Yahoo Adds Local Content To Search Results Via SearchMonkey

Yahoo has announced the addition of more local business content to their web search results thanks to Yahoo’s SearchMonkey program. Yahoo has turned on the SearchMonkey applications for both Citysearch and Zagat; users don’t have to opt-in to see enhanced content from those sites — it’s now turned on by default for all users.

In fact, four of the five on-by-default SearchMonkey applications have local content. In addition to Citysearch and Zagat, Yahoo Local and Yelp are also showing enhanced listings for all users. (The fifth on-by-default app is LinkedIn.)

This is big news for local businesses: By being listed on these local directory sites, they have a chance to get added exposure in Yahoo’s search results. The enhanced listings offer extra details such as address and phone number, ratings, reviews, business hours, service categories, and even a photo. Enhanced listings from more than one provider might appear, such as in this screenshot below where a Citysearch enhanced listing appears a few spots above one from Yahoo Local.

The details included in each enhanced listing depend on how the provider created its SearchMonkey application. In the example above, Citysearch includes links to the business profile, reviews, a map, and “Write a Review.” Yahoo Local includes links to Maps/Directions, Reviews, and a “Send to Friend” link. Citysearch shows business hours, while Yahoo Local doesn’t.

Local businesses can take advantage of this by:

• making sure they’re listed on Yahoo Local, Citysearch, Yelp, and Zagat (these are the four with enhanced listings on Yahoo)
• completing their business profiles with as much detail as possible
• encouraging customers to leave ratings and reviews on these sites

In an earlier announcement about SearchMonkey applications, Yahoo said their internal tests showed an increase in click-through rate of as much as 15 percent.

In addition to these on-by-default applications, users can visit the Yahoo Search Gallery to install other SearchMonkey applications.