Another local search option

There are multiple search engines available to find local information. Since I used Google previously, today I tried Yahoo in order to compare the two. The website address is http://local.yahoo.com. The page is user friendly and easy to navigate. I first typed in the city and state, and multiple categories came up with a few sub categories under each. There is a recently reviewed section in the middle which gives a business’ name and shows the number of stars underneath, then a snippet of the last comments posted. This can be very beneficial from a company’s standpoint as far as advertising, or can be harmful if a bad review is written. In particular I noticed one on a barber shop that suggested it should be renamed “Butcher Cuts”. From a consumer standpoint, after seeing that comment I would not be very likely to spend time looking at that business and would move on to another. On the other hand, I saw an excellent review on a locally owned coffee shop. After reading the great review, I would think that any reader interested in good coffee would likely go visit this establishment on their next coffee shop venture. Businesses need to be aware of what type of experience their customers are having and how the internet has made it so easy and quick for both the unhappy and the happy customer to share their experience with others. This can be a very good marketing tool, or a detrimental one. I continued exploring this site by entering my search for “printing services” and several came up. The results and look were very similar to the Google search I had conducted a few days ago. The name of the company, address, phone number, and a link to their website came up. On many, their website link was also displayed. A few of them had a review beside them, and all had the option for me to write a review. By pointing to the number beside the printing service name, it enlarged the area and number on the map that corresponds to that business’ location, so I could easily see what area of town it is in. Overall the site was very easy to use and I was able to find many helpful options.

This comment would have deterred me from this particular business.