Yahoo Searchmonkey widgets are now live in the search results.

What does this mean? It means that Yahoo has beat Google to third party widgets in search results. It means that those of you who ignored SearchMonkey can no longer do so.

I think in a larger sense what it means is that Yahoo is now going to have more widespread discussion of it’s developer products.

They will also enjoy the free press of such a public and search shattering move.

Oh and local SEO? Cha-cha-cha-cha- changes. Reviews will become quite highlighted and public, and Yelp will reap the rewards as will other companies embracing the Searchmonkey. Look at these results for “Honolulu sushi“. (fifteen percent click thru ratio jump for the pretty searchmonkey results)

Let’s look at what we are talking about, below is a search for a restaurant name…

The Yelp review result has a photo and and other information such as star ratings etc. This is automatically happening, mind you. No subscribing necessary as of July 31st.

This is a very big move.

How far behind is Google on this? Let me tell you. Google subscribed links have existed for years but they still do not show up in results, whereas Yahoo took a project from launch to live in results in less than three months.

I was at the launch party at Yahoo headquarters and it seems like just a few weeks ago.

The commitment they had to this project was very clear from the get go, but I am amazed how quickly they did this. Well done Yahoo!

To learn more about Yahoo SearchMonkey go here.

Vanessa Fox covers this issue more in depth here.

If you need searchmonkey development you can email me for references. If you are doing searchmonkey development, contact me. I am in a project that will rock but needs lots of people.