Home | Job Search | Career Strategies |Employment | Resumes | Communication |Write |Successful Women | Business | Home Business | Entrepreneur |Loan - Credit | Web | Network | Balance |International| Book Store
Jonathan Kagan
There is no right answer to the question of which is the best engine to go with, and why? Or what makes one engine better than the other? However no client would accept that from someone they are paying to know these kinds of things. So I began to research the engines, for “Geo-Targeting” and “Local Searching”. To try and decide who in my opinion is the “cream of the crop” if you will, in this area, based on setting it up and operating for the advertiser, and the ease of you and effectiveness for the searcher.
I should probably explain what Geo-Targeting and Local Search is first, for those of you who are not familiar with the terminology. Geo-Targeting is the ability to advertise your internet marketing campaign in a certain geographic area; this is often done based off IP addresses located in certain areas. Local Search is the actual search one does, but with the intentions of doing it in a particular area only. This is often done by appending names of cities or states into ones search query (i.e. “seafood restaurant Boston”). To a certain degree or level, the 3 big name search engine companies (MSN, Yahoo, and Google) have one form of this or another.
But just as the concept of regional advertising on search engines, began to settle in, a new standard of "Geo-Target/Local Search”. And it was called “Google Earth”. Formally know as Earth Viewer, Google acquired it in 2004 and they released in November of 2005 re-branded as Google Earth. This interactive program gives a multi-dimensional, fully interactive globe, where users can get as close as 500 feet and see defined photographic areas of the world. Mind you the images are at least 5 years old in most sections, more and more users have gone onto the website, and labeled locations for stores, restaurants, corporate campus etc. When clicking on the emblem, it even provides you with the options for directions and searching it on Google. This is in my opinion where Geo/Local searching and targeting will end up, as MSN and Yahoo have similar programs to a lesser extent in released, however they are typically labeled as “Maps”, they all perform the same function.
MSN although new to the game, has already become the most frustrating Geo-Targeting PPC Tool there is in the eyes of an advertiser. When you set up an "Order" (MSN's version of an AdGroup) it defaults to showing world wide. This means that your advertisement is being shown in California, New York, Beijing, Australia, etc. You must change this default setting to the appropriate geo-targeted location, in each Order individually. It is also extremely difficult to set an ad to be displayed by a specific state or region. Unlike Google AdWords, which enables an advertiser to pick an entire state, region, and/or major cities in the state, MSN has taken a different route. MSN does not give you the option to select an entire state; instead the advertiser must select randomly located cities in each state. Each city covers a certain area within the state. When I requested a complete list of locations, each place that is covered, we discovered that Staten Island, one of New York City's boroughs was not included in this list.
MSN and/or Windows Live (whatever you want to call it) isn't much different in its function than Google Local for the standard PPC (and it shouldn't as they did copy their setup from Google). However the local search is somewhat something left to be desired. Its not all negative however, the Local Live or Windows Local, although pulling their Sponsored ads from Superpages.com, they are testing out a Pay-Per-Call program in beta version. This is something that is ahead of Yahoo or Google (whose click-to-call program is on hiatus).
Although Google and then Yahoo have set the known "standard for Geo-Targeting advertising, don't forget about the little guys. SuperPages.com and CitySearch. These guys may not have all the fancy bells and whistles of the super search engines, but they can be just as effective - if not more effective or accurate! Not to mention the ability to show advertisers' phone numbers, which is another thing they do have over the big search engines. SuperPages.com and CitySearch both focus on the original goal of Geo-Targeting Advertising, which is to allow people to seek/search for something in a specific area, and not receive national advertisements. These are things; I feel Google still struggles to work with in their local search skills.
CitySearch.com is the ideal local search tool for tourists and young folks. That is, those who really want to know not only where the restaurant is, but how cheap are their drinks, or what DJ is spinning on what night, etc. However CitySearch.com claims that 64% of their users are over the age of 30. This is truly a under rated local search engine. Its simplicity is comparable to SuperPages.com in its usage, but its results are far more in depth. However it may not be ideal for trying to locate a gas station. That is only because it is almost unheard of. To be honest, the only way I ever discovered them, was when I was reading an article on MSN, and it used them for doing a review on a restaurant in Manhattan I was going to. However they do run a Pay-per-click campaign, the results remain somewhat sparse in comparison. But again this is attributed to the fact that it is so unheard of as a search engine.
My personal favorite is SuperPages.com. It is simple and extremely user friendly and gives you the option to search anywhere, where Google, which is my 2nd choice, only picks up and displays what is in the local area of your IP address. However don't count Google out. Their system is much better for advertisers as it allows them to better control the incoming flow of traffic and in turn the money that is spent. Yahoo has a system nearly identical to SuperPages.com in that they give the address. However, SuperPages.com seems to give the more up to date and accurate listings to the searcher. SuperPages.com, if they could only get the traffic, could be the best Geo-Targeting tool/engine on the market. Hard to believe all this is based on the concept of the phone book (if anyone in this day and age still uses them).
Article Source :
http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com
http://internet-marketing.bestmanagementarticles.com
About the Author :
http://www.citysearch.com http://adwords.google.com http://www.overture.com http://www.verizonsuperpages.com http://www.ask.com
Home
|
Job Search | Career
Strategies |Employment | Resumes | Communication |Write |Successful Women | Business | Home Business | Entrepreneur
|Loan - Credit | Web | Network | Balance |International| Book Store
About Us | Advertising Info| Content, Reprints | Privacy Policy | Sitemap
Copyright
© Advancing Women (TM), 1996-2006
For
questions or comment regarding content, please contact publisher@advancingwomen.com.
For technical questions or comment regarding this site, please contact
webmaster@advancingwomen.com.
Duplication without express written consent is prohibited
