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Google and Yelp Could Change Local Search

On December 18, 2009, In SEO, by Nick Stamoulis

It looks like Google is about to acquire Yelp. No surprise, really. Is there a vertical Google hasn’t made a purchase in?
Two things happen when Google makes an acquisition in a vertical. A competitor comes along and outdoes them or Google develops the vertical into a profitable enterprise for itself. Notice I didn’t say Google [...]

It looks like Google is about to acquire Yelp. No surprise, really. Is there a vertical Google hasn’t made a purchase in?

Two things happen when Google makes an acquisition in a vertical. A competitor comes along and outdoes them or Google develops the vertical into a profitable enterprise for itself. Notice I didn’t say Google improves the vertical.

Well, Yelp pretty much owns the local business review vertical. There are very few companies even competing over that space. So if Google does acquire Yelp it will be one more vertical the search giant owns by virtue of its bigness. That’s not saying that local business reviews and local search will necessarily improve. But it will change.

All the major search engines already have local business centers, but at present they are nothing more than directories with bells and whistles. Sites like Yelp actually are better at attracting the local business audience. So Google will naturally want to advertise to that market and capture that audience. How will local search change?

For one thing, I think it will become pay per click advertising centered. I’d look to see how Google marries AdWords and Yelp to better help local businesses reach their target market. Another marriage that could ensue is Yelp and YouTube – local video search anyone? I see many great possibilities for improvement of Yelp with Google muscle behind it.

Yes, I think local search would change forever. How drastically is really anyone’s guess.

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Google To Swallow Yelp For $500 Million?

On December 18, 2009, In SEO, by rustybrick

TechCrunch says that Google is in “advanced acquisition negotiations” with Yelp to acquire them for “at least” $500 million. Many sites are buzzing about these talks.

Arrington reported that Yelp earned $30 million in revenue this year and it is expected to jump to $50 in 2010. Yelp is a very popular local search site. It is arguably the best of its kind.

If Google buys them, you would have to think they would fold it into their Google Maps and Local services. They did that with FeedBurner and so many other brands they bought (i.e GrandCentral, etc). At the same, YouTube was bought by Google and because of its popularity, Google never moved it to Google Video.

I wonder how Google would handle Yelp. It would be a shame to see the Yelp brand go away.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.


TechCrunch says that Google is in “advanced acquisition negotiations” with Yelp to acquire them for “at least” $500 million. Many sites are buzzing about these talks.

Arrington reported that Yelp earned $30 million in revenue this year and it is expected to jump to $50 in 2010. Yelp is a very popular local search site. It is arguably the best of its kind.

If Google buys them, you would have to think they would fold it into their Google Maps and Local services. They did that with FeedBurner and so many other brands they bought (i.e GrandCentral, etc). At the same, YouTube was bought by Google and because of its popularity, Google never moved it to Google Video.

I wonder how Google would handle Yelp. It would be a shame to see the Yelp brand go away.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.



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Tiger Woods Cheats, Farts & Ranks

On December 16, 2009, In SEO, by Andrew Shotland

It’s that time of year again and who really cares about the latest Google Maps announcements when there is a disgraced celebrity to ponder?
I am hearing from a lot of different sites that the whole Tiger Woods thing has been a like a big traffic Christmas gift, particularly for news sites and social networks that [...]

It’s that time of year again and who really cares about the latest Google Maps announcements when there is a disgraced celebrity to ponder?

I am hearing from a lot of different sites that the whole Tiger Woods thing has been a like a big traffic Christmas gift, particularly for news sites and social networks that are generating a lot of articles and discussions on his night putting activities.  In my attempt to cash in on the craze I figured I’d see what sort of data Google is showing for “Tiger Woods”-related queries.

Google Suggest

If you read the list downwards in sequence it kind of tells the whole story doesn’t it?

Google Insights for Search – Regional Interest in “Tiger Woods”

Those Jamaicans just can’t get enough of Tiger.

I am guessing this Jamaican traffic is due to the stellar reporting of the Jamaica Observer.  Here’s an excerpt from a recent investigative piece:

“What has come to light is that the golfing phenom was hitting the birdies left right and centre and it was not on the links. The sad thing is that some of these birdies sing like canaries and the talk show hosts are now having a field day at the Tiger’s expense.”

And then there’s this gem:

“by Jamaican standards, Tiger would be playing in the minor leagues. So far, 10 women have admitted to having an extramarital affair with the with him. This would be cited as a sterling example of sexual moderation among many Jamaican sportsmen and entertainers.”

And this one:

“Research has shown that supporters of losing teams have relatively lower levels of testosterone than those of winning ones. There is a direct link between ones testosterone levels and ones libido. Maybe the Tiger could not help himself. He was suffering from testosterone overdose.”

Ok I have now bookmarked this site.

I think I mostly love that this story is probably screwing up the traffic for sites that optimize for “video game cheats” traffic.  See Tiger Woods Cheats.  Then again maybe they are getting an insane amount of traffic from these queries, which I would love too.

Ok, get back to work.

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Social Local Search Panel #ILM09

On December 9, 2009, In SEO, by Andrew Shotland

Tim Kendall of Facebook: Manages self-service ad program
Anamitra Banerji of Twitter: Focused on building out revenue products
Greg Isaacs of AT&T Interactive: Manages revenue products
Kara Nortman of CItySearch: BD
Tim Kendall of Facebook:
There are about 700K FB for business pages.  5000 created per day.  They have facilitated over 1 billion merchant-consumer connections via FB Pages.
Anamitra Banerji of [...]

Tim Kendall of Facebook: Manages self-service ad program

Anamitra Banerji of Twitter: Focused on building out revenue products

Greg Isaacs of AT&T Interactive: Manages revenue products

Kara Nortman of CItySearch: BD

Tim Kendall of Facebook:
There are about 700K FB for business pages.  5000 created per day.  They have facilitated over 1 billion merchant-consumer connections via FB Pages.

Anamitra Banerji of Twitter:
Twitter’s geotagging API provides a valuable context for local conversations.  A restaurant will update its menu based on what people are saying.

Greg Isaacs of AT&T Interactive:
Yellowpages.com using Facebook Connect to integrate social connections and local.  Building Buzz.com which should come out next year that melds conversations and lead-gen.

Kara Nortman of CitySearch:
CS implemented Twitter APIs this week and relaunched free claim your profile product.  Users can use Twitter profile to write reviews against biz profile.

Anamitra Banerji of Twitter:
Every tweet should have a bunch of meta data that puts the tweet into context.  This is pretty huge.

Kara Nortman of CitySearch:
Focusing on creating an “introductory” social media marketing product for SMBs.

Tim Kendall of Facebook:
Next year FB will focus on doing more geotargeting with ads.  RIght now it’s all IP address targeting.  From a base of 100 fans, there are 15k one-degree-separation of possible new customers for businesses

Anamitra Banerji of Twitter:
We don’t know if advertising on Twitter will be local at first.  It will be an introductory product that will provide basic engagement metrics and assistance.  This will be the first step towards an advertising program.

Final Thoughts:
FB: Use FB Connect

Twitter: Use the Twitter API and go crazy with it

AT&T: Businesses need to make sure social makes sense for your business before jumping in

CitySearch: Please take our ads and content! Simplicity of implementation is key.

Great panel.

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NBC Everywhere – Brian Buchwald #ILM09

On December 9, 2009, In SEO, by Andrew Shotland

Local news has highest Interest, value & trust of all media yet local media ratings shrinking
Overall media consumption is higher than ever but more outlets competing for attention
Not enough differentiation in local content to create demand
Successful media outlets operate with tight target focus and brand filters.  Brands today as much about what it is not [...]

Local news has highest Interest, value & trust of all media yet local media ratings shrinking

Overall media consumption is higher than ever but more outlets competing for attention

Not enough differentiation in local content to create demand

Successful media outlets operate with tight target focus and brand filters.  Brands today as much about what it is not as what is is.

General players (i.e. broadcast TV) getting picked off at the margins (such as by cable).

Individuals are increasinly “polylocal” – distinction between national and local is eroding

Consumers seek mobility and a seamless content experience

Audiences expect a dialogue

Audiences have increased expectations.

The Consumer Need State During the Day

In the morning, audience is focused on utility & agenda setting – radio is king

In afternoon, updates, info, actionability & escape are important so the PC (Web) and mobile become important, particularly for entertainment

In the evening it’s more about entertainment & escapism, TV becomes the dominant platform.

NBC NY’s News broadcast went from 10MM viewers in 1998 to 3.7MM in 2010.  By adding websites and other digital media options NBC brought total viewership up to 15MM.

NBC Targeting “local lifestyle content” – areas that have above avg interest but low satisfaction with current offerings.  Targeting social capitalists.

Sorry guys I had to leave in mid-session so I missed the big finale.

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Venture Capital Funding for Local Search #ILM09

On December 9, 2009, In SEO, by Andrew Shotland

VCs from Canaan Partners (Warren Lee), Trinity Ventures (Patricia Nakache) & Comcast Ventures (Michael Yang):
Patricia Nakache:
no one has cracked local impulse purchases – mentions Groupon
Warren Lee:
Skeptical that growth will happen as fast as Kelsey predicts because access to venture capital is not as easy. Venture capital is going to contract by 20-30% and fragmented nature [...]

VCs from Canaan Partners (Warren Lee), Trinity Ventures (Patricia Nakache) & Comcast Ventures (Michael Yang):

Patricia Nakache:
no one has cracked local impulse purchases – mentions Groupon

Warren Lee:
Skeptical that growth will happen as fast as Kelsey predicts because access to venture capital is not as easy. Venture capital is going to contract by 20-30% and fragmented nature of local with big capital requirements makes it harder to fund. (sounds like a lot of VCs will be getting into SEO next year)

Michael Yang:
It is not for the faint of heart on the VC side to spelunk in the local space (truedat)

Patricia Nakache:
Making shopping fun has a lot of opportunity.   A more curated, better matching experience than Craigslist is needed.  See care.com

Warren Lee:
Video.  Oh yeah and did I mention video?

Michael Yang:
Stay away from search and ad networks.  Video.  Leadgen & email are still interesting.  Commerce is more interesting than directory/media in local.  You need to be >1MM uniques/mnth to be interesting.  SEOd directories are a dime a dozen.

Warren Lee:
Invested in Associated Content at 1MM uniques/mnth.  Need 10MM uniques/mnth to get attention of brand advertisers.  Need to break top 100 mark on Comscore to get attention of ad agencies.

Michael Yang:
slightly backpedaling on his “not interested in SEO plays” but likes Associated Content/Demand Media because they have systems v. 2-3 people start ups which don’t.  IMO AC & DM started with no systems but used SEO to justify building them.

Warren Lee:
Shared risk models with contributors helps you scale up because the upfront costs are lower.  Content on the web has a remarkably long shelf-life which makes the biz model more scalable/sustainable.

Michael Yang:
Streetview technologies that allow users to have a virtual experience with the merchant before they go there are interesting

Patricia Kanache:
There’s an opportunity for the companies that owns customer relationships to be the advocates for the SMBs to help them figure out the right mix and manage their reputations

Warren Lee:
There are too many options out there for SMBs. A large group of startups out there that haven’t been consolidated yet.  Over the next couple of years we’re going to see a lot of start-ups fail.

Nice cheery ending to the panel.

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Kelsey Group Local Media Forecast #ILM09

On December 9, 2009, In SEO, by Andrew Shotland

Liveblogging Matt Booth’s & Neal Polachek’s forecast for SMB/Local media spending.  Enjoy:
Total U.S. Local Ad Spend should grow from $136B in 2010 to $144B in 2013.  Scary looking drop from $155B in 2008 to $141B in 2009.  A result of the economy and shift to digital.
Local Ad Spend by Medium: All mediums losing share except [...]

Liveblogging Matt Booth’s & Neal Polachek’s forecast for SMB/Local media spending.  Enjoy:

Total U.S. Local Ad Spend should grow from $136B in 2010 to $144B in 2013.  Scary looking drop from $155B in 2008 to $141B in 2009.  A result of the economy and shift to digital.

Local Ad Spend by Medium: All mediums losing share except for digital/online

2013 Interactive Ad Market $58.57B -Search= about $26B of that

2009:
- Mobiie, email, reputation management, video, display about where they thought they would be
- Estimating search at $13.9B to $15,5B

- Total searh query volume exceeding targets

- CPC down 3.3 to 1.0% from 2008

- CTR down 12.4% to 3% from 2008 but GOOG rebounding

- Ad coverage up 2.7%

Local search:

- Off $350MM-$100MM from previous forecast

- CPC down -4.8% from 2008; pull back of SMBs of 30% in mid-year

- CTR down 10.6% from 2008; result of advertiser pull back

- Ad coverage down 2.6% from 2008

- Revenue showing robust growth; range 9.6% to 17.8% from 2008

- Expectations is that end of Q3 is when turnaround will be in full swing

Classifieds & Verticals

- Down $1B from 2008

- Classifieds performance terrible -30% Q2 Y/Y; Overall down -21% from 2008

- Non-Auto/RE vertical markets were strong

SMB Ad Spending

- Spending is down 23.5% from August 2008 to Q2 2009, but this appears to be turning around

- Direct mail seems to be coming back

- 6% of SMBs tried PPC this year down from 9% last year, but PPC appears to be coming back

- 8% bought print ads in 2009 v. 13% in 2008

Newer businesses much more oriented to Online Media but newer businesses spend less

- Businesses 0-3 yrs old spend 30% of ad budget online v. businesses 11+ years old spending 13% online

49% of SMBs buy ads themselves (down from 57% last year)

24% buy ads via Print Yellow Pages/IYP sales forces (up from 16% last year)

9% buy via Radio/TV Sales up from 3% last year

8% buy via an agency up from 3% last year

New content models based on analytics such as Associated Content, DemandMedia & Examiner.com are going to be a big trend going forward.

SMBs that intend to use a page on a social site in the next 12 months:
- 44% of new SMBs say yes

- 18-22% of older SMBs say yes

Online Media Usage Reaches Parity with Traditional Media.  Kelsey expects Online to eclipse Traditional over the coming year.

ROI pereception

1. Email

2. Direct mail

3. PPC

4. IYP

5. Print YP

16% of businesses that are <3 yrs old have self-enrolled in Twitter

not even going to try and interpret the chart that’s up there now :)

Neal pushing Presence (you need to be where people are looking), Performance (you need to be able to convert & vehicles that help you convert are important) & Permanance

THE BIG TAKEAWAYS

  • Massive shift to digital; “The Cliff” is here
  • Search is already rebounding; expecting growth to continue CAGR ~15% through 2013
  • Geo-targeted display, video, mobile, email & reputation management all meeting expectations
  • Traditional sales forces more competitive with each other.  Digital divide is closing
  • Overall 2010 will be strong for interactive SMB marketing

Neal thinks the broadcast industry will be much more tied to the mobile experience in the future.

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Local SEO Tools, Tricks & Strategies #ILM09

On December 9, 2009, In SEO, by Andrew Shotland

I am supposed to be up there but given my lack of voice I thought it not such a good idea.  Here’s the presentation I would have given
ILM 09 Local Media SEO Presentation (it definitely needs narration so feel free to ping me with questions)

it’s pretty much a rehash of my SEL post: Don’t Give [...]

I am supposed to be up there but given my lack of voice I thought it not such a good idea.  Here’s the presentation I would have given

ILM 09 Local Media SEO Presentation (it definitely needs narration so feel free to ping me with questions)

it’s pretty much a rehash of my SEL post: Don’t Give Google The NoIndex Finger

Hanan Lifschitz of Palore is speaking in my place.  Showing some data on what they have discovered by crawling different local search sites:

1.Only 14% of SMBs have claimed their listings on local search sites

2.64% of all businesses are only listed in 1 or 2 categories

3.Searching 20,000 local keywords for Orlando businesses on Google Maps, remarkably 20% of all businesses in their database show up on the first page of Google’s SERPs.

Now demoing their visibility tool – AmIvisible.org
Kind of cool you can compare your visibility with local competitors.

Hanan just typed a auto dealer in Memphis’ phone number and the service quickly showed that this dealer is the most optimized dealer in Memphis.  We can see how many categories he uses, which keywords he is targeting and which sites he is advertising on.  Very cool.

Now we’re seeing a less visible competitor and comparing to the above dealer and you can easily see why he is less successful compared to the top dealer.

AmIvisible is beta testing in only a few small cities but should be available nationally in a few months.

That was much cooler than my presentation for sure.

David Mihm now stepping up to the plate:

  1. Maximize Your Internal Linking Strategy
  2. Be Keyword Focused with Title Tags
  3. Enable User-Generated Contetnnt
  4. See Google as a Partner – XML sitemaps

Any important page on your site must be linked from your homepage

No more than 4 clicks from homepage

Use geographic anchor text when you link

UGC is great for long-tail phrases and creates distribution possibilities

Citysearch images seem to be showing up a lot on Google Place Pages – is there a partnership?

Google is starting to use more rich snippets in their results.  Add a CSS class that Google recommends to try and get your reviews/stars to show up in search.  Also try the hcard microformat.

Use an XML sitemap

Use KML to get your data on MyMaps pages

Creating an interesting map on your site and it can appear in the User-Created Maps section on Google pages.

Scott Knowles of AOL Local talking about how to use social platforms to get your info into search results.

David Mihm on Video SEO: Youtube is the place to be.

Yellow Pages headings are not search friendly.  Tags are.

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Kenshoo Local Launches – Sivan Metzger #ILM09

On December 9, 2009, In SEO, by Andrew Shotland

Sivan Metzger, GM of the just announced Kenshoo Local, is up and talking about the local search marketing challenges:

Massive programs/thousands of listings
Cumbersome on-boarding process
Resource intensive ongoing management process
Cross channel geo-targeting/tracking conversions
Manual keyword & bid optimization

Huge surge in demand for SEM services from SMBs, however:

30-40 accounts per account manager
40 accounts x $500/mth @20% margin
= no profit [...]

Sivan Metzger, GM of the just announced Kenshoo Local, is up and talking about the local search marketing challenges:

  1. Massive programs/thousands of listings
  2. Cumbersome on-boarding process
  3. Resource intensive ongoing management process
  4. Cross channel geo-targeting/tracking conversions
  5. Manual keyword & bid optimization

Huge surge in demand for SEM services from SMBs, however:

  1. 30-40 accounts per account manager
  2. 40 accounts x $500/mth @20% margin
  3. = no profit when you are doing it manually

They are trying to get onboarding of new advertiser to under 10 minutes v. 1:40 which is where they see things today.

He’s walking through the ad creation UI – looks pretty nice in terms of suggesting keyword & geo targeting. Lot’s of buzzwords re optimization/conversion, etc.

The presentation looked good – he definitely gets points for having a great presentation UI – but on the surface it’s hard to tell how different this is from other local SEM automation platforms (Matchcraft, Webvisible, Yodle, etc.).  It may be just the UI which could be significant.

Interesting point – as more SMBs get online competition for inventory will increase making it even harder for any of them to achieve their goals.

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Panos Bethanis of Directory M #ILM09

On December 9, 2009, In SEO, by Andrew Shotland

DirectoryM is a huge local search network that most people in the local search biz don’t know anything about.  Here’s waht Panos had to say:
It looks like DirectoryM takes in a lot of third party data to provide relevant content. They either crawl and suck it in or they have a deal with the partner [...]

DirectoryM is a huge local search network that most people in the local search biz don’t know anything about.  Here’s waht Panos had to say:

It looks like DirectoryM takes in a lot of third party data to provide relevant content. They either crawl and suck it in or they have a deal with the partner to provide it.

The examples are a local newspaper that provides news around a topic like childcare in their city and a national vertical like ParentsConnect provides additional content.  For a local car search, Directory M pumps in content from Car & Driver and then grabbed data from a state car dealer association, state DMV, etc.

I like what DirectoryM is doing.  The problem with most IYPs is that they are very broad and therefore a mile wide and an inch deep in most categories.  By creating vertical-specific experiences with third-party content they are starting to provide an interesting user experience.

1/3rd of the Chamber of Commerces in the US gave DirectoryM their membership lists via a single email inquiry.  Data hounds fire up your email clients.

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