Microhoo & Local Search

Might as well pile on the Microsoft/Yahoo bandwagon and add my $0.02.

In a previous post on the new & improved Google local search results I implied that certain Yellow Pages companies might be getting a little agida at the prospect of Google pushing their sites farther down in the organic search results listings. Now with the news that Microsoft may be acquiring Yahoo that agida might turn into more of an ulcer.

In short, this means a consolidation of control over consumers and advertisers. The YPs are competing for the attention of both. They have certainly taken a hit on the consumer side – my first local search usually starts with Google. Their advertiser relationships have seemed like the place where they were going to make their stand.

If the deal goes through there will now be one less place for the YPs to go to get traffic for their advertisers. Less competition could lead to higher prices for those eyeballs. If I am AT&T or another large YP player I am looking at the check I am going to have to write GOOG or Microhoo over the next decade and thinking I’d rather write that check to myself. I am not sure how well an AT&T could execute post-purchase and there are certainly a lot of assets that don’t quite fit strategically, but my guess is there are a lot of investment bankers tweaking up their powerpoint presentations this morning.

More on YSoft local from Greg Sterling and a great MSN/Yahoo SEO analysis of the deal from Aaron Wall.

Thanks to Dan Appleman for having a logo that I could appropriate.