Yellowpages.com today joined the ranks of local search providers that have an SMS-based mobile local search application. Similar to Google SMS and Yahoo! Mobile (and one from Starbucks), any cellphone user can send a business name or category in a text message to YP411 (97411) to receive the three top listings for that term.

Users with WAP Internet-enabled phones can click on the phone number in the results to call the business, or click on the Web link to be taken out of the SMS interface to their WAP browser where they can view maps and directions. As far as I know, Google’s and Yahoo!’s SMS local search offerings don’t have this capability.

This should tie together nicely with other mobile services Yellowpages.com has rolled out recently, including a send-to-mobile feature that lets business listings be texted to any cellphone number a user specifies. The company also recently developed a version of its Web site that is optimized for mobile screens and WAP browsers.

This is a smart move for Yellowpages.com to get its feet wet with mobile search in one of its most user-friendly and prevalent forms (next up could be wireless voice search – it currently has an enhanced DA product in certain markets, 1-800-YellowPages). Verizon wireless offers a similar product but only to subscribers (Superpages On The Go). Yellowpages.com will make this available to anyone with a text-enabled phone (in other words, everyone you know).

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