Google vs. Yelp

There are several options for local businesses and customers to become interactive. For instance, Google Local allows businesses to list and update business information, and even create coupons and display videos and photos. Customers can also find local businesses and services. Included in the business listings are maps and comments.

While Google Local is a pretty enhanced web directory, it is not the only one. Yelp is a great local business directory also. Like Google Local, it includes a search feature to find local businesses and services. It also includes the Google Map feature that is integrated in the Google Local directory. Yelp includes a business and service list directory that a user can click instead of typing the search material. Once the desired search topic is found, the results are ordered based on user recommendations. While Google Local is more business centered with its enhanced features such as a toolbar that features satellite and traffic information, Yelp is more customer-centered. It's features include more interactivity. For example, Yelp has a review of the day, blogs, and a twitter-like feature called "yelpers."

Although Google Local has awesome enhancements for local businesses and customers, I found that besides the map, the site was quite boring compared to Yelp. Yelp had very entertaining features for customers. The business guide was also comparable to Google Local Business Center. It included the same capabilities for free. The only thing that I found hassling with Yelp was that in order to receive the same capabilities as Google Local Business Center, you had to sign up with an email account to manually add your business to the list. Google Local is like the phone directory in that sense because it lists all businesses.