aimClear Search Marketing Blog

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In yesterday’s post, guest blogger and CEO of BlitzLocal.com, Dennis Yu, tackled some important concepts of the local ad firm- specifically the fact that it is sure to kick the bucket in 2010 if industry professionals don’t take proactive steps as soon as possible. Part two of this story will address changes the future has in store for local ad agency fiscal models and a closer look at the crucial dynamics of this evolution.

How will the financial model of local adapt over time?

Firms can take a 50% margin until the market gets smart. Consider the current VC-funded, growth-oriented approach of a pretend composite company… we’ll call it SuperLocal, Inc. Read the rest of this entry »

Borrell Research released a report on the Economics of Search Marketing for firms catering to local—ReachLocal, Yodle, MarchEx, WebVisible, and others.  Companies in this space churn up to 90% of their clients every 6 months, meaning that they lose clients as fast as they can gain them.  The Kelsey Group confirmed this trend last year, citing the inability of these companies to deliver leads.

Clients will stay on a few months in good faith, giving the lead gen’ company time to make the phone ring.  At a certain point, pleas to allow the system more time to “optimize” and concessions not to leave break down, leading to more churn. Read the rest of this entry »

[Editor's note: This post is our continued dissemination of content from this week's  SearchEngineStrategies San Jose search marketing conference, where aimClear had 3 correspondents providing our readers notes and articles. The following is from our friend and blogger-associate, Charlene Jaszewski:]

Mobile and Local are tied at the hip, but up until recently the tools weren’t up to the task. But with advent of the iPhone however, all that is changing.

Besides making iPhone a great productivity tool (not to mention GORGEOUS eye candy), Apple has opened up third party application development.

This SES San Jose session demo-ed a few of the existing and up-and-coming applications taking advantage not only of local search, but also of the iPhone’s unique capabilities. Read the rest of this entry »

Last year in Denver SMX Local Mobile was a gathering of theorists, brilliant upstarts, handset manufacturers, fledgling platforms and edgy prognosticators.

Keynote speaker Michael Jones looked skyward and evangelized Google Earth’s mission of placing the world’s information in geographical context. Experts introduced many of us to terms like on/off deck, walled gardens, and dumb pipes.

The initial release of the iPhone was embryonic and we all knew it would change the world, in terms of mainstream expectations for mobile web page parsing quality. One year later, the LoMo promise is coming true and SMX Local Mobile has become an extremely serious search marketing conference. Read the rest of this entry »

The leaders in the local/mobile search industry gathered here in Denver to discuss state of the art, teach, share, and prognosticate.

Ironically, the most appropriate “takeaway” is that very little is static in this arena. The revolution is still in its infancy, however it is clear that a marketing explosion of nuclear magnitude is imminent.

There is SO much money on the table. There are SO many fragmented channels, many of which are critically important to understand and master. Will your marketing campaign be left in the dust as the world changes? Read the rest of this entry »

Overseeing local and mobile search marketing efforts can be daunting. Numerous providers offer ever-increasing abilities to target eyeballs by demographic criteria. How much should be budgeted to the greatest benefit?

What should we do first? Who are the players? This session explored the “tactical demands of running a successful local/mobile search marketing campaign.”

Chris Sherman, Executive Editor, Search Engine Land , moderated and led off the discussion. Chris gave us the good news first, that “local and mobile campaigns have a lot in common with traditional search marketing. However, local mobile is much more fragmented with dozens or hundreds of factors to keep track of.” Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Jones, Chief Technologist for Google Earth, Google Maps and Google Local Search is no stranger to mapping technology. Previously he was CTO at Keyhole, the company which developed the technology behind Google Earth and was acquired by Google. (Google Press Center: Press Release). He was also director of advanced graphics at SGI.

Michael discussed “The Future of Local Search, Google’s Strategic Vision”, which is all about the “broad for context” and the “minute for relevance”. He shared incredible Google-mapped big-screen examples including statistics and stories from the Darfur genocide (literally house to house and village to village). Other animated screen shots included regional, subway information, election results, restaurants, flood damage, and many other applications where geo-perspective provides context for information. Read the rest of this entry »

Good morning from Denver Colorado here at the inaugural SMX Search Marketing Expo Local & Mobile edition. The sun has not yet risen, but promise and excitement resonate in the Hyatt Tech Center halls. For those of you who love Sphinn, Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman invented it, along with SES (Search Engine Strategies, from which they have now moved on).

Local & Mobile are Huge.
Local and Mobile search encompass an immense search marketing frontier. Pundits forecast that ad-spends will skyrocket to $8 billion by 2010. Home on the range, it’s still the Wild West with platforms springing up practically every week. Leading edge technologies are evolving at scorching speeds, and it’s vital not to be buried in the ongoing avalanche of advancements.

Read the rest of this entry »

Local and Mobile search comprise a massive search marketing frontier. Most marketplace pundits predict that ad-spends will rise to $8 billion by the year 2010. It’s still the Wild West, home on the range, with numerous platforms springing up every month. Frontline technologies are maturing at blazing speeds and it’s critical not to be left eating dust.

Shootout At the O.K. Corral
The major search engines and online directories all have guns drawn are they’re taking aim at heaps of glittering gold. Other niche-contenders are circling the wagons. They too are bent on staking out product and service segments. Factor in the ambitions of mobile carriers and you’ve got the makings of an epic hoedown. Read the rest of this entry »