MySpace Local Launches (with help from CitySearch)

MySpace has launched a local section of their site, using Citysearch data (although it looks more like a White Label than Co-Brand integration). Most of it seems focused on reviews, which puts them in competition with Yelp as a local social review site. I'm not sure if the reviews will be 2-way (publishing back to CitySearch), though I imagine they won't, as MySpace tries to build some footprint in the area. I think this makes a lot of sense for MySpace, to keep users on the site, provide them more valuable content and information to share, and CitySearch is the right partner for them. There are a lot of local content providers they could have worked with, but looking at MySpace's core demo, the categories that most YP providers focus on (home services, dentists, doctors, etc) are not as relevant as Restaurants and Entertainment, which are CitySearch's focus. It will be interesting to watch what happens with this, but it could be really successful.

MySpace and Citysearch Team Up to Challenge Yelp

Local Web Advertising is Slowing Down

All advertising spending will be going down in the next few years, with the state of the economy. Rates for ad space are decreasing and there are fewer people looking to buy. Even local, which had been the fastest-growing part of the online ad market, is looking at a decrease in spending, if this articles is correct (not just a slowing of growth but a decrease).

Local Web-Ad Market Cools Down - WSJ.com

Writeup of 15 Local iPhone Apps

Yelp is still the best in my view, though the Google Earth one is pretty sweet as well...

15+ FREE iPhone Apps to Navigate Your World

Local Video Spam!

Leave it to MerchantCircle to figure out how to game the system. They've done a big deal with Spotzer (similar to Spotrunner, etc - produce local videos) to produce thousands and thousands of video ads for local businesses. They'll use the businesses information to create the ads, but from the looks of the sample, they aren't doing any customization or adding any information, real value, or real images or video of the business. Here's the text from the sample ad (a home theater store in Tennessee):

"When it comes to shopping, it's not easy to find just the right thing. Well look no further. We've got what you're looking for" (business name, phone number, city state and zip shown at the end - no street address)

So, what's the point of these ads, since they don't really provide any information on the business. They don't even include the street address, just a phone number (most likely a tracking number) and City information? The point is to be taken in by Google as "video spam", hoping Google will index the city information and phone number. If a user looking for information does see this, they'll have to call the number or click through to get any real information. This is what makes it spam. No real value or information, just there to fool Google. Let's hope they're too smart for this. But that's MerchantCircle for you.

MerchantCircle and Spotzer Partner for SMB Vids « Screenwerk

Search Insider Recommends Yahoo! Buy RH Donnelly

What should Yahoo! do? How can they improve their business? How can they undo the major mistake they made in not selling to MSFT? Lots of people have their opinions, but according to the Search Insider column (via Greg Sterling), one of the recommendations is for them to buy a yellow pages company, specifically RHD. Why not Idearc? Not sure, any more than I'm sure why Barron's recommended RHD stock vs. Idearc.

But what this shows is that there are potential synergies between Search companies and Yellow Pages companies. Search, like many Internet businesses, has trouble getting a critical mass of small businesses. Yellow Pages companies have those relationships (and long-term established ones), but for the most part, don't have the Internet products to go with them. The question is going to be, does a Search company want to take a huge cut on their margins by acquiring a company that has a huge sales force in exchange for increasing their market share? I guess we'll see...

“Buy the Yellow Pages” Returns « Screenwerk

Verticals in the Local Space

A "consultant specializing in vertical development" talks about how the local space has been slow to really build out Vertical sites, focusing on areas like auto, wedding, legal, etc. This is definitely a direction local sites need to go in, and the first site that gets to become a one-stop-shop, with solid content in all the major verticals, along with their core business listings, should gain good traction with users as their default local site. And the good news for all of us who aren't Google is that this is not the kind of thing they do, so the door is open for someone else to step through.

Kelsey Group Blogs » Vertical Slowdown? Teresa Lawlor Discusses Challenges

IYP Reach in the US (according to Google)

Via TechSoapBox:



IYP Reach in the US (according to Google) - Tech Soapbox

Medical Categories Slowly Moving Online

For traditional yellow pages companies, Doctors, Dentists and related categories are huge revenue generators. Online, though, they've been very slow to adopt (as with Real Estate, which we discussed yesterday). Several companies have tried different approaches to bring these categories online, like HealthGrades and several competitors, which offer reviews of medical professionals. Looks like there's another new site moving into this space, called ZocDoc, which has information on doctors, the insurance they accept and allows you to schedule appointments. Like many Local startups, I suspect this one is going to run into a Sales issue, with doctors being very busy people and their front offices not really being equipped to spend their marketing money. Like all categories, this one will eventually be fully engaged online, but for the time being, I think the YPs, IYPs and Google will be the primary resources they'll use.

ZocDoc Gets $3M to Help You Find a Doctor

Advertiser feedback on negative reviews

Today, Greg Sterling asks if the ability for advertisers to provide feedback on negative reviews is the future of reviews. I tend to agree with him that it's the future of online reviews, but it's also the past of reviews. Why do I say that? Because this is what eBay has been doing for years. As we all know, feedback is the key to the success of eBay's marketplace. Without trust in the buyer/seller you're dealing with, their system will not work.

However, as with local sites, one negative review can really impact your business on eBay, so they needed ways to deal with that negative feedback. The first thing they do is that they have the ability for users (sellers especially) to dispute negative feedback, although this ability is used sparingly. The ability for the seller to respond to negative feedback is really the main tool they have to keey their rating solid.

As IYPs and other local sites prepare for the next stage in their evolution, content is going to be critical, and reviews are a big part of that content. Local sites implementing reviews need to make sure they're not just slapped into the site, but that they are built with thought behind them, processes to support them, and the ability to get the advertisers involved and engaged. As we've seen from Merchant Circle's infamous launch strategy, negative feedback on a website is always a strong impetus for advertisers to get involved.

Is This the Future of Online Reviews? « Screenwerk

Self-Storage Reports Strong Profits

This one may be a bit off-topic, but relevant. As we move forward on this blog, we are going to talk a bit more about big local (Print, IYP and Search) categories, as it is relevant.

Storage and Moving and two big categories for us, and they're categories that are undergoing some growth right now, if this story is any indication. In this case, Public Storage has had their profits increase by 500% this quarter (vs last year), mostly due to the housing market. Realtors and Loans are two other big categories for the local space, and ones that are undergoing drastic shifts with the changes in the housing markets. We can probably all look for their investments in advertising to decrease a bit (at least temporarily). However, it looks like storage (and likely moving as well) may pick up some of the slack. Time for local sites to shift focus a bit?

Amid 91201 Foreclosures, Public Storage Inc. Reports Strong Gains | Redfin Los Angeles Sweet Digs

How Google Ranks Local Businesses

Here's a really informative paper on how Google ranks local businesses for their maps site (and I'd assume for other local searches as well).

Local Search Ranking Factors « Screenwerk

Local Shopping on a Mobile Phone and What It Means

One area where there have been relatively few iPhone apps that have launched is the Shopping space. TheFind just launched what I believe to be the first shopping app, and while it's still in private Beta (which means I haven't gotten to test it yet), it got me thinking about what shopping on your phone will be about.

I'm sure sites like Amazon and others will have nice little apps you can use to buy products that are available on their websites (basically just extensions of their sites), but I think the real impact of these kinds of applications will be on brick and mortar prices. When shoppers go into stores and see prices now, they often don't have any basis for comparison (although many do check the price online before they go into the store). Some stores have kiosks in the store where you can browse their inventory, but a few (Best Buy comes to mind) have a different website for in-store purchases which may have prices that are different from their websites.

That's where mobile shopping could be really powerful. As a consumer, you can now enter a store with a mobile device that will show you prices for an item from all retailers. You will now have immediate transparency to whether you are getting a good deal from a retailer or not. As this gets more user penetration, if the prices at retailers are significantly different from online (taking into account things like sales tax and shipping), users will shift even more purchases online. So, this will force retailers to make their brick and mortar prices more competitive with online and should cause price parity across sources (of/when consumer penetration and usage is achieved). Could be the start of something big.

Local Shopping Coming To A Mobile Phone Near You

WSJ Discusses Borrell Local Report

The WSJ discussed the Borrell report I mentioned yesterday, although focusing on it from a newspaper perspective. The long and short of it is that they say newspapers are trying to train their sales forces to sell online ads, but when they do that, they cannibalize print (which as we know is higher priced and higher margin). Craigslist is eating their lunch on Classifieds, Google and others are taking share of local traffic and they are having a tough time. Doesn't sound good...

Newspapers Think Locally for Online Ads - WSJ.com

iPhone Apps - 4 of Top 5 are Local

There are now over 1000 apps in the iPhone store and if you look at the top 5, 4 of them are local applications:
1. Google (the only non-local)
2. UrbanSpoon, with its cool "shake me and get a surprise result" feature
3. BoxOffice, with an easy to use local movie time application and Rotten Tomatoes critic ratings
4. WeatherBug
5. Yelp, which in my view has the nicest local implementation, with the ability to easily search near you, a map view, and the ability to read every review in detail (so many apps do shortcut reviews, including the iTunes store, which doesn't give you anything beyond the star rating

It really seems that the iPhone is the platform that will finally drive broad acceptance of mobile applications and mobile search. Approx 10MM iPhones are out there in the US right now and with their ease-of-use and full-time access to the Internet, they will become the local platform of choice. And they're just scratching the surface of what they can do.

» Local Mobile Search