Yahoo! Redefines the Local Search Experience With New Neighborhood Focus; Yahoo! Local Brings Breadth and Depth of Local Community Knowledge to the Web

Business Wire, August 17, 2005

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today introduced the next generation of Yahoo! Local (http://local.yahoo.com). Yahoo! now connects users with local information via a host of new features such as interactive maps that highlight local establishments, along with user reviews about the business or service and popular searches by city and local event listings. Building on Yahoo!'s position as the No. 1 destination for local information and consistent with Yahoo!'s broader search vision, the redesigned Yahoo! Local provides users with a forum to find, use, share and expand information about their favorite city or neighborhood.

Yahoo! Local has redefined the local search experience by focusing on content and community. The ratings and reviews platform leverages Yahoo!'s relationship with more than 181 million registered users for their insights and expertise about local businesses or services, providing others with valuable information not found in traditional directory listings. This expert neighborhood information is integrated into the appropriate neighborhood categories, enabling Yahoo! Local to capture the voice of the community for major metropolitan cities nationwide.

"The future of local search lies not only in offering highly comprehensive and relevant local search results, but in combining those results with community generated content, and Yahoo! leads the field in the integration of these efforts," said Paul Levine, general manager of Yahoo! Local. "We will continue to bring the human element to local search, leveraging community knowledge to give users more depth and social context in their local online experience."

New Features of Yahoo! Local include:

    --  Search by Neighborhood: The "search by neighborhood" feature
        enables users to easily narrow their search for information by
        neighborhood as an alternative to searching the entire city.
        This feature is available for major metropolitan areas and
        highlights important local information such as:

            --  Comprehensive Local Events: Users can be in touch with
                not only what is around them, but what is going on
                around them. Users now get real time event information
                updates for their locale and surrounding areas.

            --  Top Searches This Week: Top Searches are available by
                city to keep users up to date on what people are
                searching for in their area.

            --  Local Recommendation Showcase: Recent recommendations
                from Yahoo! Local users for popular restaurants and
                other local favorites. Recommended businesses are
                easily viewed on Yahoo! Maps. Additionally, users can
                subscribe to receive recommendation updates directly
                to My Yahoo! or other feed-readers via RSS (Really
                Simple Syndication).

    --  Recent Search History and Personalized Suggestions: Yahoo!
        Local presents recommended suggestions to users based upon
        their interests. The optional feature matches recent search
        activity and recently viewed listings with the top rated local
        community listings.

"As both users and advertisers turn to the Internet to find one another, local becomes increasingly significant," said Greg Sterling, program directory for The Kelsey Group. "Yahoo! is thinking broadly and creatively about both sets of interests and has established a leadership position in the arena."

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and the most trafficked Internet destination worldwide. Yahoo! provides online products and services essential to consumers' lives, and offers a full range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users around the world. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.