Want to understand more about all that's happening in the local and mobile search space? That's what our SMX Local & Mobile conference on Oct. 1 & 2 in Denver is all about! To give you a preview of what will be covered, Search Engine Land executive editor Chris Sherman and staff writer Greg Sterling -- who have programmed the SMX event -- talk about what to expect as well as trends and developments in the mobile and local space, in a special podcast. Check it out by listening to this MP3 file or use the player below: Attend SMX Local & Mobile! October 1-2, Denver P [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Local Search Week | Mobile Search Week | SEM Industry: Conferences

Nearly a decade ago, I believed in the power and promise of locally focused Web sites and applications. Back then, I was COO of About.com and in hindsight can say that I was a bit ahead of market adoption, to say the least! We ended up pretty successfully focusing on interest-based sites that became all the rage as the Internet "verticalized." This article is part of Local Search Week here at Search Engine Land, a special look at local search marketing issues in the run-up to our SMX Local & Mobile conference next month. But today, plenty of research tells us that online consumers [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search Week | Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines

Many companies have brick-and-mortar locations spread out across the country or around the world, and most have some type of store locator utility on their websites. Restaurant chains, hotels, retailers, service providers, and more will frequently have a substantial web presence coupled with the desire to make it easy for consumers to find their local outlets. But most of these companies haven't thought their store locator strategies through very well, treating the site feature as just a necessary item to include like a "contact us" page, or copyright notice—and they haven't really thou [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Local Search Week | SEO: Local

Today Superpages formally rolled out a compare merchants feature. In doing so it becomes the second major US yellow pages publisher to offer that feature in its online directory. DexKnows, owned by R.H. Donnelley and powered by Local Matters' "destination search" platform, has offered the feature for some time. This article is part of Local Search Week here at Search Engine Land, a special look at local search marketing issues in the run-up to our SMX Local & Mobile conference next month. The Superpages compare feature is like that found on product comparison search engines and allows f [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search Week | Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines

After exploring Yahoo's Mapspam, I started investigating Yahoo's end user local reporting features more fully. I may have underestimated Yahoo's features to deal with spam (and to abet it). The new Yahoo Local is making a strong attempt at encouraging user input and content about local businesses with reviews, soliciting and actually reading end user suggestions for improvements and even allowing users to add business level details to specific records. This article is part of Local Search Week here at Search Engine Land, a special look at local search marketing issues in the run-up to our S [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Local Search Week | SEO: Local | SEO: Spamming | Yahoo: Maps & Local

This week, we're focusing on local search here at Search Engine Land. Why? Local search, along with its close cousin mobile search, promises to be the next "big opportunity" for interactive marketers. The consensus prediction is for $8 billion in ad spending by 2010 targeted toward local searchers. It's also clear that as searchers get more sophisticated, they're getting more comfortable seeking out nearby merchants and service providers using the web, rather than turning to the increasingly outdated, non-interactive yellow pages. Despite these promising signs, the market is fragmented, and [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Local Search Week