The Onion Decider: Time To Get Out Of Local Search?

I started flipping houses in Venice, CA in 1999.  Back then any idiot could buy a house, hold it for a few months, paint it and resell it for a $50K profit.  Needless to say every idiot eventually figured this out and started doing it.  Suddenly it wasn’t so easy.

Local search is starting to feel a bit like that, without the profit part.  For instance today I learned that The Onion has launched a local search site called Decider.  It’s basically what you’d expect (restaurant, bar and entertainment guides) and it generally matches up with what I would guess The Onion’s audience is (20-something males) and it’s probably a good strategy (sort of reminds me of the ads in the back of comic books), but at the same time it feels like a turning point for the industry.

What’s next?  National Lampoon’s Dentist Reviews?  Paris Hilton’s Home Improvement Directory?  Lindsay Lohan’s DUI Attorney Finder?