Local Search Archives

A Google Groups thread has discussion on the topic of dynamically creating pages to target localized searches. For example, this particular webmaster wants to be able to target 28 different zip codes for his client's A/C business. He summarizes what he wants to do:

Johns A/C does work in 28 different zip codes. He creates 28 webspages, page names reflect the township AC_service_City_zip.htm, meta tags reflect city, zip such as Johns AC serivce serving the "City" and "zip code" area. Then the body is a template and the city and zip are filled in for each city/zip area.

This way when someone does a search for AC service "zipcode" or "city" there is a good chance his page will be included.

This was a popular SEO tactic years and years ago. These days, it is much harder to rank well for terms using the automated city database methodology. We actually covered some of the databases you can purchase to accomplish this back in 2005. But is this legit?

According to Google, no it is not. In fact, Googler, Reid, said that the manner in which this webmaster wants to go, seems to be a "doorway page." Reid said:

I agree with webado in this scenario. If the body of these pages is a template and the only thing that changes is the city and zip code, this sounds a lot like doorway pages:

google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=66355

Why push the limit on how much duplicate content a page can have? Pages with unique content often perform the best in Google's search results, are better for users, which in turn, is probably better for your business.

Your best bet in this situation is to create useful and unique content for each page. How? Well, take a look at some of the major local portals and see how much effort they put into their localized pages.

But would you consider these to be doorway pages? Google defines a doorway page as:

Doorway pages are typically large sets of poor-quality pages where each page is optimized for a specific keyword or phrase. In many cases, doorway pages are written to rank for a particular phrase and then funnel users to a single destination.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Ever since Google launched Universal Search, SEMs have been trying to leverage it to get their site into the first position within the vertical search engine that is ranking in the top slot.

So for searches like new york hotel where Google Local results dominate the top of the first page, securing a spot in those results may be critical to your SEO campaign for those search terms.

One webmaster posted a thread at WebmasterWorld that suggests his local result, along with the 8 other competitors of his, were "hacked" out of the listing. He explained that a new site popped out of no where, somehow displaying all the other sites. He did notice this weird behavior:

I checked the reviews for the site which has appeared all of a sudden and all of the 475 reviews are guest reviews for a large local hotel. It looks like someone has somehow hacked the local business listing for the hotel and changed the contact info to their own.

Forum administrator, Tedster, thinks it may be a data import issue - while some others feel it may be some sort of Google Maps spam.

This has been reported to Google and they are looking into the issue. Google maps is known to be plagued with spam issues.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

A WebmasterWorld thread asks how much of an impact will a site see if it is moved from a Dubai host to a USA based host? The answer is not really all that known.

This webmaster's main concern is that he receives "80% of traffic from UAE and have lots of content and back links related to UAE." He wants to continue to receive higher rankings in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) regions. He is concerned that by moving his site to a host in the US, it will drop his rankings for searches conducted in the United Arab Emirates region.

Senior member, wheel, said that when he moved a site from one country into the US, he said Google has yet to pick up on that change. He said, he had a "heck of a time getting Google to realize it was a US site." Wheel explained that the site still comes up for "country specific searches" in the old region.

The overall recommendation is that the webmaster continue to obtain links from the UAE region. Plus, if possible, specific in Google Webmaster Tools that the site is specific towards that UAE region. But before doing that, Tedster warns, specifying the region in Webmaster Tools may result in you "forfeiting a lot of international traffic."

I'll track this thread and write a new post based on the results seen by this specific webmaster.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google's Local Business Center, the place businesses go to add or edit their local business listing at Google Maps, is having some major technical issues.

A single post by Google Maps Guide at Google Groups really sums it up quickly:

We understand some users are encountering system errors in the Local Business Center. We're working quickly to resolve these issues. Stay tuned for an update!

Mike Blumenthal's blog has been recently covering some of the major changes and glitches with the local business center.

In short, if you are eager to make changes to your business's listing - I would wait it out a week or so. Or at least until you see the Google Maps Guide update this Google Groups thread with good news.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

David Mihm spent a considerable amount of time compiling a great local search ranking factors guide where he talks about the various factors that influence local search. In the document, you can see the emphasis on a variety of optimization techniques, including how experts weigh in on the importance of city/state in title tags, address/phone number in contact page, location keyword in website URL, participation in local Pay Per Click, and more. It's a very comprehensive guide and is extremely informative. David, this is awesome :)

Most forum members agree that this is a great piece of information. While there's a bit of disagreement in some of the areas, overall, the document has been very well-received.

I suggest you check it out.

Forum discussion continues at Sphinn.

Google Universal Search has been around for a while now. But today, Sam asked me to look at a search for scuba diving, which shows the local results smack in the middle of the page. Now, Sam (via Tamar) did not see that, same saw a box at the top that shows "Looking for local results for scuba diving? Enter location."

Let me first show you what Sam saw, which I can replicate using a different browser, a browser I did not use to search with Google Maps in.

Now, on my primary browser, where I use Google Maps and have a default location, I don't get that box. I get the results immediately, in the middle of the page, which is classic Universal Search. But, there is a slight change, it adds "near 2 executive blvd., 10901 change location," which is my location. Here is a screen capture:

If I click on the "change location," I get this:

Then clicking "back to results" brings back the previous screen.

Going back to Sam's example above. Google will ask you for your location, when it doesn't know it. You do not need to be logged into Google. You just need to have searched with a default location on Google Maps in the past to see the map pop up. If you have not, then Google will ask you for your location. When you enter it into the web search results in Sam's example above, then Google will show you a map at the top and not in the middle of the page. But, if you search again, Google may show you the map in the middle of the page, depending on the query.

Forum discussion at Search Engine Roundtable Forums.

Last week Yahoo added a nifty feature to Yahoo Local Search. For example, let's say you are looking for the nearest ATM machine. You can type in ATM, and then your zip code. But you won't be shown the nearest ATM within an X mile radius always.

Yahoo let's you plot the diameter of the circle and drop the center of that circle anywhere you want. Yahoo will then refine the local results based on the radius you selected and the center of the circle. Here is a quick video demo:

It doesn't seem like this tool is without bugs. A WebmasterWorld thread reports a blackhole issue.

I went looking for pizza places in Manhattan and noticed certain places disappeared even if you move the circle a hundred yards or so. You'd suddenly find black holes in the middle of Manhattan where there were, according to yahoo, no pizza places. Budge the circle over an eighth of an inch and the same pizza-free streets would suddenly fill with pizza joints, so there's still some work for them to do.

In any event, a unique and interactive solution to searching locally.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

A Google Groups thread confirms that Google Maps is lacking support for a common feature needed both here in the States and overseas, support for multi-language listings.

A Google Groups member asked:

As a multilingual company our website is in more than one language and each language has the same name but different URL. Should I create a listing for each language?

Google's official response is that there is no way to add more than one language URL for a single listing and that you should not add more than one business profile for the same physical address. Google Maps Jen said:

We don't have any way to handle multi-language listings at this point in time, and we strongly encourage businesses to only create one listing per physical address. However, it's a great suggestion to support these types of business listings - maybe we'll be able to support this in the future.

I am pretty sure many local search engines ask for languages spoken at the company when creating a business profile. I am not sure if those are one of the questions asked by Google Local. In any event, if multiple languages are spoken, adding a special URL for each language, should not be too hard.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

You can now enter any category that you feel is best for your company in the category section of your Google Local Business Center listing. In the past, you had to select a specific category that was in Google's database. Now, if the business category is not listed in the database, no worries - you can still enter it.

For example, "web software" is not an available Google Business Local category. But I added it below and clicked "next" with no problem.

I discovered this new feature via a Google Maps Guide post at Google Groups, where Google Maps Guide Jen said:

Up until a few weeks ago it was true that we couldn't create new categories.

However, thanks to your many request, and to our Local Business Center team, you can now enter free form categories for your business in your Local Business Center account.

I believe the category you set in the Google Local Business Center is extremely important in ranking well for local specific results in Google Local and Google Web Search, when universal search kicks in.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Back about 6 months ago, one of the main factors in ranking well in Google Local and other local engines, like Yahoo, was to have your address as close to the center of the city as possible.

A new Search Engine Watch Forums thread comes out showing that this pattern seems to have changed. Whereas once it was the center of the city that seemed to be one of the most important factors in ranking well for specific sets of local searches, now that may not be the case.

Jazajay, Search Engine Watch Forum moderator, has been watching a few local spots for a long time now and has noticed this new pattern based on his Dad's business:

• My dads listing has 1 review in G maps, the bussiness in position A doesn't.
• He has his bussiness name in the title, as I suggested to him, the site above does but listings below him do and don't, agian no noticable pattern.
• My dad's listing doesn't have the category name in nor does the one above it. Listings below do.
• He has submitted to my knowledge to 2 local directories since listing. The competior below and above him has submitted to quiet a few, they are the same listing. Same bussiness that has submitted 2ice.

So I decided to check my local results. I was never number one for web design, 10901 in the local Google results. But now I am:

So what I did was search on 10901 and looked where Google placed the center arrow (green arrow). I then overlaid that arrow on top of the local results for that query, to see which result is the closest to the center of the town (if the center of the city is that arrow, which is my assumption). Take a look:

Based on this, it seems like A, which is me, is not as close as C and B much further than C and the others. So other criteria is now coming into play, possibly ratings, possibly PageRank, possibly other factors.

It has changed, I wasn't always position A for that query and the consensus of the thread suggests Google Local's ranking algorithm has changed.

Forum discussion at Search Engine Watch Forums.

In a post entitled Does Your Business Qualify for Local SEO?, Cre8asite forum member SEOigloo poses the question about whether your business website can take advantage of local SEO. Here's what's necessary:

If the business serves only within a fixed geographic region, Local SEO is a no-brainer for you. You need to optimize the tags, footer, on-page copy for that magic combination of product/service + location, and you need to register your business with the various local business centers and IYPs.

What are the pluses? Beyond regular optimization, she says that "Local SEO can be used as a form of keyword expansion that will get you ranking for additional terms that do relate to your business."

It's also helpful to take advantage of getting your business listed in Google Maps. Sometimes this isn't entirely possible, like when your business doesn't have a physical address, but it should also give you a traffic boost if you do.

Forum discussion continues at Cre8asite Forums.

Mike Blumenthal posted a thread at Google Groups reporting issues with Google Maps not showingCitysearch's content.

Google's official maps representative, Maps Guide Jen, responded that this seems to be a temporary issue between Citysearch and Google.

Citysearch's content is currently missing from Google Maps. We are taking steps to resolve the system error and repost their listings.

Citysearch provides some reviews to Google Maps, to help add content for Google local users.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

A Google Groups thread reported that the bulk upload solution was returning 504 errors and not functioning properly since December 22nd.

Google provides this bulk upload for to allow businesses to easily add their listing to Google Maps. If you have multiple locations, this is the easier way to do so. Yes, this solution has been taken advantage of and Google has been working up solutions to prevent local and map spam from happening too often. But yet, there are concerns of business listing hijackings and other concerns.

In any case, Google Maps Guide Jen, replied to the thread saying it has now been resolved.

This issue should be resolved! Thank you for bringing our attention to it so promptly.

So if you missed this feature, it is now back in action.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Update 1/8/08: This is still not working, an update comes from Google Groups where Maps Guide Jen confirms they are still working on a fix.

Sorry, as you've all noted, it's still broken. Work continues... Thanks for continuing to be patient.

A WebmasterWorld thread points to recent research on mobile search in a document entitled Deciphering Trends in Mobile Search (PDF link).

The Google team (a Ph.D student and senior staff researcher) analyzed data on over 1 million page views from Google logs and found the following:

• The average mobile query was 2.56 words.
• The most popular searches are listed in the chart below:
  
• Mobile queries are less homogeneous which may be attributed to the diversity of mobile users.
• More users are clicking on search results in comparison to 2005.
• There is a reduction in the amount of time it took to enter a query, possibly due to better keyboards or greater experience with mobile devices.

Some of these results come as a shock to users, especially since local searches are not as heavily emphasized as originally thought.

There are some surprises in this research for me - in fact, some of it has me scratching my head in bewilderment. I've always assumed that mobile search would be HEAVILY about Local Search.

But the data may not be completely accurate, as administrator Brett Tabke notes:

As it stands today (just checked) they are not properly detecting several browsers and a mobile browser variations on google.com. This was one of the main topics I talked about down at the mobile conference in Orlando last week. The fact that Google misidentifies Opera, Netfront, BlackBerry/RIM, and Thunderhawk.

Regardless, the findings are interesting and are worth a read if you're interested in mobile search.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Local Launch has been officially acquired by R.H. Donnelley.

Local Launch! is a privately held company and terms of the transaction were not disclosed. R.H. Donnelley does not expect this acquisition to affect the current guidance for full-year 2006 revenue, EBITDA, free cash flow or debt at year-end.

This is huge news for the search community because Local Launch was run by two WebmasterWorld mods. Justin known at WebmasterWorld as Chicago and Brad know at WebmasterWorld as eWhisper(blog here) sold the company to R.H. Donnelley.

It is kinda funny, because bakedjake, Jake Baillie, owner of TrueLocal and also a WebmasterWorld mod said in a joking manner, "Justin and Brad - want a job? :-D"

Everyone is happy for them, even AdWordsAdvisor popped into say congrats!

Justin (Chicago) and Brad (eWhisper) did pop in to thank the community.

Chicago said;

Thanks guys. We appreciate it.
We aren't going anywhere. This is our space. LocalLaunch is our company. And this is our community.

We'll see you in Vegas if not sooner.

Justin

eWhisper said;

Thank you for all the support. It's been a great day.
A big thanks to the entire LocalLaunch family. Many hang out, read, and post here at WebmasterWorld.

See everyone in Vegas.

Brad

Huge congrats to them!

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

The local paid search industry is expected to double in a year, according to a MediaPost report on a Borrell Associates study.

Paid local search is expected to remain the fastest-growing ad category, nearly doubling to $1.8 billion and accounting for almost a quarter of local online ad spending.

So where will the money go? Online Yellow Pages? Major Search Engines (Google Local, Yahoo Local, MSN Local, Ask Local)? Local Search Engines (TrueLocal, LocalLaunch, etc)?

Also where are the ad dollars coming from?

A WebmasterWorld member said;

My spending on local advertising has migrated from traditional print sources to the web.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

TrueLocal, the owner is a very well known forum personality from WebmasterWorld, bakedjake, has launched a Canadian version of TrueLocal at http://www.truelocal.ca/. As an FYI, Jake lives in Canada.

The article Brett Tabke linked to from the WebmasterWorld thread says;

The site offers a localized search engine in English and French that consumers can use to track down more than 1.3 million Canadian brick-and-mortar businesses, ranging from nearby dentists or contractors to car dealers or golf courses.

The website asks what you're searching for and where. It then displays a list of businesses matching the search term, along with contact information and driving directions.

To access the English version go here and for the French version go here. If you get stuck, use the links at the top to get back to your localized language of choice.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

As we saw from early tests, Google has officially launched Google local business ads beta. They do not seem to be called GeoAds as we thought, but rather, Google local business ads, pretty straight forward.

Google AdWords is introducing local business ads, a new ad type that allows advertisers to promote location-based products and services to interested users worldwide... Local business ads appear with an enhanced map component on Google Local and in a text-only format on Google.com and other sites in the Google network.

More information on what it is at https://adwords.google.com/select/localbusinessads.html. Here are also, two useful frequently asked questions.

Community buzz on this topic has yet to fully begin, there is currently only one thread that I have found, and it is at Search Engine Roundtable Forums.

Update: I posted a full how to with screen captures at SEW Blog.

Google is testing placing icons within Google Maps, for some Google Local searches. For example (it only works if you are on a PC), conduct a search on booksellers nyc at Google Local. You will notice little coffee icons in within the maps. If you click on the coffee icon, you will see a "sponsored listing" for Barnes and Noble. This was first discovered by Shimon Sandler and then I blogged it over at the SEW Blog (check the SEW blog for screen shots of this in action).

In the past, Google tried sponsored listing in Google Local and Google Maps with blue balloons.

Forum discussion at Search Engine Watch Forums

There are currently three forum threads I have found on this news that News Ltd, an Australian online search directory, launched a new site named True Local at http://truelocal.com.au with "rumored" knowledge that the http://www.truelocal.com/ we all know has been around for a while.

Jake Baillie, president of TrueLocal, said: "News Ltd was made aware of TrueLocal's existence and expansion plans for Australia in 2006 prior to the launch of their service, but decided to proceed despite the obvious brand confusion. TrueLocal will be taking all appropriate steps to protect our brand in Australia and worldwide."

A spokeswoman from News Interactive, the News Ltd division behind the venture, said the company had no comment to make other than that it had launched in Australia first.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, Cre8asite Forums and ThreadWatch.

Last night Google publishes a press release named Froogle Local saying;

Today Google announced the addition of local merchants' content to Froogle http://froogle.google.com. By entering the item you're looking for and your location information, Froogle will show locations nearby that offer the product and pinpoint the stores on a map. So, whether a user wants to order it online or run out and grab it for a holiday party the same evening, Froogle can help.

I tested it out in my area, by doing a search in Froogle Local on DVD Players, pretty neat.

Hey, what if you want to get listed on Froogle Local, well just go to the Froogle Merchant Center at www.google.com/sellonfroogle/ and follow the instructions.

Currently, I have only found forum discussion on this topic at WebmasterWorld and I would like to pull out a quote from one of the replies for you;

This is the first step towards the nirvana of mobile consumer comparison shopping:
1. Point camera phone at product in store.
2. Phone scans UPC or takes pic and OCR's make & model number.
3. Phone finds nearby stores with lower price on identical product.
4. You pick store, your phone gives you driving directions to that store.
-OR-
4. You still buy at the store you are in because the price difference isn't that great (or they provide added value).

Chris Sherman has the Search Engine Watch editorial write up on Google Launches Local for Mobile. There is a good short write up at Yahoo! News;

For instance, users won't have to type in their location before getting directions to a specific location, as long as their phone has Global Positioning System, or GPS, capabilities, said Deep Nishar, a director of Google's mobile products.

More information at http://www.google.com/glm.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.

Yesterday, Yahoo! improved its Maps product. Matt Cutts, the face behind Google's spam fight discovered and posted an entry named More Yahoo strangeness, where he notes that if you type in Google headquarters address, up comes The Dude's Fish Store, weird - yes. Steve is the first to comment at Matt's blog saying, "Something fishy going on here!!" cute. :)

There is a DigitalPoint Forum thread on the topic.

News come way of the Yahoo! Search Blog that Yahoo! Maps addsdrag 'em, search 'em, hack 'em. So its more interactive, with drag and drop features (like Google Maps). Yahoo! also added multi-point driving directions, deeper Integrated Yahoo! Local, and a new usability component - new overview map. Plus a ton of new small features and enhanced developer support with APIs and Ajax support. Jeremy Zawodny has more on the developer side and Chris Sherman has a nice wrap up article on the release.

I started a complimentary thread at Search Engine Watch Forums.

An excellent post was made at WebmasterWorld under the title of YP Category Usage Percentages by a member named inbound. I am going to quote the whole post right here.

I just completed some research based on a variety of industry data, here are my rough figures for overall offline YP category use. It should not be a shock to many of you but I thought it might help some people in search of general data. Take your pick on the number of lookups, 15 Billion seems a nice round figure for the year. % - Category

15.6 - Health
14.2 - Food
13.8 - Automobiles
10.2 - Shopping (Consumer)
7.1 - Construction
4.2 - Supplies (Business)
3.6 - Finance & Insurance
3.5 - Home & Garden
3.4 - Professionals
3.2 - Entertainment
2.9 - Travel
2.5 - Beauty
2.2 - Pets
1.9 - Government
1.8 - Education
1.5 - Repairs
1.4 - Transport & Haulage
1.1 - Property & Real Estate
1.0 - Utilities & Fuel
1.0 - Domestic Cleaning
0.7 - Business Services
0.6 - Media
0.5 - Communication
0.4 - Weddings
0.4 - Motorcycles
0.4 - Employment
0.3 - Boats
0.3 - Agriculture
0.3 - Small Package Delivery

Moderator of that forum, Chicago, then posted some other resources, including "Top Ten" Category Searches in Print and Internet Yellow Pages Reveal What Consumers Want (PDF) by the Yellow Pages Association.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google announced today Google Merges Local and Maps Products. Google explains that "users can visit http://local.google.com to find local search and mapping information in one place." Chris Sherman clarifies that (1) Google Maps North America is out of beta and (2) that http://maps.google.com/ still works. On WebmasterRadio.FM this morning, during the SearchCast, Danny Sullivan said he thinks this is an easier way for Google to monetize Google Local and Maps but he doesn't like the merger.

Forum discussion currently at WebmasterWorld.

It is very interesting to watch Local Search grow and mature. Today I found a WebmasterWorld thread named Yahoo Local Integrates Editorial Reviews. That is right, instead of the normal user reviews, they have added professional editorial style reviews. One example is of Connie's Pizza in Chicago, IL, with an editorial review.

WebmasterWorld members note that the link to vote if the review is helpful or not, is missing from the editorial reviews and is only an option for the user reviews. Here is one member's concern;

I agree with you about the potential problem of Editorial reviews trumping user generated reviews. A novice user could easily interpret the logo'd Gayot review as the authoritative opinion on the business. On the other hand, when I buy a book from Amazon the first review is always the editorial review, and then I scroll down to read user reviews. I know the difference between the two, but I can't speak for novice users. This would be interesting to explore.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Last week we discussed Yahoo! Local twice; (1) Yahoo Local & 360Ëš Adds Vertical Reviews and (2) Yahoo! Local Using Wrong Localized English. Today, I want to point you to a thread I started at SEW Forums the other week, named Yahoo! Local Driving Web Leads?

Basically, some are seeing a positive affect from having a listing at Yahoo! Local and also Google Local. I personally have not "noticed any significant referrals from Yahoo! Local in my stats." (I just quoted myself)... Member, MoneyMan said, "It's worth noting that in terms of "click-through" and viewing detailed business data, the results I have seen from YLocal on clients have been fantastic."

It is a bit early to tell, but I would love to get more feedback at the thread or over here.

The other day, when I was reporting on Yahoo Local & 360Ëš Adds Vertical Reviews I stumbled across my company's profile also at http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=11262068.

What I noticed was that under the "Payment" type section, it reads "Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Cheque."

Notice anything weird? "Cheque" is not how good American's spell "check." Yahoo! is a US based company, they know that my business is in New York, USA - they should know to spell using American English, right?

I know, I am giving them a hard time. I just thought it was funny so I posted a thread at Search Engine Watch Forums named Yahoo! Local Bad with Localized Language describing this. It lead into people rating my company, which I already got myself in trouble with (see bottom).

Many of you know I am a big fan of Yahoo! 360, I use it, I believe, the way Yahoo! intended. That is, I use it to connect the dots in my life, work and blogosphere. One recent addition was the ability to use the new Yahoo! Local at http://local.yahoo.com/ to conduct vertical reviews. By vertical, we mean, rate a restaurant based on food, ambiance, service, value and a hotel based on amenities, room quality, service, and value.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld. Also you can view all my yahoo local reviews if you want, I only have four or so.

Yahoo! released its updated user interface and and feature set for Yahoo! Local. John Battelle has a very nice write up on it with inside information from Paul Levine, head of Yahoo Local Search. Danny Sullivan gives a write up of feature sets. Let's not forget to add Jeff Weiner's thoughts on local search and the changing face of media.

Forum discussion on this topic at WebmasterWorld.

Update: Moderator, Chicago's thoughts on this new Yahoo! Local:

- A deeper more broad definition of "local search"
- Fostering a sense of community
- Movement from business lookup to an augmentation of local behavior patterns
- The realization that local search includes events, activities, and other time-based local actions
- Personalization and leveraging user data
- Deeper content integration from disparate local based content within the Y network in a local destination
- Drill down: From city to neighborhood
- Freshness
- Destination: City portal characteristics
- Further emphasis on user generated content
- One step closer to the integration of social networking

On April 14th, 2005, WebmasterWorld Local Search Moderator, Chicago, started a thread named Ingenio Pay Per Call to Launch on AOL tomorrow. About one month later, there is mostly positive feedback on the Pay Per Call advertising model launched by Ingenio. Chicago's full review can be found in that thread message # 5, but here are the bullet points:

AOL Display: Excellent - Premium Position, Professional Display
AOL AD Distribution: Very low - 1 ad per category will display for user query. Broad categories are mapped to keyword queries.
Tracking: Very good interface
Landing Page: Very good - Map, Coupon, descriptions, etc.
Ad setup process: Good and getting better
Bid process: Intuitive but restrictive due to category (not keyword) distribution
Bid Levels: Some really nice opportunities exist for early movers

Member GameMasterM posted a rave review on Ingenio's Pay Per Call service;

We have real estate ads in California and we are capturing a good part of the state (major and minor cities) unchallenged right now. $2.15 per call and loving it. I believe we are unchallenged because no one is selling the idea. It is word of mouth from what I see. Our FindWhat campaign has a little more competition. Not as many calls because we are not showing statewide (by choice).

Yesterday was a slow day in the office, so I took the time to update My Yahoo! 360 Page. I added a blog entry, updated my blast, added information to my profile and then decided to add a "local review". I clicked over to the local reviews and then decided to review my company, which is listed under Yahoo! Local as Rustybrick, Incorporated, it should read RustyBrick, Inc. - so that kind of bothers me. Anyway, I posted a review under my screen name "rustybrick". My review read:

I am sure that after I publicly report that I have abused my own company's user reviews, that it will be removed but it is important to report on. After submitting the review, Yahoo! said that it may take 24 - 48 hours to be reflected in the reviews section. They said something to the effect that the review must be first manually reviewed by a Yahoo! quality assurance individual, to ensure that it is not biased. I thought to myself that the review will never go through, but it did. So here I am, a company with a 5 star review!

If you have Yahoo! 360 or even if you want to give us a review, go ahead. Local reviews, I hope, will be a major factor in online marketing in the future.

Update: Randy Farmer from Yahoo! has sent me a Yahoo! 360 Email that he has removed my biased review. This is a good thing, I think. :)

Thanks for reporting the inappropriate review in Yahoo! Local [even if you used an unusual venue to make the report]. It has been removed.

:-)

Not sure if this SEM blog is an unusual venue, it did get the job done. :)

A thread at WebmasterWorld named Verizon Rebrands SuperPages: Offline, that is pointed me to a blog entry at the Kelsey Group's blog named Did Verizon Demote SuperPages?

What immediately caught my eye was that Verizon had changed the name of its directory from SuperPages to Verizon Yellow Pages.

John Kelsey continues by writing, "As it turns out, Verizon did not give the SuperPages brand the backing it needed and some said SuperPages.com wasn’t seen as the incumbent Yellow Pages."

Local is going to be huge, so I will try to get more entries on the local topic here. Plus I have will create a Local Search category, which you should see below.