Microsoft Joins Yelp in Online Restaurant Listing War

Microsoft has announced a new partnership with Yelp, in which the company's Bing search engine will feature Yelp's business reviews in its local searches. Earlier this week, Apple also announced it would use Yelp reviews on its new mapping service and has previously integrated Yelp with Siri.

All of these are seen as a response to Google teaming up with Zagat; the search behemoth picked up the user-generated restaurant guide last year for $151 million and recently announced it would feature the guide in search results. In the battle that local and mobile listings — especially in restaurants/bars/etc — the lines are being drawn: Yelp/Apple/Microsoft and then Google/Zagat. Gentlemen, place your bets. Here's a press release:

Yelp To Bring More Content To Bing Local Search

SAN FRANCISCO, June 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP), the company that connects consumers with great local businesses, today announced it will begin featuring content on Bing Local search pages. The new "Powered by Yelp" experience will begin rolling out today, with full U.S. availability in the coming weeks.

Yelp will surface content including, review snippets, photos, business attributes, and more, to Bing users in the U.S. This content will be featured prominently on relevant Bing Local pages, presenting information to help consumers do more with businesses near them.

"Yelp has become the leading destination for local information and we're thrilled that established brands like Bing recognize the value that Yelp communities bring to the local search experience," said Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO and co-founder, Yelp. "We are excited to see how Bing fans respond to this new local search experience powered by Yelp."

"Whether it's discovering the right restaurant, planning the evening's entertainment or finding local services, Yelp has emerged as a proven and trusted resource," said Mike Nichols, general manager, Bing. "Enabling people to do more with search involves building a spectrum of features and data that people trust, and teaming up with Yelp is another important step in helping Bing deliver great value to customers."

With the collaboration, Yelp will provide fresh, reliable and highly sought after content as a trustworthy brand for consumers who are looking to make an informed decision.

· Yelp To Bring More Content To Bing Local Search [Press Release]
· Yelp Serves Restaurant Reviews to Microsoft's Bing [AP]
· All Yelp Coverage on Eater [-E-]