Small Business Commando News

Kelsey Group Blogs » Universal Search Paves the Way for Local Video

Michael Boland of the Kelsey Group has a point on post discussing the impact of video syndication and universal search.

The point he makes is that some companies (usually traditional publishing companies) are fighting against publishing video through syndication.

Syndication means uploading the videos on YouTube, MySpace, DailyMotion and other video sharing sites.

On the one hand, you lose control when you syndicate the video.  It resides on someone else’s servers, and they control the surrounding page.

On the other hand, the video will be seen by many more potential customers.

At Weblistic, I’m thrilled to have played a part in the development of local video saturation.  We regularly push local videos to dozens of sites in an effort to generate leads for our clients.  Our clients relish the leads they receive because the customers have a better understanding of the products and services being offered.

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JupiterResearch Finds Local Advertising Will Represent A Key Battleground on the Web - BroadcastNewsroom

Jupiter Research released their survey and predictions for local online advertising growth (along with their predictions for online advertising as a whole).

In short, they predict that local is where the battle will have the msot heat.  Perhaps it’s because the Yellow Pages publishers and newspaper publishers will have finally caught fire with sales.

Perhaps it’s because the advertisers are demanding to reach the audience that relies on the Internet to find local information.

Here’s a dirty little secret.

Local online advertising is much harder than it looks.

Converting searchers to buyers is a skill that very few traditional publishing companies possess, and fewer know how to monetize.

Advertiser expectation and patience for results from online advertising are difficult to meet because the Internet does not bypass human nature of procrastinating, building trust, qualifying, deciding and taking action.

It’s important for traditional advertisers to NOT abandon their terrestrial publications, rather embrace change as a restaurant owner embraces trends.

Mad Cow disease did not kill the beef industry any more than Yellow Pages bashing will eliminate the value delivered by a high quality directory. 

However, Mad Cow did reduce consumption and some consumers forever changed their diets.

Smart publishers will provide a mix of media to deliver customers to their clients.  That includes search, display, video and much more.

The growth of local online advertising will not be a zero-sum game at the expense of traditional publications.

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The Canadian Press: AT&T looks to deliver White Pages online, save millions in waste:

AT&T Inc. said Friday it wants to try delivering its White Pages online rather than on front porches, noting the effort could save about two million kilograms of paper per year in two North Carolina test cities.

The San Antonio-based telecommunications provider petitioned the North Carolina Utilities Commission on Friday to allow the company to test the web-based phone listings in Raleigh and Charlotte. Under the proposal, customers will still get the Yellow Pages - which AT&T says remains a much-used tool - and can request to get a hard copy or a CD-ROM of the residential White Pages.

In the US, the utility phone company is required to publish residential and business phone listings.

However, times are changing, and with the rise in cell phones, internet services such as skype and competitive local phone services such as cable and power companies, the white pages just aren’t what they used to be.

It makes total sense to move to a standardized online directory for phone numbers that the owner of the phone number could decide whether or not the number is published.

For example, I want my buusiness number published, but I certainly don’t want my cell phone number in public view.

If we band together, we could do away with the printed white pages in just a few years.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating the demise of the Yellow Pages. The content in there is far more unique, valuable and necessary than the line listings in the white pages.

Superpages announced a serious upgrade to their ad serving that takes a lesson from Google.

Basically, Superpages is now positioning advertisers based on a score that evaluates relevancy, performance and their bidding structure.

Superpages, which was recently spun off from Verizon, is the hands-down leader in Internet Yellow Pages. Having been an IYP publisher myself of Worldpages.com, I have long admired the progressive movement of Superpages.

I can’t say that I agree with the ads they show that often seem unrelated to the search, but they continually challenge the status quo.

Superpages was an innovator in performance-based IYP advertising, and this is a step in the right direction. Their challenge, as many local sites have found, is remaining relevant in a world where Google is the source for so much of their traffic.

Kelsey Group Blogs – Yellow Pages and Local Media:

One of the really interesting things I saw at the Drilling Down on Local 2007 conference was a private presentation of Yellowbot.com by Erron Silverstein.

Erron is justifiably exhuberent about his approach toward Internet Yellow Pages , social networking and web 2.0 (how’s that for a trifecta of buzzwords?)

I am one of the most jaded users of Internet Yellow pages (having run WorldPages.com for half a decade).

However, Yellowbot.com showed one of the most seamless integrations of easy consumer input with structured directory content.

Erron is (and I say this with much respect) a mega-geek.  He’s nitpicked pieces of various properties and layered the most interesting features on top of the Localeze enhanced local business database.

In a way, it reminds me of MojoPages.com, a San Diego based start up that hopes to accomplish much of the same. (fabulous user generated content with structured data).

YellowBot is more likely to be a technology provider to an existing sales force or media publisher.  Erron’s strength is not in creating a local sales force.

But if you want to see the future of IYP, take a look at yellowbot and mojopages.

Ever wonder how Google decides  which sites get top billing across their various properties?

Yeah, me too.

This post on Small Business SEM does an excellent job of identifying several possible components tha affect positioning.

It’s mostly conjecture based upon observation, but I found it to be very helpful in clarifying my own thinking about local search engine optimization.

I should point out that relying on pure organic traffic from any search engine is a dangerous strategy, because a few minor tweaks in the rules can bump your from the top spot to the not spot.

A brief news release announced that LiveDeal.com is incorporating the infoUSA database into its platform.

infoUSA is one of the top suppliers of national directory listings to the Internet Yellow Pages publishers.

This move signifies that LiveDeal is branching out beyond the classified ad business and into the firecotry business.  I can tell you from personal experience, an IYP can be a VERY profitable business.

Note that I didn’t call it an EASY business.

THis data can be useful in SEOing their site and becoming more relevant.

I had a great conversation with Paul Youlten, founder of Yellowikis.org.

Yellowikis is to Yellow Pages what Wikipedia is to encyclopedias and what craigslist is to classified advertising.

It has the power to change the game forever, and to bring the open source movement to small business information.

 Small Business Commandos conversation with Paul Youlten, founder of Yellowikis: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Orange County (California) Register had a nice article on Irvine, CA Based, Local.com.

I’m a big fan of Local.com, and their approach to aggregating as much relevant information as they can into one single spot.

Local.com’s purchase of marketing firm soUno (so YOU know) shows that they understand the basics of the local advertising market.

Small businesses do not BUY advertising, small businesses are SOLD advertising.

Ignore this rule at your own peril.

Recently, and without fanfare, craigslist added a field requiring licensing information for ads posted under the “Skilled Trades” section.So what are the implications?

1. craigslist is maturing as a serious advertising platform for the skilled trades, for one. They don’t make changes to their site without a strong reason, and the reason here has probably been initiated by several state licensing boards responding to complaints.

2. craigslist is following the lead of the print Yellow Pages publishers in requesting the informaiton, but not being the police. If a poster is in violation of the state licensing board, that’s between the state and the poster.

3. Posting ads on craigslist can be an effective method for driving highly qualified customers to local businesses. I know that this isn’t a newsflash to the folks who read blogs like this, but you’d be surprised at how many local businesses have no idea what’s going on.

Hey, let me know if you like the podcast. ok?

 Craigslist adds licensing information requirement: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download