Yahoo took the route of its official blog Wednesday, to announce the partnership with Yelp, which will add reviews and ratings to the Local Search and Yahoo Maps.
Yahoo, the internet search company, is using various techniques to attract web users from its competition, Google and Microsoft. In its latest effort, Yahoo announced that its Local Search and Maps services will feature Yelp's local business listings, user-generated reviews and photos. The incorporation was announced Wednesday, along with the confirmation of Yahoo-Yelp partnership, a month after sources originally leaked the deal.
According to an earlier report from the Wall Street Journal, sources revealed that CEO Marissa Mayer announced the collaboration in an internal staff meeting, last month. The company has plans to incorporate Yelp's reviews and ratings in its search results in the coming weeks. The latest announcement by the company's senior director of product management, Anand Chandrasekaran, confirmed the integration of Yelp's ratings.
"At Yahoo, we're always looking to build great partnerships to provide a richer experience for our users," Chandrasekaran said in the blog post. "That's why we're especially fired up to add trusted user content from Yelp, bringing more business listings, more photos, and more reviews to the recently-refreshed Local Search and Yahoo Maps experiences. With information and photos for retail chains, mom and pop shops, spas, doctors and hospitals, restaurants, and more, Yelp is a welcome addition to our roster of local content partners."
The incorporation of Yelp's user reviews will only be seen in Yahoo's services in the United States. The company did not reveal if and when the integration will be seen in other international markets. The partnership will favor both companies as Yahoo will be able to attract more users for its search engine and Yelp can generate more revenue, along with a polished brand for its appearance in Yahoo results.
Yahoo has been on its biggest transition since its new CEO took control in 2012. Changes like updated Mail and Finance, a new Yahoo News Digest and magazines for food and tech and acquisition of more than 30 startups were seen in the last two years. Yahoo ranks third in the Internet search, behind Google and Microsoft's Bing. Boosting search traffic for Yahoo has been on top of the list for Mayer and frequent updates and changes favor her decision. Most recently, Yahoo also stopped supporting third-party log-ins, forcing users to either use their existing Yahoo IDs or create a new one to access its services.
