Local search is considered the Wild West of the online search world. Yet, interactive marketers are now realizing that they cannot continue to pour money into the same pay per click advertising model that works for general online search and see the same type of results. According to a recent Forrester report this is because local searchers have three needs: proximity, immediacy and brand loyalty. This is forcing local search engines to implement new services, including inventory control sites, pay-per-call and local reviews and online classifieds aggregators, to cater to these consumer needs. See where local search is heading.
Panelists:
John Federman, CEO, eStara
Lyn Chitow Oakes, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Jingle Networks
Brendan Benzing, Vice President, Mobile Search & Marketing, InfoSpace
Nancy Dunn, ClipSyndicate
Moderator: Greg Sterling, Senior Analyst & Program Director, Local Mobile Search, Opus Research
Local is the most important phenomenon on the Internet
Local Search 2nd most popular activity online
Brendan Benzing
manifest from yellow pages to internet yellow pages to mobile local search
Lyn Chitow
majority of mobile searchers using voice
Dunn
Aggregating local providers
Conversion rates on local tend to be reflective of the "ready to buy" consumer
Directional Media
consumer already has the need established
consumer is already on the pursuit
Campaign Integration across media
Invisibility on intent and tracking is often an issue
Voice is still the mass of mobile usage
Tags: OMMA, OMMA East, OMMA 2007, Mediapost, Search, Local Search, Mobile