Yahoo rolls its local search option out of beta testing
Realizing that a lot of consumers use the global power of the Internet to locate local providers of services and merchandise, Yahoo Inc. this month has launched Yahoo Local to allow consumers to identify merchants and service companies near their homes or offices.
Yahoo Local is accessible on the Yahoo Front Page and Yahoo Search sites and was launched after obtaining consumer feedback from a beta test in August. While most consumers are expected to use the search feature to identify local companies that they would then call or visit to obtain services or merchandise, some consumers are likely to click to the merchant’s web site and make purchases online. Such capability is needed to satisfy consumers who like to shop online, but want the comfort of knowing the retailer has a nearby outlet in the event they need to return the merchandise or have questions, a Yahoo spokesman says.
Among features that were incorporated into the local search offering as the result of beta testing are an improved relevance algorithm to deliver more precise local results; additional data sources; streamlined rating and review systems; improved integration of driving directions from Yahoo Maps; and improved interfaces for narrowing and sorting results by price, rating and distance.
Merchants ensure placement on Yahoo Local in the U.S. by signing up with Overture Local Match, a subsidiary of Yahoo.
To promote the new service, Yahoo Local rolled out an extensive marketing campaign that makes the service available at select interactive bus shelters in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Persons waiting at these shelters can conduct a search for a nearby service, view the results and print the information out from the bus stop to take with them.
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