Years of Reviews Disappearing from Yahoo

Yahoo is an afterthought in many business’ online marketing mix, but it still generates a ton of traffic and Yahoo Local still wields a lot of influence on consumers. That’s why some small businesses are up in arms about developments since Yelp and Yahoo got together. From the Wall Street Journal:

A recent deal by Yelp Inc.  to provide business listings for Internet searches on Yahoo Inc. is getting bad reviews from some small-business owners, who say years of positive feedback from customers have vanished from Yahoo.

Colonial Hardwood Flooring of Lexington, Mass., amassed six years of mostly positive feedback on its Yahoo Local listing, says owner Dan Tringale. But several weeks ago, after Yahoo began posting reviews from Yelp, nearly 50 Yahoo reviews disappeared, he says.

Potential customers searching Yahoo won’t see a 2012 recommendation that Carla Fortmann confirms she and her husband wrote: “This floor is beautiful and it was very carefully done.” Nor will Yahoo searchers find a June 2012 review from Regina Sasso, of Wilmington, Mass., who says Colonial “provided a competitive quote and delivered meticulous service and work.”

Such praise has been replaced by a single, punctuation-challenged Yelp review, from the “Paul M” screen name, “Respected budget got difficult stain taken care of very attentive and house got an offer opening weekend.”…

Since mid-March, new reviews about a business posted on Yelp replace reviews that had been posted on Yahoo Local, the Web portal’s own consumer-review tool. Until a new Yelp review is posted, the Yahoo reviews remain. The listing changes apply for desktop, smartphone and tablet users, as well as for search results on Yahoo Maps.