If you own a local business in your city, a new partnership between Yahoo! and Yelp could give your business more exposure at Yahoo! Marketing Pilgrim’s Cynthia Boris compared the Yahoo! listing for a restaurant with Google’s and favored Yahoo!’s. I think I agree with her analysis.
There are a couple of things that Google does better, but overall, Yahoo!’s listing is more intriguing.
For starters, the Yahoo! local listing features over 100 reviews of the business versus Google’s 22. More reviews is always better as it gives a certain level of credibility to the business itself. If it’s got that many reviews, good or bad, then you can say that they’re getting business, which is a good sign.
While Yelp reviews and a Yelp listing for your business might increase your exposure on Yahoo!, Google still has the lion’s share of search traffic, so I wouldn’t write off Google+ Local. You still need a presence there, but I’d say the partnership with Yahoo! and Yelp adds more value to Yelp. Yahoo! has had its problems in recent years, but it’s still one of the most trafficked Web properties. That’s a reason to add a Yelp listing for your business.
What do you think? Are you as excited about this partnership as Yahoo! and Yelp are?
