Yahoo launching a local search engine, what it means.

Yahoo is launching a local search so you can find local business in your area. The search is a beta test right now. I tried it and it has a nice interface and gives relevant information but most of the information is pulled from directories first. It doesn't really have anything to do with how relevant the page is. So far it looks like nothing more than an index of yellow page directories or something like it. This is one of the fears that many local advertisers have as I've stated in previous postings. And it is something for these avenues of advertising should be concerned about. There have been a lot of local directories, but many are incomplete and for right now, Yahoo local search seems to be a regurgitation of information that's already out there. I wonder if they're going to keep the results separate as a local search so that they someday can charge for listings? For right now it doesn't look like it integrates at all with regular Yahoo search which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it.

Here's a message from the Yahoo local team.

Here's another article from another website.

Do you know what this reminds me of? MapQuest. It has the same feel and a lot of the same features only there is a search component to it. It seems to be a synthesis of other ideas which is brought together by Yahoo technology.

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