YellowPages.com has taken the plunge and is offering user-generated business reviews on its national IYP. Here is the release for more details.

While YPC is not the first IYP to offer user-generated reviews, its decision does provide more evidence of a shift taking place. Directory publishers are getting over the notion that an advertiser-supported business model and honest user-generated content are incompatible. In print maybe, but online users are in control, and that is widely understood.

To help make the transition, YPC is emphasizing how ratings and reviews are a great way to generate leads for advertisers. The IYP also offers advertisers guidelines “effectively responding to poor reviews and getting the most out of positive reviews.”

We will write more in next week’s Local Media Journal.

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