• Natural Search Blog , Friday, November 16, 2007 12:30 PM

Idearc Media rolled out new user-generated features for Superpages.com last week, allowing searchers to upload pics of the businesses, and giving the companies themselves a mini blog space adjacent to their listing. This is in addition to the standard rating and review options that were previously available, and comes roughly a month after the Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) service moved its local video ads out of beta phase.

According to Chris Silver Smith, all of these features add up to a potent Web 2.0 cocktail, and push Superpages.com to the head of the local search pack when it comes to innovation.

Users have a myriad of choices when it comes to local search, from social networking hybrids like Yelp, to standards like Google Maps, a host of IYPs and even newspaper-backed services like Gannett/Tribune's Metromix.

While the features may be underused at the moment, Smith thinks that searchers will likely adopt them over time -- and that the dominant local search provider will ultimately be the one who most seamlessly integrates user-generated and business-supplied info.

Read the whole story at Natural Search Blog »