Along with their existing Yelp and local Yahoo shortcut at the top of each page, this gives local businesses even more exposure across the Yahoo! search engine.

Yahoo! launched their SearchMonkey project earlier this year to open up and improve the data provided in their search results. It allows users to create search applications (like CitySearch and Zagat) that pull data from other sites across the web to enhance specific search queries.

Enabling these applications by default means Yahoo! now provides relevant data from CitySearch and Zagat in their results. For small business, this means if your local business is listed in these directories, you'll receive additional exposure on Yahoo! search.

The application pulls details like hours of operation, addresses, phone numbers, reviews, maps and images for millions of restaurants. An example of an enhanced CitySearch listing is below:



If you're a local business, there are a number of ways you can take advantage of this:

• Ensure you have listings in Yahoo Local, Yelp, CitySearch and Zagat


• Add as much detail as possible about your business to improve your listing in Yahoo! results


• Encourage customers to write reviews and leave comments about your business on these sites.

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