Yahoo Local: Who Needs the Yellow Pages?

Some time ago I was briefed on Yahoo Local, and as the team was putting the service, which I think is quite good for a first effort, through its paces it became increasingly clear to me that were I a small business owner, I’d want the ability to edit my listing so I could make my business look more appealing. In fact, if Yahoo Local were sending me leads, I’d very much want to be able to buy my way into a better listing – perhaps post stellar reviews of my establishment, snappy come ons, the like.

I asked Yahoo if and when they planned to launch such a service, and they gave me a rather tight lipped smile. Clearly, the answer was “as soon as possible.” There was clearly the issue of conflicting with Overture’s revenue stream, but it seems the company has worked through that. I noticed today (and in various press reports yesterday) that Yahoo has launched this feature. For $9.95 a month a business owner can create a “premium” listing. For free, they can update the current one.

It’s not quite what I imagined – the premium listing is pretty rigid in its design – but it’s certainly a good start. I will be very interested to see how these listings do for Yahoo.