) used the new Yelp tool as a channel to promote the GOP presidential candidate, leaving a 1-star review for the TSA. Users have previously been able to write reviews about their experiences with the TSA, but now is the first time that the agency can respond back.
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The agreement gives a platform for those dissatisfied with the government to air their grievances. Yelp has started a partnership with the federal government to create review pages for a variety of government-run places and services. A Gallup poll in March found that Americans listed “dissatisfaction with government” as the most important U.S. problem – topping terrorism, unemployment and immigration. “When I informed TSA agents that they might only search me if they obtained a warrant for a judge or placed me under arrest for some crime, they seemed utterly befuddled”. But when you have an bad experience at the airport security checkpoint, what can you do about it?
Yelp noted that some lawmakers had called for a “Yelp for government” earlier this year, and that its platform is filling a need to keep government transparent and accountable. Yelp, like other review sites, doesn’t have a foolproof way to vet who writes in, and it’s riddled with fake reviews. After the health-care site initially struggled to meet those comparisons, President Barack Obama ramped up efforts to bring more tech leaders into government. The program recruits people from the private sector to help improve how the government uses technology.
Its success in revamping the image of the stodgy, unresponsive federal bureaucrat will hinge on pointing out how the feedback has specifically changed public services for the better, he added.
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The government agreement will continue to roll out over the coming months.
