I just wanted to say that you are all (minus one person, we all know who you are) right in different ways.

What most people (searchers on yahoo and google and etc..) dont realize that when you do a search on those site for a local product or service 61% of the search results on those sites come from IYP’s. The person clicks over to a yellowbook.com and buys thier product. People are starting to realize that if they want a local product or service, you might as well go to a yellowbook.com for example, since you are going to end up there anyway. They are skipping the step and going directly to the source. I know I use yellowbook.com all the time and have even downloaded thier tool bar. It makes sense to me that they put out the local books (which I occasionally still use myself) so they have the most up to date local information here in Massachusetts. Google and Yahoo don’t have a sales group here so how do they get that info? They get it from either local business doing SEM/or SEO, they get it from IYP’s, and some other options. If I do a search for something in my town of Canton, Ma and don’t put ‘MA’ there I will still get results on the first page for Canton, OH which is larger city then Canton, Ma. I’m far from an expert but I do know people that advertise in the books and online. She tells me that the internet has obviously taken over some business from the books but they still have headings that get a great ROI from the books. I know that if my computer is off and I need a number or anything local I’m not going to turn it on when I can just go to the book and be on the phone before my computer even is ready to use. My friend, who is here with me, says she does very well from the books, has a PPC program through YellowBook, and advertises on YellowBook.com as well. She says she tracks everything and they all are working for her for now. If one falls off you take it off, thats all.

Someone made the comment that it’s easier to have a rep come in once or twice a year to your business to set up some of these programs. I, and my friend, agree. She told me that if the rep didnt come in and offer the program to her (the PPC one) then she wouldn’t get to even start to look into it for months from now because she is so busy. This way it’s out of her hands and they provide all the results to her and although she knows it would be cheaper to do it herself, she is willing to spend the extra money to not have to maintain it or bid on keywords daily.

I did some quick (very quick so if I’m wrong I appologize) research on IYP’s. Thier usage is growing steadily every month. It could be people like me that want to skip the Google search for something local because I know i’ll probably end up on an IYP like yellowbook.com anyway. People that blog and comment like us are fairly smart savey people. Doesn’t this explaination make sense? I think it does because I do it so I may be leaning one way and I understand that. I just think that we all had to learn how to use computers, then we learned how to use search engines, I think people are now learning and becoming more educated on how to effectively search so we evolve again and now go to and IYP for local purchases.

What does everyone think? I could be biased and wrong because of my own search patterns. Am I?

For their users, it’s easy-to-find, reliable information about local businesses. And for their advertisers, its someone who will do the internet advertising leg work, package it well, and allow them to pay as they go.

I absolutely believe that good SEOs/SEMs can do a better job of online promotion for any sized business, but to do so we must consider the needs of the advertisers. Small business people are simply too busy running their shops to do anything else. We need to make our services as easy to understand and to buy as the IYPs do. Then, we must get out there and sell it to them.

They will only survive if they change their ways and they won’t…just look at the newspaper industry!!

Also, for many small local businesses, it’s a matter of advertising ROI and when they see the fees that most SEMs charge, it becomes a fairly easy choice.