San Diego, August 19

Federal agencies will be joining the ranks of beauty salons, taco stands, and other services reviewed on Yelp, and the US government says it will take the online ratings into account to improve what the government calls ‘customer satisfaction’.

Under a deal with Yelp, the government will officially recognise the public’s star ratings on its federal agencies, from the Transportation Security Administration to national parks.

Frustrated travellers have already been turning to the popular site for years to vent about long, slow-moving airport security lines and what some have said are intrusive body scans. Now the public will be able to do it in real time, and the government says it will respond to the comments and use the feedback to improve. People can, among other things, rate bathrooms at national parks, review their experiences with the tax collecting Internal Revenue Service, or assess the efficiency of the local post office.

“In some ways, it augments our democracy,” said Luther Lowe, Yelp’s vice president of public policy. He said the platform could shine the light on both what works and what doesn’t in the federal government — just as it directs people to the yummiest Indian restaurant in town or the best nail salon.