• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, December 8, 2010

Yahoo has launched an updated version of Yahoo local that includes news and information, events and deals down to the level of city neighborhoods. The hyper-local push now in beta testing spans more than 30 neighborhoods and cities in the U.S., including San Francisco, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale in California; Brooklyn, NY; and Birmingham, Ferndale and Royal Oak in Michigan.

Yahoo says the effort includes content drawn from "the best local blogs and newspapers" as well as its own editors and the Yahoo Contributor Network, built on its acquisition of Associated Content earlier this year. Yahoo will also plug in nearby deals through its recently launched Local Offers program centralizing deals from partners including Groupon, LivingSocial, Gilt City and BloomSpot.

In a blog post announcing the upgraded Yahoo Local, the company also promised it would afford new ad opportunities. "As we build out the experience, we're exploring and experimenting with various advertising solutions that will enable our advertising partners to reach their target users," wrote Matt Idema, VP of Yahoo Local.

The revamped Yahoo Local is available on the desktop as well as on the iPhone and Android devices to start.