• Search Engine Watch, Friday, January 12, 2007 11:31 AM

As Yahoo's user growth stalls, the Web giant is being forced to refocus its efforts on better monetization. We know that Project Panama is expected to ramp up search engine marketing sales, but what about other business sectors?

"We're spending a lot of time thinking about social media at Yahoo," said Frazier Miller, director of product management at Yahoo Local. You might be wondering what those social features are exactly, since Yahoo has often been criticized in the press for its failure to enter (in any significant capacity) the burgeoning social-networking market.

In its own way, user contributions to Yahoo Local have actually become a significant way to mine data--their contributions add to the richness of the product and give Yahoo more user information to sell to advertisers.

Recalling the days of old when Yahoo was basically a series of categories, user contributions have expanded on its city and neighborhood pages, adding lists, like "The Bay Area for Kids," as well as user ratings and reviews of restaurants, businesses and services. They can even update a listing's contact information or add more information about a given business. These social features not only add content, but they also help Yahoo generate its local rankings for Yahoo Maps.

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