SuperMedia Debuts Relevancy-Based Search
Quietly, SuperMedia is rolling out a new approach to online search. If you look on Switchboard.com today, you’ll notice that search results are presented differently from before. Now, Switchboard’s top results based on relevancy are plotted on a map (this might look familiar), with the remaining results pushed further down the page.
This represents the beginning of a shift from inclusion-based results to relevancy results across SuperMedia’s properties.
SuperMedia’s Robyn Rose told us earlier this week that Switchboard and LocalSearch.com often act as test beds for the SuperPages IYP mothership, so we won’t see SuperMedia switch over to relevancy until any kinks are worked out on the secondary properties. Rose didn’t commit to a timetable for launching the new approach on SuperPages.
Here is how results used to look.
And here is how they appear now.
AT&T has already done the same thing with YP.com / YellowPages.com. (See http://www.yp.com)
Seeing a company in the shape of SuperMedia take a step that will favor relevancy over revenue is interesting. It’s too bad they have lost their consumer traffic. The IYP ship has sailed and taking on water.
Wow. They added a map. How original. (Yawn)
I agree with SuperMediocre. This company has been putting us to sleep for years. That could be the strategy as Klien stuffs his pockets. Bernie move over…
Wow it is surprising to read these comments. I don’t know if you are bitter ex-employees or what has caused all the animosity. But, I recently became an advertiser for 2 of the businesses I own and was surprised at the increase in calls I recieved by advertising in not only their Dallas yellow pages but on Superpages.com. I had heard nothing but bad things about the company, but when a sales rep called and their prices were a fraction of At&t’s I thought, for the minimal investment I want to try it for myself. And I’ve been happy. So, I may not be an expert on the subject but coming from an advertiser, they arn’t as bad as comptitors lead you to believe.