Google, Yelp walk away from talks

TechCrunch first reported that Google was poised to buy Yelp for as much as a half-billion dollars, but now the parties have walked away from the talks — possibly because of the leaked TechCrunch story in the first place.

The news of a possible acquisition (which could still happen) sent shockwaves through the local interactive media space. It goes without saying, it would make Google an enormous local force, unmatched by anyone. In the SMB advertising space, scale is everything, and the mobile implications alone would be enormous.