JIC Design Blog: SEO, Web Development and Technology

Yahoo has recently been putting more of an emphasis on social media and user-generated content in its local search product. This is not surprising since Yahoo has bought up numerous social media sites over the last few years. Initially Yahoo expanded its city and neighbourhood pages as well as its ratings and reviews. Recently, they have added Consumer Submit, a feature allowing users to edit a business listing (contact info, store hours).

Last fall, Yahoo commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct a poll to gauge users’ likelihood of posting ratings or reviews of local businesses to Yahoo Local. Overall, 67 percent of respondents said they would be likely to post a review, with 9 percent of respondents more likely to post a review that was negative, 8 percent more likely to post a review that was positive, and 50 percent likely to post a review either way.

User Generated Content (UGC) is here to stay. Social sites have blossomed and nurtured the ability for anyone on the internet to express their interests, photos, and anything and everything. This has created a new phenomenon, millions of users who want to express their opinion and experiences with products, and stores. So Yahoo is right on the button by using UGC for their Local SERPs.