Citysearch Keeps Distribution Deals Rolling

A couple of weeks ago, Citysearch formed a distribution deal with AOL that pushed its content and ads throughout the AOL Local Network. As we wrote here, this had a close resemblance to the December deal the company formed with Local.com.

The formula is: Citysearch gets extra distribution for its content and ads (a better value proposition for its advertisers), while the distribution partner gets extra content to boost its user experience (and a rev share). Because of Citysearch’s related efforts over the past year, this content includes video and reviews — both rapidly increasing in value in the local space.

So it comes as no surprise when the company announced a similar deal today with Marchex to distribute its content throughout Marchex’s network of 150,000 local sites. This isn’t to say Citysearch is exercising tired business deals; these are rather beneficial arrangements for the city guide and its advertisers.

And speaking of recent parallels, this also resembles the deal Marchex formed with Idearc Media last month to plug Idearc’s ads into Marchex’s network. Both will work toward beefing up the huge network of local search sites and geodomains the company launched last June.

Of course each distribution deal isn’t a carbon copy of the next, but they have similar formulas. In today’s deal, for example, it will be interesting to see how Citysearch’s content integrates with Marchex’s OpenList — a powerful review and content aggregator in its own right. We shall see.