Facebook Launches New Feature That Could Rival Yelp

The Next Web reported that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) "quietly" launched a new Places directory, allowing users to search for user-generated recommendations on restaurants, hotels, bars attractions and more.

The Places directory syncs with Graph Search and other elements of Facebook's platform and poses a competitive challenge to already established user-generated review sites like Yelp Inc (NYSE: YELP).

Users can scroll through a list of venues or attractions and can "like" the page and even view the location on a map.

Yelp recently traded at $58.34, down 3.7 percent. Facebook was down less than 1 percent.

Facebook's venture into Yelp's territory quickly garnered the attention of industry heavyweights, as Doug Kass tweeted:

As written on RealMoneyPro this morning - YELP is down on a rumor that Facebook is establishing a "New Places Directory." $YELP $FB

— Douglas Kass (@DougKass) November 13, 2014