Mayer: Yahoo Not Planning To Invest In Local Search Right Now

Oct 22, 2012 at 8:01pm ET by Matt McGee

Search is a “core priority” at Yahoo, but the company isn’t planning any significant investments in local search in the near future.

That’s some of what new CEO Marissa Mayer revealed today in her first earnings call since she joined the company this summer.

Mayer spoke several times about Yahoo and search in general, saying it’s one of the “core daily habits” of Yahoo users — a fact that makes search one of her core priorities as CEO. But that future focus on search won’t apparently include Yahoo’s local search products.

Why? Because local search is, proverbially speaking, a tough nut to crack.

“I really do love [local], but it requires a deep investment, a lot of energy and time to build terrific listings. We already have some products in this area. They’re good at the moment, but it’s hard to take that next step. We don’t expect to make changes in the short term. It’s not an area where we’re going to make significant investments right now.”

Many years ago, Yahoo was a leader in local search and mapping, but its products have been ignored over the years. Google — led in part, of course, by Mayer herself — has invested very heavily in maps and local search and continues to do so today. There are also companies like Yelp and Foursquare that have focused and invested more in local search than Yahoo has in recent years, and are also ahead of Yahoo Local/Maps when it comes to awareness (especially on mobile).

For more on Mayer’s search and mobile comments from today’s earnings call, as well as Yahoo’s financials, see our articles on Marketing Land:

Mayer’s comments about the challenges of doing local well may sound familiar. Google’s Eric Schmidt said “maps are really hard” when recently asked about Apple’s iOS mapping troubles.

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Top News | Yahoo: Maps & Local | Yahoo: Search

About The Author: Matt McGee is Editor-In-Chief of Search Engine Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. You can read Matt's disclosures on his personal blog. See more articles by Matt McGee

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http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/ Linda Buquet

Thanks for catching that and reporting Matt. Given Marissa’s ‘local’ roots at Google, I was wondering how she’d handle local at Yahoo.
http://www.facebook.com/subhash.prajapati Subhash Prajapati

Today, local searches is very important for search marketing. This is really big challenge for yahoo, How can handle local at yahoo
David Rodecker

Re-affirms the value of local, but that it requires strong assets and cohesive strategy. Marissa knows this well and isn’t looking to re-invent that wheel.

I don’t buy that they aren’t investing in local; moreover they are taking it in a new direction by getting half the company dedicated to mobile. It’s good forward thinking; but will be hard to pull off being a top “App” since those markets are already controlled by Apple, Google, and distantly MSFT.
http://twitter.com/DevInVancouver Dev In Vancouver

Perhaps they’re considering acquisitions/mergers & integration rather than development/evolution of their own local properties.