Facebook Professional Services is the wannabe Yelp replacement you didn’t know about

Facebook is utilizing its knowledge of over 50 million businesses with Facebook Pages and users’ reviews, and linking it to listings in the Services Directory.

Facebook’s feature lets people search in a local area for services, such as nail salons and take-out restaurants. There’s also a directory with different service categories at the bottom.

Once a user selects a type of service, they’ll see a list of business options – not actually displayed in order of their ratings or reviews, but with that information prominently listed.

While Facebook has quietly rolled out features in the past, typically they’re tests for future updates, not major platforms.

Facebook has grown into one of the best resources for small- and medium-sized businesses, often becoming a stand-in for a company’s website where users can find hours, menus, and even leave starred reviews. That’s not to say some won’t find it handy.

Yelp declined to comment on Facebook’s new way of categorizing businesses.

At this point, Facebook Places is similar to Yelp and Foursquare, while Professional Services would be a direct competitor to Angie’s List and Amazon Home Services. “We’ve been in this business for more than 20 years so we have more depth than most but we’re also much more than a review site”. Given Facebook’s knowledge on individual preferences, these search results are likely customized according to the user’s interactions with a business Page, or when someone connected to the user has reviewed a particular business. When visiting Professional Services on the social network, users are presented a page with a search box and a location box that already has their current location.