CitySearch now permits users narrow searches down for local merchants, all the way to the neighborhood level.
The city-based directory and restaurant/retailer review site added thousands of geographic spots beyond its previous 140 metro areas, so users can drill down to about 75,000 different "neighborhoods," ClickZ reports.
The change was made "from a consumer point of view," meaning Citysearch sought to improve usability, not necessarily ad placement — although the change will likely make it easier for brick-and-mortar merchants to target more relevant users. A dry cleaner on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, for instance, does not need to reach consumers that live across the park, but would benefit from targeting potential customers in its own neighborhood.
To make the service more social, CitySearch decided in July to forego the development of proprietary social tools and add only Facebook functionality to the site. Members of the social network can now log in to Citysearch from their Facebook accounts, locate friends that use the site and read their reviews. They can also share their own reviews of local businesses from their Facebook feed.
CitySearch also sought to make the site portable — that is, easy for people to access and use on their smartphone. Changes to the mobile site include more prominent placement of the most popular businesses/reviews, the ability to send listings and ratings to other mobile devices, and immediate posting capability so a user can review of a local venue, service, or eatery directly from their phone.
Video and photo uploading is reportedly coming early next year. The company will also release a native iPhone application around the same time, reports ReadWriteWeb.
Local listings got a boost last month when Yahoo announced plans to integrate results from local directories — including CitySearch — in organic search results. Earlier this year, CitySearch signed deals with AOL to distribute content and advertising across AOL CityGuide, Local Search and MapQuest. It also partnered with Marchex to spread content on its 150,00 geo-centric sites.
