E-dreamz Company Blog

I don't personally know a single person who uses the Internet and doesn't champion Google as their preferred search engine. Yahoo and MSN have failed time and time again to improve their search engine technology with hopes to take even a tiny bite of the search engine market share pie. I am pro-Google as much as anyone, but I am growing tired of the media treating every move they make as the Second Coming, while Yahoo, MSN (and even Ask) are continually ripped to shreds for not being up to snuff.

As I was driving home from work yesterday, I heard and pretty much ignored a radio ad for Ask.com (formerly AskJeeves) - as there was nothing in the ad that stood out to make me want to try Ask instead of Google (additionally, I can't respect an engine who asks you to switch from Google, then serves Google's sponsored results as their own). About 10 minutes later, I heard an ad from Yahoo. Not surprisingly, their ad was MUCH smarter and MUCH more compelling than that of Ask. They targeted a specific niche in which they claimed to have better search results than Google - local restaurant searches.

So, I thought I'd research this claim and share my findings here in our all new blog - since I know no one else here really cares, nor does my wife. Come to think of it, pretty much everyone I know's eyes glaze over with extreme disinterest when I discuss what I have been doing for a living for the last 8 years. Anyway, let's do a comparison of Google and Yahoo search results for 'charlotte restaurants':

Google:

Yahoo:

Immediately, I am agreeing with Yahoo's claim in that radio ad. They have categorized the Local Results at the top of the search listings into types of food - American, Italian, Seafood, etc. - while Google groups them all together in a convoluted mess. I know when our System Admin, Buzz, starts talking at 7:45 am (if you have the network and all of our hosting servers running as well as he has them, you get bored quickly) about where we are going to go to lunch, the first step is agreeing on a genre of food. Google does NOTHING to help with this natural first step.

Additionally, Yahoo provides a brief list of the top-rated restaurants. Google merely shows the number of reviews that particular restaurant has received.

If I click on one of the categories in Yahoo, I am sent to a wonderfully informative page that orders the restaurants by ratings and gives me the ability to drill down my search by Ambiance, Location, Distance To, etc. Google, of course, has no categories. If I want to compare ratings, I have to click on 'Local Business Results..' link (not very intuitive) and THEN I can sort by cuisine, neighborhood, ratings, etc. Quite frankly Google, this is a step too late, and it is not even remotely clear how to get to this step. I would assume that most searchers will click on each individual listing, check out that restaurant's website, then click 'Back', click on the next restaurant - and repeat the process numerous times.

Google formats their local results the same whether you are looking for a local mortgage broker or a local restaurant. Yahoo has craftily taken the time and put in the effort to differentiate its restaurant results.

If I need to search for a place to eat in the future, I will likely use Yahoo. Congrats to Yahoo on finding a niche in which they ARE better than Google, adroitly placing the radio ad, and winning over at least one long-time Google evangelist. Who knows, Yahoo may even gain a full percentage point in market share next month.

In these tough economic times, restaurants are struggling to stay afloat. If you are a restaurant in Charlotte or ANYWHERE, immediately make sure you are listed and reviewed in Yahoo Local. Being listed in Google Local and MSN Local wouldn't hurt either.

Share this: