Paid Yahoo Listings - I Need This, Right?

[SSFCU]

With the help of a 3rd party contractor, our company has been claiming and curating local listings for several months across dozens of advised platforms. After months of nightmares with Yahoo support, I see that they no longer support free basic local listings and you must buy enhanced listings at $9.95.

I'm correct in proposing this to my supervisors, right? We have 70 locations so that's a pretty penny (and have already dropped some funds on our initial efforts), but isn't this a necessity? Not just because it's a top 3 search engine, that it's a major part of the local ecosystem, but that they also have partnered with Yelp and are ramping up their local search efforts?

I know there are new tools out there right now (Moz Local, Yext, Locu, etc.), but I only need Yahoo and they don't fit in with our needs at this time.

Please advise - thank you!

[Atlanta-SMO]

I don't see why you "NEED" Yahoo.  We don't use them for our clients and other SEO companies that I am close with don't use them.  Why do you feel you need to use Yahoo and pay them?  Google has the majority of search traffic.  Yahoo is just a little blip in comparison.  I am curious as to why you feel so strongly?  Especially after you stated "After months of nightmares with Yahoo support, I see that they no longer support free basic local listings and you must buy enhanced listings at $9.95."

[SSFCU]

To name a few reasons ...

The 2013 Local Search Ecosystems

Yahoo to Partner With Yelp on Local Search

Boost Your Online Presence with Local Business Listings

[Atlanta-SMO]

Looking at that info I would hands down go with Google Local.  Then YP, Yelp, Superpages, Foursquare (all which offer free listings that will get you the results they are referring to.)

Yahoo Local isn't really a player at all with Apple and that is something to think about.

I just don't see why paying Yahoo is worth it.  They are not a major player in local search. Nobody I know uses them.  Even the people I know who use Yahoo mail don't use them for search.

[SSFCU]

Yep, we've done all of that.

Just making sure I've done my due diligence. And I was just advised by a trusted source that purchasing those Yahoo listings is, essentially, ill-advised.

This is why I love Moz.

[SSFCU]

Jimmy,

How about Apple Maps? That's one thing I haven't looked at ...

[Atlanta-SMO]

Hey Sarah,

If you are targeting Apple, go with Yelp and/or Yext.  They are the major players in the Apple world.

[SSFCU]

Cool. Thanks.

[hecklerponics]

Greetings Sarah,Yahoo tries to get you to pay for listings, but you can still create a free listing and claim it with a post card (just like g-local).

It is hidden on their page, but you can find it here: https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/local-listings/

Bottom-right hand option is what you'll want.

[SSFCU]

Hi Bryan,

I am currently using that option. Unfortunately, they no longer offer customer service to free listings and I require a lot of assistance. Of my 70 locations, there are many, many that need help. For one, the PINs our locations are receiving for verification purposes aren't even working. Other listings are rejected, pending forever, etc. and I have no idea why and have no means for finding out.

Thanks,
Sarah

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Sarah,
Good discussion going on here. If you feel you need to pay for support, then I suppose you'll have to pay for it. I want to add to this discussion a recommendation that you check out a couple of posts of 2013 by Nyagoslav Zhekov on the state of Yahoo! Local. Their local product definitely has some issues:

http://www.ngsmarketing.com/yahoo-starts-pushing-yext-powerlistings-white-labeled-aggressively/

http://www.ngsmarketing.com/yahoo-local-little-care/

Hope these provide some extra food for thought!

[SSFCU]

Thank you Miriam - good stuff! I did feel strongly until I started asking around. Now I'm on the fence. I'm getting the impression they aren't a big enough player to justify the investment, although I initially thought the recent Yahoo announcements meant this could change. Maybe I assumed too much too soon. Maybe we wait it out. The fact that it's a top search engine also had me assuming hands-down this was a necessity. Glad to have a place to throw out these questions.

[DonnaDuncan]

Wondering why the new Moz Local tool bothers to include Yahoo then? Why don't we just drop it entirely if "they are not a major player in local search"? Are there other players listed in the Moz Local tool that we can ignore as well?

[SSFCU]

Donna, Yahoo isn't included in Moz Local. Unless I'm missing something ...

Update: I based that on the page where they list their partners, which does not include Yahoo. I guess even though they aren't a partner, you can populate your Yahoo listings with this tool? If so, I apologize for the misinformation.

[DonnaDuncan]

Hi Sarah.

Fast response! Thanks.

When I use the check listing functionality, I see Yahoo listed on the bottom right.

D

[SSFCU]

I'm not in the tool, so I'll leave that to those in the know. However, to clarify you can still do free basic listings. So maybe that's what they're doing, and that's what you're seeing.

I'm referring to whether I should pay for listings so that I can get the specialized attention I need for 70 locations that are giving me grief. So it's within that frame that we are weighing whether they carry enough influence to be worth it.