Chris Sherman of SEW agrees, his write up is here. He notes the major features, the clean interface, and the elegant “refine” features that let you zero in on lists of search results. He quotes Jeff Weiner on the goal:
“Our mission is to understand intention of user, to help them complete tasks as quickly as possible,” said Jeff Weiner, senior vice president, search and marketplace, sharply contrasting Yahoo’s approach with Google’s mission “to make the world’s information universally accessible and useful.”
You know what a sucker I am for intent-based media. Net net: I like Yahoo Local, and plan to use it, at least for now.
Udpate: I should have pointed out that Ask has a new local search product as well, clearly timed to Yahoo’s news as it’s a partnership with Citysearch, which Yahoo used to use…CNET coverage…
(full release for Yahoo Local in “continue reading” link…)
]]>< ![CDATA[
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
YAHOO! LAUNCHES LOCAL SEARCH BETA: AN INNOVATIVE WAY FOR PEOPLE TO SEARCH
FOR LOCAL INFORMATION ONLINE
New Product Leverages Yahoo! Search Technology and Comprehensive Local
Content for a Precise and Useful Local Search Experience
Sunnyvale, CA — August 3, 2004 — Yahoo! Inc., a leading global Internet
company, today released a beta of Yahoo!