Yahoo! released its updated user interface and and feature set for Yahoo! Local. John Battelle has a very nice write up on it with inside information from Paul Levine, head of Yahoo Local Search. Danny Sullivan gives a write up of feature sets. Let's not forget to add Jeff Weiner's thoughts on local search and the changing face of media.
Forum discussion on this topic at WebmasterWorld.
Update: Moderator, Chicago's thoughts on this new Yahoo! Local:
- A deeper more broad definition of "local search" - Fostering a sense of community - Movement from business lookup to an augmentation of local behavior patterns - The realization that local search includes events, activities, and other time-based local actions - Personalization and leveraging user data - Deeper content integration from disparate local based content within the Y network in a local destination - Drill down: From city to neighborhood - Freshness - Destination: City portal characteristics - Further emphasis on user generated content - One step closer to the integration of social networking
