The Convergence of Local and Vertical

Currently, local and vertical search lack a common structure and platform to bind them together in any meaningful manner. But soon, they will unite, sharing local business information as a common foundation. They'll be fueled by the aggregation of rich, structured, local business content.
Google and Yahoo are busy working on solutions. They are asking businesses to directly contribute information, they're buying data from vertical providers, and they're crawling and displaying data from authorities on the Web.

http://www.clickz.com/experts/search/local_search/article.php/3588611