Windows Live Expo has finally moved past beta into a full launch. It looks to combine aspects of traditional classifieds (things for sale), a dating site (find people), Craigslist (swap, general listings), and areas for job hunters. Some very interesting things are on the horizon for Expo and MSN.

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Windows Live Expo Launches

Want to know where people visit on the Google network? Hitwise has just released updated stats from their visitor tracking. Continue Reading »
Google’s Local Search Lags Behind other Properties

Google has often included vertical search results within it’s main results. Often these are from Google Base or Google Local. Google has recently added a new twist on this feature and started showing map results when the search is an explicit business name.

If you want to check to see if a map comes up for your business, the first thing is to do an explicit search of ‘Your Business Name’ and ‘Your City’. If you don’t see a map in the results, there seem to be two different answers. The first is that your business is not listed in Google Local (more on how to be listed below). The second is that there are many locations and Google isn’t quite sure which results to display. Results for Wal-mart, Target, Starbucks did not bring up a map in Google Search.

Let’s first look at the three types of results Google may show on a local query.

Ads are sponsored listings through Google AdWords.
Local results are from Google Local or Google Base.
Organic results are from the natural listings.

Now, let’s take a more in depth look at the possible inventory.

When you see a result like this in the ‘local ad space’ from above, this is a prompt to do a search on Google Base. Listings can be either hand submitted or feed submitted to Google Base.

When you see results with many addresses in them, Google is pulling these listings from Google Local. One can get into Google local by submitting a business directly (requires a pin number to be mailed to you, and then verification. Often takes 4-8 weeks for the entire process to be completed.) or by submitting a feed.

This is the brand new result that Google is now showing. If your business is not in Google Local, it appears that a map will not show for your business. To ensure your business will show up for these results, you need to submit your business to Google Local (or use a service, discussed below).

This is a local.google.com search result. By searching through Google Local, one can determine if your business is in their index. What is interesting about Google local is that a submission may not show up exactly as you submitted it to Google. Basically, Google looks at all the sources it has for a particular business, does some algorithm magic, and then displays what it thinks are the proper results.

In most cases, this works fairly well. However, if you move, change your business phone number, or any information, often the new information will not be shown because in it’s ranking formula, your new information looks incorrect as there is so much other information that is telling Google it’s still the old information.

How does one get their business into Google Local?

There are a few ways. The first is to submit to the Google Business Center. This requires you to first submit your information. Then, Google will email you a pin number (takes 4-6 weeks). Then you must input your pin number into the account your created. Finally, when Google re-compiles their local index, your business will be listed.

The second way is to submit to Google Base. You can login with your Google account and create a listing all about your business. In about 6 weeks, that information will be submitted to Google Local. Again, once the index is recompiled, then your business will be listed.

The last way is to use a Business Distribution Service. Such a service will take your business information and submit it to many local search properties (such as Yahoo Local, Superpages, Judy’s Book, etc). The leader in business data distribution is
RegisterLocal. There, you can create a profile of your business, track all kinds of results (such as phone calls, map views, etc), and even use it for a marketing landing page so that you can see the effectiveness of internet marketing for your business.

Verizon has launched a PPCall solution, however, it is a bit different than the other offerings on the market.

Verizon is building static ads with static phone numbers. However, those wishing phone calls are still bidding in an auction style for those leads. Sound confusing? It’s really not, it’s just a different model.

Basically, Verizon is going to build ads that they determine have high call rates.
Those wishing the phone calls will bid (like PPC) for those calls.
Depending on who is the highest bidder at the time of the call, Verizon will route the call to that bidder.

What this does is take the complexity of building ads, testing call rates, etc out of the hands of the advertisers. The only complexity left for the advertiser is the actual budget and bidding.

Verizon will take on the responsibility of optimizing the ads, showing them in various appropriate locations, and just pass the phone call to the highest bidder.

Simple model for the advertiser. Some complex call routing behind the scenes by Verizon. Ad optimization without the customer service of talking to advertises about creatives.

It is an interesting model, and on the surface, it seems like a fairly easy one to implement. It will be interesting to watch the adoption rate for this product.

More information from MSNBC.

Google has launched a new ad format type specifically for local businesses. This is a very important change in thinking about local web properties. In the past, prominent ad space has been reserved for the highest bidder, which is often accomplished by national presences, regardless if they are a local business or not. This has been a problem when it comes to migrating local SME onto the web. With the allocation of premium ad space for local businesses (those with a physical address), Google is helping to empower the small business to find success on it’s local property.

I have spoken at several conferences that both search engines, and other local properties, such as IYPs and Newspapers, need to be focused on empowering agencies and small businesses to find premium ad space. In the US, these SMEs represent upto 22 million clients and several billions of ad dollars. They are a force to be embraced, not to be discouraged for the quick national ad dollar.

This move by Google is a very forward thinking one on allocating this space to businesses with local presences. Yes, a national (local) chain, can outbid local businesses in many occasions, however, this gives many service based industries placement they have never enjoyed before.

Below is a screenshot of the new ad format as it appears on Google Local:

The ads have a few properties associated with them:

• A Custom Icon List (the icon can be seen on the left in the blue sponsored links - the full list is below).
• A Custom logo (125×125 max size 20k) can be attached to the ad.
• A Click on the ad opens the sponsored link in the middle of the Google Local page, yet, does not count as an actual ad click (This is PPC advertising).
• The Click on the ad in the middle of the map leads to the advertiser website, and this is counted as a click.

Here’s the full icon list:

Display Properties:

What is interesting about these ads, is that you can now create an AdGroup with only a small business ad (more information below on creating these ads), and yet receive distribution across all of Google’s Properties.

• On Google.com and Search Partners, your ad will show as a traditional AdWords ad (and like geo targeted ads, it will have the city name below the ad).
• On local.google.com, the ad will have the above characteristics.

Quality Control:

To help control the quality of local business ads, and to ensure these businesses do exist, before one can create a business ad, they must be listed in Google Local. This is a good move by Google in ensuring that these are in fact local businesses. However, getting into Google Local can be difficult for many small businesses.

To get your information into Google Local, one has four options:

1. One can sign up through the Google Business Center. The biggest issues with this route is that a pin number is mailed to you. You must receive the mailer and then input the pin number into Google Local. According to Google Local, it takes around six weeks for information to be included in Google Local. This means there around a two month time lapse between entering your information and appearing on Google Local (Google Business Center  Information).
2. One can send a feed to Google Base. There are two issues with this approach. The feed must be properly formatted, and FTPed correctly. Google Base has been so overwhelmed with response that the FTP is often down. Once your information is in Google Base, it takes approximately two weeks for them to approve local business listings, and then according to their emails, another six weeks to be included in Google Local. Again, a two month wait time.
3. Once can send a Small Business Feed through Froogle. The same formatting issues above apply, however, the upload time seems quite efficient. Google claims this method can take upto six weeks to include information as well, however, we often see a 2-4 day turnaround in new information being included.
4. One can use a feed distributor (such as RegisterLocal.com) to send out business information to many local web properties (including Google Local) at a single time. This approach has advantages as it gets you into many web properties, leaves the headaches with feed distribution to someone else, but also lets you easily update your small business data on many local properties at once.

Creating Your Local Business Ad:

Within your AdWords account, navigate to the AdGroup you wish to create a Local Business Ad. You will now see three ad types you can create (Text Ad, Image Ad, Local Business Ad). Click on the Local Business Ad.

The first step is to find your information in Google Local. You’ll be presented with a screen that includes business name, street address, city, state, zip, and country. Fill out this information and have Google search for possible matches.

If you find a match, then proceed to filling out the full information. If you don’t find a match, try searching again. If you can’t find your business listing, you’ll have to submit it to Google Local first (see information above on getting your information into Google Local).

Once you find your ad, you now have a few options:

• Create your ad (same character limits as a text ad).
• Add your phone number (this is optional). However, the phone number you display does not have to match what Google has on file. This allows one to make sure the most upto date phone number is displayed. It also gives advertisers an opportunity to use a unique phone number to track their ad’s effectiveness.
• Choose a map icon (full icon list above).
• Choose your destination page.
• Upload an image. The use of a graphical logo can significantly increase both CTRs and branding. The logo must be 125×125 (max size of 20k), and be in a .gif, .jpg, or .png format.

Once the information is filled out, save your work.

This is Keyword Based Advertising:

Unlike many local web advertisements that are based on channels or categories, these ads are keyword triggered. You’ll want to review the AdGroup that contains your Local Business Ad to ensure you have a robust universe of keywords that will trigger your ad.

It is also important to note that Google Local will only show one ad type at a time, and they are giving priority to Local Business Ads. What this means is that if there are no Local Business ads, then Google will show appropriate text ads. If there is even a single Local Business Ad, then Local Business Ads will show. If you’re the only one with a Local Business Ad, yours will be the only ad on the page.

Overview:

I’m elated to see Google take this step towards giving premium placement to local advertisers. I also think web searchers will very much enjoy this additional information on Google Local. Most national ads are not relevant to local based searches. This change ensures that local businesses are receiving excellent exposure while searchers are receiving information relevant to their search. A win-win situation for everyone involved.

Hopefully, this will start a new trend in local advertising placement that will carry over to other advertising providers. Google took the first step, now it’s time for the others to follow in assisting 22 million SMEs with billions of dollars to spend, to migrate from offline advertising to successful online marketing.

Skype (owned by eBay) has partnered with several local directories to allow localized search through their toolbar.

The countries available are:

• Brazil
• Finland
• Norway
• U.K.
• Denmark
• Germany
• Sweden

While this is mostly European, it does have some very interesting applications in the future of Pay Per Call:

Have you tried the toolbar on our local search partners� websites? If you do, you�ll notice that the telephone numbers on their sites aren�t just highlighted � they�re transformed into call buttons.

Source.

Is Skype and eBay testing out the possibilities of pay per call?
Are they just trying to give additional features to users?
Are they ‘enhancing’ the user experience with eBay and Skype products to maintain loyalty?
Does the toolbar collect other information about users (maybe for more targeted eBay ads)?

All of these questions are just speculation at present, however, eBay paid 2.6 billion for Skype and stockholders will want to see a return on those dollars.

With rumors surrounding Google Talk and Google PPCall; rumors of Yahoo testing PPCall; rumors of more instant messengers becoming VOIP friendly; and of course, Google Base as a possible competitor - eBay must stay on top of the constantly changing internet climate with new offers.

I suspect this is just the first of several announcements eBay and Skype will make towards the local marketing arena. Local auctions, local shopping, local phone numbers, call capability, and local search - it seems eBay is looking to test its foray into the local marketing arena - which will only grow over time.

If this is a success (even very moderately), expect USA and Canada to be added in the short term.

The longer term vision I can see eBay and Skype having is a more seamless user experience. Local search with the toolbar (i.e. replace phone books). Call with Skype (i.e. replace telephones). Bring a seamless local search user experience to the web. This may very well be the wave of the future, and it’s being brought to us by eBay.

Who will eBay compete with? It’s difficult to say. It could be they aren’t seeing it as competition and just leading the web in new features.

The VOIP arena is heating up between Vonage, Skype, and local cable providers such as RCN. Skype’s new local search addition makes them a clear leader in this area - for now.

Yahoo local has quietly become one of the best search properties on the internet. It has allowed small businesses to update their business data and to tell searchers about their business. This distribution of local business data is crucial to the new wave of local business promotion.

Based on various verticals, the data being displayed is actually different. Yahoo Local was one of the first properties to realize that each vertical needs different display fields. A hotel doesn’t need a menu display, a restaurant does. A pizza restaurant needs a delivery area, but a plumber needs a service area.

As yahoo local expands, expect to be able to search based on your location and not see who is closest to you (the default options on most local properties now) but a list of those who will service your area - a very different algorithm.

It is estimated that 25%+ of all search queries have a local intent. This is a large number compared to the actual usage statistics of local search properties. Yahoo local has integrated very unobtrusively into Yahoo search (show screen shot of stars) by showing some listings when the search is determined to be local in nature.

Yahoo Local profiles are gathered in three different ways, user generated, spider generated, and data provider backfill.

If Slurp, the Yahoo spider, finds information on your website that it determines to be local, it may attempt to find your business address, name, phone number, etc and then match it up against data provider backfill and creates a profile for you.

The second way is user generated. If your business is not listed, then you can log into your Yahoo profile and fill out your business information. Yahoo not only allows you to have some custom information, but also allows for a small 5 page website. The website does have ads on the right hand of the page, often for a competiting business, so if you already have a website, you’ll receive very little benefit from this. If you don’t have a website, a registerlocal.com profile listing may be more to your liking.

The last method Yahoo uses to create business listings is by data provider backfill. Yahoo has some deals with large data providers to provide them with accurate business information and then takes this information and displays it on the Yahoo property.

How to Create Your Listing

The first step is to do a search on Yahoo for your businesses. If you find it, you should see a link that says [insert screen shot here of is this your business]. You can follow that link and take control of the listing. (Important: Please read ‘Hijacking Yahoo Local’ listings‘. You can lose a free business listing at any time, and there is only one way to make sure you control your own business information).

Once you’ve taken control of the listing, you can update the business information at will. There is usually a short delay as Yahoo reviews this information before it goes live on Yahoo properties. In some industries, we’ve noticed a longer wait time than others. Presumably, sensitive verticals maybe looked at closer before allowing information to be changed.

If you don’t see your business on Yahoo, then follow this link to add your business.

Important Information
Yahoo uses several different algorithms to determine Yahoo Local Rankings. The first is proximity. These results are based on the distance between a user and the business - pretty straightforward.

Another is user reviews. Other Yahoo users can review your business. This is very important to pay attention to - this is a public perception of your business. It is suggested that you review you businesses, ask your customers to review your businesses, and maybe even offer $5 coupons or something once a customer has reviewed your business on yahoo. The total number of reviews and the average star review (1-5 stars) can help your businesses rank higher in the search algorithm.

The last method used in ranking is keywords. Keywords, like in all search, matter. Keywords in your title, in your description, in your brands, in the reviews, everywhere. Do NOT stuff keywords. Not only will Yahoo possibly ban or remove your listing, keyword stuffed profiles look uglier to a user and the CTR from the business profile to the listing is lower. In addition, there is enough information at this detailed business view to call your company. If your profile does not look attractive to a user, the odds of them wishing to do business with your company is less.

Yahoo does offer an enhanced listing. This option is roughly $10 per month. I’ve not found any priority in the algorithm using these advanced listings, however, the data is protected. No one can hijack your listing if you’re paying for it.

Overall, Yahoo is one of the leaders in building a community around a local search property. Their forward thinking and success in this arena will only grow stronger over the coming months and years. If you’re looking to build your local presence, a Yahoo listing is a must.

Yahoo local is a very important local search property. However, it has one fatal flaw - hijacking other people’s business listings. (Full Yahoo local review here).

Because it’s so easy to take control of a listing, you must be careful that it remains in your hands. If you pay yahoo $10/month, then the listing always stays in your account and you receive the benefits of an enhanced listing. If you don’t pay Yahoo - then anyone else can come along and hijack that listing putting it in their own Yahoo account.

The last time I checked, MSN, Google, and Yahoo were all available for Hijacking. Their is no QCing of this hijacking procedure. What happens is the listing is now in two different Yahoo accounts, and the last modified data is the one that shows on a Yahoo search.

To hijack a listing, all you have to do is click the [check this info] ‘is this your listing’, log into your account, fill out a little bit of data, and then it’s all yours.

When I first saw this, I was amazed at how easy it was. Then I started thinking about the real implications of doing this well.

1. Only change the phone number in a listing. This will make the listing and reviews rank naturally for the previous business, but phone calls generated form the review would be yours.

2. Hijack listings with many positive reviews. The reviews stay with the listing. Therefore, you could change all the business information around but keep someone else’s reviews. This would be a great way to jump start a Yahoo listing.

3. Link stealing. Google crawls Yahoo local and counts them as backlinks. If you were to start changing only the URL in the listing, it may go undetected for a awhile and bring better Google rankings.

4. Because you feel like having MSN, Google, and Yahoo in your Yahoo profile. Be all these companies at once for a day. The last time I checked, all these listings were open to hijacking. It’s pretty amazing that Yahoo didn’t enhance their own listing.

I’m sure there are much more insidious things todo with hijacked listings. I’m not pointing this as a how-to on hijacking. I’d rather see Yahoo put some QC behind their local listings besides just paying $10/month to see what happens. Right now, I can steal MSN, pay the $10/month, and an MSN employee couldn’t even change the info.

The success of local information websites rides heavily on data quality and integrity.

Yahoo has a lot of data. Its still working on the quality.

Some more local search data was recently released by comScore. I was going to pull out all the local data to present to my readers, but Greg Sterling at Kelsey Blog has already done the work I was going to do.

comScore separately breaks out IYP usage (231,678,352 lookups in 8/05). Here’s the percentage breakdown of the data:
Yahoo! Sites—27.6%
Verizon Communications Corporation — 25.5%
Google Sites—11.6%
YellowPages.com—7.7%
Time Warner Network—7.6%
InfoSpace Network—7.0%
DexOnline.com—5.0%
SBC Communications—2.4%
Citysearch—2.4%
Yell—1.6%
BellSouth—1.4%
Ask Jeeves—0.2%

No need to repeat the same information, so for full commentary, see Greg’s Blog.

Understanding where various information for IYPs (internet yellow pages) and local search engines is crucial to making sure your local business data is current and accurate on the web.

Do these engines know:

• Your business hours
• Your current phone number
• Your current address
• Your delivery/service area
• Your certifications
• Etc, etc

Here’s a brief table of who powers who:

While it might look like there are just a few places, updating your business information directly with Acxiom, InfoUSA, and other large data aggregators is almost impossible for a small business. These providers often deal with Vertical players who have tens of thousands of business records at a time.

Finding how to update your information on Yahoo, Google, Switchboard, etc is a very time consuming process.

It’s very difficult to fix this information by going directly to the providers. An easier way to make sure that all your information on the web is current is to use a data service like Register Local.

This service populates your local data to roughly 50 different properties directly.

The other advantage to a service like this is that you can update your information in a single place and the service will change it across the web without you having to find every single IYP and Local Search Engine that has your incorrect information to update it.

Making sure your customers find your accurate business information is critical to maintaining and growing your customer base.
Making sure your business information on the web is accurate is a very difficult process.
Register Local is quietly changing the data provider business by allowing individual businesses to control their own data.

Data is knowledge.
Knowledge is power.
Give the power back to the small businesses.
Control your own business information.