I just got off the phone with Yahoo! prompted by a desire to clarify the information presented in my post below.
Here’s what I now understand:
- Ratings (stars) always matter and factor into the presentation of ranked local results in Shortcuts/Direct Display and Yahoo! Local.
- Most of the time the local results presented in search results and in Yahoo! Local will be identical (top three) but not 100% of the time.
- Reviews/review text don’t factor as a weighted variable in the algorithm for the presentation of local results via Shortcuts but may, on occasion, play a part in the ordering of results on Yahoo! Local.