Looks like Yelp and Yahoo are teaming up to make their search more a little more competitive to Google. Yelp’s addresses, hours, star rating and more, is now going to be a common sight on Yahoo Search.
Yelp has more than 53 million reviews on record, and is the go-to local guide “for real word-of-mouth on everything from boutiques and mechanics to restaurants and dentists,” said Mike Ghaffary, Yelp vice president of business and corporate development.
Yelp Spurns Googles, Teams Up with Yahoo
A few years ago, Google once had Yelp displayed on its search engine. However, Yelp argued that it was being cheated out of revenue and traffic. Ultimately the government opened an investigation into Google and the company stopped using Yelp’s reviews in its local search results.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, has led an overhaul of search technology at Yahoo, which has involved surfacing more content from around the Web. Yelp’s local listings could help Yahoo differentiate from Bing, its partner in search, and compete with Google Inc., the leader in search.
Yelp’s new addition to the search will not be replacing the Yahoo Local reviews, instead Yelp will supplement the site, which will allow users to dig a little deeper into businesses retail chains, mom-and-pop shops, and more.
Online reviews are essential these days and many consumers are reviewing and comparing these items prior to making a transaction.
Will you be using this new functionality on Yahoo? And do you think it will make Yahoo more competitive to Google?
