Are Yellow Pages Toast? Four Years Later We Review Ad Value. In 2007, I took some heat for pointing out that Google Trends showed declining searches for “yellow pages” while theorizing that this indicated reducing consumer interest in print and online YP sites. About four years later, we can now look back and see whether this turned out to be a valid prediction, and also reflect on what value YP may still have for advertisers. When I wrote that earlier article, I was aware that connecting a major shift in overall consumer behavior to a graphed trendline of searches in Google was a little loose in terms of causality. There are many reasons why people search for a particular phrase, and many reasons why cumulative searches for the phrase can rise or fall. (Not to mention, there is uncertainty about what the actual volume of searches is in the graphs since Google obscures volume amounts, and there can be error in assuming that Google users reflect the same search patterns of users who may search elsewhere, such as in Bing.)
U.S. Google Adds Salespeople, Services to Boost Local Search Ads | Digital - Advertising Age. Local search ad spending to hit $8.2B by 2015: BIA/Kelsey. May 18, 2011 Local search advertising spending will grow to $8.2 billion in 2015, a 60.7% increase from 2010, according to a report from local media advisory firm BIA/Kelsey. However, the firm also predicted that local search's share of local ad budgets will decrease. The “US Local Media Annual Forecast (2010-2015)” report also predicted that the share of local searches, compared to general searches, will nearly double from 17.5% in 2010 to 30% in 2015.
Neal Polachek, president of BIA/Kelsey, said it's “not inconceivable” that local search could account for 50% of queries by 2015, because consumers will increasingly use local-related terms because of their added relevance. “Increasingly, people understand that if they put in ‘tires Queens,' they're going to get a better set of results than just putting in ‘tires,'” said Polachek. “I don't know if a consumer is going to search about Britney Spears on his or her mobile phone,” he said. Promoting Your Salon – This Beats The Yellow Pages Hands Down. Have you any idea what the number 1 “offline” referrer of new clients to your Salon is? Is it the regular newspaper ad you run, what about “word of mouth”, even walk in traffic from the shopping centre you are located in.
Maybe it’s the yellow pages! But if you ask me I’d be saying that the the Yellow Pages, as a source of hew business to your Salon… is dead in the water! And here’s why. I’ve been a a business owner just like you. The amount of money I spent on Yellow Pages advertising would amount to over $250,000 over an 8 year period. I hated spending it… and I hated the annual visit from the Yellow Pages rep who used to explain all the new features they had that year and that it was only going to cost 8% more than last year. And then they’d go onto explain how bad business could become if I dared change the size of the ad, how I’d be re-positioned to the back of the section. And a part of me did get frightened. What if I lost customers… what if I’d be making a mistake.
Related Posts: Part 1: How are people looking for local businesses? Will yours get found? Part 2: Where people are looking to find local businesses. SEO Company Temecula - Are Yellow Pages Dead? Google vs Yellow pages, "let your figures do the talking" Why Your Free Website Builder Doesn't Work | Herbst Marketing | 540-937-7234. Verizon Now Publishing a 411 Directory for Mobile Numbers | OPTIMIZED! I am often asked about businesses that don’t have a landline, only mobile phone numbers, and if that presents any challenges in Local Search. The answer usually is that a mobile number is fine, but the IYPs are a trusted source of local business data and you can’t get a citation from them if you don’t have a land line.
That may be changing with Verizon’s release of a white pages business directory of mobile numbers for 12 states. It’s not just for Verizon customers, but for all mobile numbers regardless of the provider. In addition to being included in a national 411 online directory, you choose one or more print directory to be listed in, as well. The minimal cost of less than $5 per month per print directory certainly isn’t much of a barrier for spammers. There is some type of phone verification, but I haven’t tried it so I don’t know what is involved. Hopefully it’s enough to make it a trusted source of business data for Google Places. We don’t really know where this might lead. 5 Considerations For Connecting With Local Searchers. These days, local business owners are regularly faced with the question of where to advertise to attract new customers. While there’s basic knowledge that consumer media habits are transitioning, many businesses often lack an in-depth understanding of exactly what has changed and how they should be adjusting their marketing strategies to match current trends.
This month, new data was released from the research firm Burke looking at habits of consumers searching for local business information across various local media. The results verify common perceptions, but also clearly dispel some notions about how people find local information. In an earlier post on Search Engine Land, Greg Sterling provided top-line results on the study. I’d like to go a step further and translate the findings into five key takeaways to consider when planning your local advertising strategy: Consumers Searching For Local Businesses Continue To Grow Remember Yellow Pages Have Gone Multichannel. Local Online Ads: Best Practices. Media Metrix Ranks Top 50 U.S. Web Properties for June 2011. » Yellow Pages. IYPs Among comScore’s List of Top 50 U.S. Web Properties. Contributed by: Stephanie Hobbs I’ve been catching up on my blog reading, and came across an interesting mention on BIA/Kelsey’s Global Yellow Pages blog about several Yellow Pages companies ranking well on comScore’s June list of top 50 U.S. web properties.
With all the innovation taking place on our online properties—everything from the revamping of Internet Yellow Pages directories to new vertical websites—it came as no surprise to me that not only are three IYP networks ranked among the top properties on the web, but that these networks alone attract nearly one hundred million unique monthly visitors. These top performers include: Yellowbook network, which ranked 26th overall with 36.4 million unique monthly visitorsSuperPages.com network, which ranked 32nd overall with 34.1 million unique monthly visitorsAT&T Interactive Sites, which ranked 41st overall with 28.1 million unique monthly visitors Be Sociable, Share!
In Evolving Media Landscape, Yellow Pages and Search Engines Are Go-To Sources for Consumers Shopping Locally. Last year, we launched a new study from Burke that looks at habits of consumers searching for local business information among various local media. The Local Media Tracking Study is an important one for our industry because it takes a comprehensive view on local media, and this year we’ve expanded it to include social networks as part of the questionnaire. The findings from this year’s report show an increasingly fragmented media marketplace, with consumers consulting two to three sources of local information on average when making a purchase.
They are still using their Yellow Pages – either print, online, or both – but search engines have increased their reach over last year’s study. Today, Yellow Pages and search engines dominate the local search space among all media. Last year, 84% of people used a Yellow Pages product and 76% used a search engine to find a local business. (Click to enlarge) In 2010, consumers generated 11 billion references to print Yellow pages. Be Sociable, Share! ComScore. As mobile plays an increasingly central role in the local search experience, we need better insights into how consumers are using non-PC devices to find neighborhood business information so that local search marketers can leverage trends in the space. I’m pleased to announce that today the Local Search Association is releasing our new Local Mobile Search report, prepared by comScore, which looks at the evolving mobile environment in the U.S. and the growing role of smartphones, tablets and other connected devices in the local search experience, highlighting trends in online directory and IYP usage and demographics.
The report shows a continuing shift of mobile usage among consumers, signaling an opportunity for local businesses to re-evaluate where they devote their online ad spending. The report also found that 48% of U.S. mobile users used their devices to access local content in December 2012, up from 42% in December 2011. Internet Yellow Pages Accessed by Highly Desirable Mobile Users.