Bialik, former WSJ’s “Numbers Guy” columnist, joins Yelp

Carl Bialik, who wrote the Wall Street Journal’s “Numbers Guy” column before leaving for fivethirtyeight.com, has been hired by Yelp as its data science editor.

Travis Brooks of Yelp writes, “Yelp data has been powering the local layer of the internet for years (just ask Siri!), and the insights we are able to mine from this treasure trove of data are pretty unique. At Yelp, Carl will lead our effort to understand what our data on local businesses and consumers can tell us about economic and business health, and other fun topics along the way. He’ll be the go-to guy for journalists, economists and academics looking to better understand Yelp data, and will be sharing his findings through the Yelp blog.

“Carl joins us from FiveThirtyEight, an outlet renowned for its statistical analysis of political, economic and sports data, where he was the lead news writer. He previously worked for the Wall Street Journal, where he created and wrote the Numbers Guy column, about the use and misuse of numbers and statistics by the media and advocacy groups. He’s a graduate of Yale University and a New York City native, and he’s uniquely positioned to take a fresh look at the potential hidden inside Yelp’s data stores.

“Follow Carl on Twitter to hear what he’s working on, and stay tuned for more Yelp data goodness coming down the line this year.”

Read more here.