Yahoo! Search blog about local search and reviews
Yahoo! Search blogWe’ve gotten a ton of comments and suggestions. The overall feedback is quite positive, and the virtual suggestion box is overflowing with great ideas and useful critiques, such as this recent suggested enhancement from Dave Winer. This kind of stuff pumps us up.Of course we’ve also gotten some constructive criticism too. Most of it’s around holes in the data. Just like cell phone service…there can be dead zones. Comprehensiveness is one of the biggest challenges and we’re focusing a lot of time and energy on it.
Here’s the thing about local content: some of the best stuff isn’t on the Web, which makes the aggregation process pretty manual. Right now, we have more depth in some areas than others, largely because restaurants and hotels have taken to electronic publishing more quickly than, say, roofers and barbers.
Over time, you’ll see us expand the breadth and depth of information available. It’s out there, but it’s gonna take a little time to get it all. We think merchant and user communities can be very helpful in providing fresh, accurate content.
To that point, a way to help build out the content on Yahoo! Local, is to submit a review of your own, like my eloquent write-up on Sal’s Pizzeria in Mamaroneck NY.
Not only have we gotten a ton of restaurant reviews – people are submitting reviews on just about anyplace or anyone. I’ve seen reviews for dentists, auto repair shops, even the local dry cleaner. We’ve received thousands of reviews already, and in general, they’ve been very informative.
posted by Jen @ 9:28 AM
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