Panelists: Tactical Search: Local

Panelists:

Tactical Search: Local & Mobile Search

Dana Todd, CMO, Newsforce (Moderator)

Zach Anderson, VP Marketing, TicketCity

Sean X. Cummings, Director Marketing, Ask.comErika Moersch, Manager Paid Search, OutriderIan White, CEO, Urban Mapping

Panelists:

Zach Anderson, VP MarketingTicketCity

Local Search Intro

• Local Search: IYP & search companies– Yellowpages.com network: 20.2% share*– Superpages network: 20% share*– Yahoo Local sites: 17.9% share*– Google Local sites: 15.1% share*– Yellow Book network: 8.6% share*– Microsoft Local sites: 4.8% share*

– Citysearch– Ask.com AskCity

* Source: comScore March 2008

Mobile Search Intro

• Mobile Search – multiple opportunities & players1. WAP/Search Advertising

2. SMS Advertising

3. Mobile Local Search

4. Voice Advertising

5. Coupons / QR Codes

6. SMS Marketing

– 4Info.net, Google SMS & 1-800-FREE-411

Case Study: TicketCity

• Sell tickets for events across US & World– 75% B-to-C revenue from online/search– Heavy investment in PPC & SEO

• Downsized YP to invest in Local Search (IYP)– Higher ROI with Superpages than search– Superpages ROI exceeds traditional YP– Local Search residuals:

• Shorter sales cycle

• Brand building

• Mobile Search: Evolving - Using 1-800-FREE-411

Case Study: TicketCity

• Currently ranked #1 in our category using Superpages PPC program

Case Study: TicketCity

• Category sponsorship in Yellowpages.com secures top placement & provides detailed company info.

Why Invest in Local Search?

• Local Search is a targeted, captive audience– 17% more likely to buy than SE users*– 42% more likely to buy than overall online pop*

• Local Search has effective “community” for users– Reviews, directions, ratings, comments & video

• Local Search is an attractive market– 60% of users earn $60K + per year*– IYPs investing millions to lure users

* Source: comScore/TMPDM Search Study June 2007

Why Invest in Mobile Search?

• Mobile industry growing rapidly– By 2010, over 250 mobile users in US*– 90% of US population accessible

• Mobile spending is increasing– Mobile Search 2007: $83 million*– Mobile Search 2008: $244 million*– Mobile Search 2012: $3 billion*

• Get in before the water is completed crowded– By 2012: “new media” spending increase 82%**

* Source: eMarketers March 2008

** PQ Media March 2008

Local & Mobile Search Extra Tips

• Spend in moderation

• Monitor how both mediums evolve

• Find a good partner

• Take advantage of the free opportunities:– Update your listings– Get people to rate your business

Panelists:

Sean X Cummings, Director of MarketingAsk.com

Best Practices Messaging Local Markets

• Site structure makes a big difference.– If you have location-specific content, then be sure

it is organized in way that conveys some meaning to search. domain.com/california/san-francisco

– You should be able to bookmark your local content pages, email the link to a friend etc.

– Be sure these location-specific pages have the location in the title

– Have localized landing pages with appropriate local content on those pages and local metatags  

Best Practices Messaging Local Markets

• Have content and campaigns targeted to the various parts of "the funnel.”

– Consumers search on category/brand terms. These are ultimately local searches because they buy offline. Consumers do research and then buy in stores. Lead them from the category or brand-level search to where they can buy.

Best Practices Messaging Local Markets

• Make sure you are properly listed in Maps

• Have store locations and relevant content in the major DBs and search sites

• Buy local PPC– Lots of retailers don’t realize they can do this

Best Practices Messaging Local Markets

• Develop local SEO content– Semantic build out of words Florida Internet

Company, South Florida Internet Company, Miami Internet Company, Ft. Lauderdale Internet Company, Florida Online Company, South Florida Online Company, Miami Online Company, Ft. Lauderdale Online Company

Best Practices Messaging Local Markets

• SEO Press Releases targeting local terms

• Local PR is great for building backlinks

– Simple joint press releases announcing service in a new area are usually picked up by local media and goes a long way to building lasting traffic

• Build links with your chamber of commerce and local associations to become part of the local link relevance set

Panelists:

Erika Moersch, Manager Paid Search Outrider

Mobile Search Best Practices- Create a WAP site:

• Experience specifically designed for the mobile user• Decreased load time• Ability to advertise on all mobile platforms

Mobile Search Best Practices

• Choose the right keywords• Redirect so they can find you• Plan for on-deck and off-deck

– 75/25 rule

• Creative limitations

*source: eMarketer, Feb 2008

Issues and Roadblocks

• Flash, Java– Only 13.3% of phones are smartphones*

• Algorithms• No platform standardization

– CTIA– Android

• No domain/sub-domain standardization– m., .mobi, wap.

• Tracking

*Source- m:metrics

Mobile Search Insider Learnings

• CPCs may or may not be high– Entertainment and Auto

• Yahoo vs. Google Impressions– Yahoo 18.2 million uniques

• Low volumes

Mobile Search Insider Learnings

• Underestimate impressions; accurate clicks• Less real estate than traditional search• Test for less than $1K/month

– Two Entertainment Vertical Campaigns• General industry terms

Testing – The time is now!

Low cost advertising

+ Sparse Mobile Competition

Minimal Risk

Panelists:

Ian White, CEOUrban Mapping

About Urban Mapping

• Geospatial data to enrich local content: intersection of direct/interactive marketing and GIS with a healthy dose of user-led design

• Products: aggregated database of informal space (neighborhoods), normalized database of mass transit (subway) systems, novel geotargeting platform

• Customers: Major portals and IYPs

The Opportunity in Local Search

• 40% queries inherently local• 5% search terms use city and/or state• 2% search terms use informal space (ie neighborhoods)• .05% search terms use ZIP

5.02.0.057.05

+

Source: leaked AOL search data sample, 3/1/06-5/31/06, UMI Analysis

IP-based Geotargeting Sucks

• Load balancers, dynamic IPs, proxy servers (think AOL dialup/Dulles, VA)– Geo IP good for anti fraud, regional content serving

• Service area misrepresentation– Defined service area (DMA, etc…)– Auto dealer, Hardware store: are all

service areas the same?• Other

– Accuracy—at country level?– Where you are v. where you want to be (vacation planning)

Geographic Keywords Have Arrived

• Design campaigns around user behavior• Natural and paid• Aggregate and conquer:

– Admin boundary (ZIP, county, city, state)– POIs (churches, schools, parks, cultural attractions, transit hubs,

neighborhoods)

How Location Aware Are You?

• Know the ways…– Thumb– WiFi – A-GPS– Cell ID– GPS

• Understand the tradeoffs…– Power consumption– Time-to-fix– Accuracy

Fin

Ian WhiteUrban Mapping Inc.ian@urbanmapping.com

Panelists:

Questions…? Let’s Talk!