Google has made lots of waves in tech and media worlds with last week’s revelation that mobile search volume now outweighs desktop. That goes for several developed markets including the U.S. This follows recent LSA data that show mobile has surpassed desktop for local-intent search.

These are two different measures but directionally similar. With mobile local queries, the point at which they surpass desktop was bound to be earlier than overall mobile search, given that local’s share of mobile search (about 50 percent) is higher than the desktop equivalent (about 20 percent).

We’ve been saying for quite some time that 2015 would be the year that mobile local query volume surpasses desktop local query volume, which turned out to be on target. Here’s our projection from April 2012.

We now believe based on lots of evidence and inputs that the intersecting point actually happened late last year. Adjusting to that reality and looking forward from the current period. Our forecast released last month projects mobile local search query volume as follows.

Google’s announcement last week shows that the growth of mobile search is even more pronounced. That intersecting point of mobile and desktop search isn’t just happening with local queries as shown above, but in overall search too. This is huge.

This is of course a milestone in the continued growth of mobile content. But it’s really only one indicator. As I often say when presenting mobile data, search is only one format through which mobile content and ads are distributed. It’s currently the biggest… but it’s only one.

Discovery Channel

In the relatively short history of the smartphone, search has been in a battle with discovery-based content such as apps, push alerts and social sharing. The latter, as it grows in organic usage, is likewise increasingly becoming an ad vehicle — starting national but very much moving local.

Meanwhile Google, with a commanding search market share, has the most to lose from this. Impressively, it’s not showing signs of succumbing to the classic innovators dilemma in terms of embracing “discovery” based media. This can be seen in Google Now and lots of other things.

Google knows that the future of search is both active and passive. For the latter, apps like Google Now will perpetually search on users’ behalf to proactively push “results” when pre-defined relevance thresholds (such as geofence) are triggered.

Watch Carefully

The passive discovery format will only grow with the (still questionable) advent of wearables, where the user experience is even less conducive to typing search queries (voice search will find a home). So it will be all about discovery a la Google Now, and push notifications.

It will be interesting to watch (pardon the pun) this unfold with respect to user tolerance levels. Push notifications will require a careful balance given that the nuisance risk is greater on the sacred territory of one’s wrist, as opposed to the ignorable phone in their pocket.

This is all being built as we speak, and requires lots of experimentation for pinpointing the right delivery formula that resonates with users. No one has found that yet. But we do know, as always, that wide-scale changes in form factor invite volatility and entry points for disruption.

The post The New Era of Search Has Tipped appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

UBL will provide stock and cash in consideration of the merger. While both companies initially keep their own identities, they intend to work towards an integration of operations and a single brand. Both companies earned approximately $8 million apiece in 2014. Charlotte-based UBL has 38 employees while Advice Interactive has 85 employees in Dallas and Newport Beach.

Billed as a “combination of equals,” UBL CEO Doyal Bryant will be the new entity’s CEO, while Advice CEO Bernadette Coleman will run marketing, tech and operations. Bryant notes that the deal allows UBL to focus on a growing global market in syndicated business profiles; an area that has gone beyond search engines to also include mobile apps, GPS search and online maps, video platforms, marketing platforms and social networks. UBL currently has operations in Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand and says it will soon add four more countries.

Advice, meanwhile, is set to leverage UBL’s listings/video and mobile-rich database, and provide a one stop for a wide range of activities for its business and enterprise customers. These include local search, PPC & SEM, reputation management, SEO, Web design, content marketing and social media. The majority of Advice’s customers come from local channel partners; its strength and technology platform are expected to enhance UBL’s current efforts in the space, which are not a main emphasis.

The merger gives Advice “a major edge over everyone in the (SEO) space,” says Coleman. As marketing moves to hyperlocal capabilities, it isn’t just about search anymore, she emphasizes. “Clients need to have data syndication; optimized profiles; and customized linking and meta data — all in one place.”

Advice Interactive Group CEO Bernadette Coleman is speaking at BIA/Kelsey NATIONAL, which takes place March 25-27 in Dallas.

The post UBL, Advice Interactive Group Will Merge; SEO + Syndicated Listings appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

UBL will provide stock and cash in consideration of the merger. While both companies initially keep their own identities, they intend to work towards an integration of operations and a single brand. Both companies earned approximately $8 million apiece in 2014. Charlotte-based UBL has 38 employees while Advice Interactive has 85 employees in Dallas and Newport Beach.

Billed as a “combination of equals,” UBL CEO Doyal Bryant will be the new entity’s CEO, while Advice CEO Bernadette Coleman will run marketing, tech and operations. Bryant notes that the deal allows UBL to focus on a growing global market in syndicated business profiles; an area that has gone beyond search engines to also include mobile apps, GPS search and online maps, video platforms, marketing platforms and social networks. UBL currently has operations in Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand and says it will soon add four more countries.

Advice, meanwhile, is set to leverage UBL’s listings/video and mobile-rich database, and provide a one stop for a wide range of activities for its business and enterprise customers. These include local search, PPC & SEM, reputation management, SEO, Web design, content marketing and social media. The majority of Advice’s customers come from local channel partners; its strength and technology platform are expected to enhance UBL’s current efforts in the space, which are not a main emphasis.

The merger gives Advice “a major edge over everyone in the (SEO) space,” says Coleman. As marketing moves to hyperlocal capabilities, it isn’t just about search anymore, she emphasizes. “Clients need to have data syndication; optimized profiles; and customized linking and meta data — all in one place.”

Advice Interactive Group CEO Bernadette Coleman is speaking at BIA/Kelsey NATIONAL, which takes place March 25-27 in Dallas.

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Yodle — part of the class of 2005-2007 SEM-focused Independent Sales Organizations that took on traditional local sales organizations — filed this week for an IPO that could raise $75 Million.

The filing provides insights into Yodle�s evolution, and the evolution of the local online sales space overall, which has moved towards cloud-based automation. As Yodle notes, it not only provides its customers with an online presence, but mobile and social presences as well.

�Businesses need a comprehensive digital presence that includes a professional quality website that is easily discoverable and optimized for mobile devices, exposure on leading online directories and ratings and reviews sites, and tools to communicate with customers via email, text messages and social media notes Yodle in the filing.

The company’s customer base currently consists of 44,800 local businesses, making it one of the largest sales groups. These customers helped it achieve revenues of $161.9 million in 2013, with the average customer of its flagship product paying under $300 a month � or less than half what they’d have to spend if they purchased similar functionality a la carte, says the company.

Many of Yodle’s customers belong to one of several vertical categories. For instance, the company reports that it has account relationships with 6,400 dentists (out of 166,500); 4,500 plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors(out of 226,500); 3,400 lawyers (out of 165,000 ) and 1,200 landscapers (out of 459,600).

Yodle has also focused increasingly on servings “brand networks” — national franchisors, manufacturers and multi-location businesses that are targeting locally. As the space evolves, the competitive picture has evolved as well. Yodle’s filing notes that rivals for local business marketing budgets now include a wide range of players, including traditional Yellow Pages, direct mail campaign providers and advertising and listings services on local newspapers, magazines, television and radio.

Other competitors include online search engines, online business directories, providers of digital presence offerings (i.e. GoDaddy, Main Street Hub, Web.com); providers of digital marketing solutions, such as SEM companies; and productivity and office management tools, such as Constant Contact, Demandforce, MailChimp and Solutionreach.

The post A Look at Yodle's $75 Million IPO Filing appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Yodle — part of the class of 2005-2007 SEM-focused Independent Sales Organizations that took on traditional local sales organizations — filed this week for an IPO that could raise $75 Million.

The filing provides insights into Yodle�s evolution, and the evolution of the local online sales space overall, which has moved towards cloud-based automation. As Yodle notes, it not only provides its customers with an online presence, but mobile and social presences as well.

�Businesses need a comprehensive digital presence that includes a professional quality website that is easily discoverable and optimized for mobile devices, exposure on leading online directories and ratings and reviews sites, and tools to communicate with customers via email, text messages and social media notes Yodle in the filing.

The company’s customer base currently consists of 44,800 local businesses, making it one of the largest sales groups. These customers helped it achieve revenues of $161.9 million in 2013, with the average customer of its flagship product paying under $300 a month � or less than half what they’d have to spend if they purchased similar functionality a la carte, says the company.

Many of Yodle’s customers belong to one of several vertical categories. For instance, the company reports that it has account relationships with 6,400 dentists (out of 166,500); 4,500 plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors(out of 226,500); 3,400 lawyers (out of 165,000 ) and 1,200 landscapers (out of 459,600).

Yodle has also focused increasingly on servings “brand networks” — national franchisors, manufacturers and multi-location businesses that are targeting locally. As the space evolves, the competitive picture has evolved as well. Yodle’s filing notes that rivals for local business marketing budgets now include a wide range of players, including traditional Yellow Pages, direct mail campaign providers and advertising and listings services on local newspapers, magazines, television and radio.

Other competitors include online search engines, online business directories, providers of digital presence offerings (i.e. GoDaddy, Main Street Hub, Web.com); providers of digital marketing solutions, such as SEM companies; and productivity and office management tools, such as Constant Contact, Demandforce, MailChimp and Solutionreach.

The post A Look at Yodle’s $75 Million IPO Filing appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

The wall between national and local marketing is falling with tech-empowered consumers able to find their information wherever they want it, noted YP‘s EVP & GM of Digital Markets David Lebow during a keynote at Leading in Local: The National Impact in Atlanta. “Traditional media companies are the only ones keeping up that wall.”

YP is very much a company in transition, like Gannett, Hearst and others, noted Lebow, a longtime media and online leader with recent stints at AOL and Internet Broadcasting. Like the others, YP’s real and clichéd task is “to grow the growing side of the business in excess of the declining side of the business. It never changes.”

“The question is: how can we be the Google of local search?” asks Lebow. “In order to do that, we need to innovate at the pace of the market.”

There is no question that YP should be pursuing local search. “We don’t want to be in directory. One is a $2.7 billion segment growing at 3 percent, while the other is a $29.8 billion segment growing at 7 percent,” said Lebow. But it is critical to attack the market in a broad way. YP shouldn’t be a content play within a vertical, like a Zillow or a WebMD, he said.

A core focus of the local search effort needs to be in SMB presence management. “Businesses really need to be found,” Lebow said. And that’s where the convergence of national local comes in. “The SMB says it needs leads and loyalty. National says it needs measurement, analytics and reporting. The needs of national and local businesses” are coming into one.”

The post At Leading in Local: The National Impact: YP's David Lebow: No More 'National Local Wall' appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

The wall between national and local marketing is falling with tech-empowered consumers able to find their information wherever they want it, noted YP‘s EVP & GM of Digital Markets David Lebow during a keynote at Leading in Local: The National Impact in Atlanta. “Traditional media companies are the only ones keeping up that wall.”

YP is very much a company in transition, like Gannett, Hearst and others, noted Lebow, a longtime media and online leader with recent stints at AOL and Internet Broadcasting. Like the others, YP’s real and clichéd task is “to grow the growing side of the business in excess of the declining side of the business. It never changes.”

“The question is: how can we be the Google of local search?” asks Lebow. “In order to do that, we need to innovate at the pace of the market.”

There is no question that YP should be pursuing local search. “We don’t want to be in directory. One is a $2.7 billion segment growing at 3 percent, while the other is a $29.8 billion segment growing at 7 percent,” said Lebow. But it is critical to attack the market in a broad way. YP shouldn’t be a content play within a vertical, like a Zillow or a WebMD, he said.

A core focus of the local search effort needs to be in SMB presence management. “Businesses really need to be found,” Lebow said. And that’s where the convergence of national local comes in. “The SMB says it needs leads and loyalty. National says it needs measurement, analytics and reporting. The needs of national and local businesses” are coming into one.”

The post At Leading in Local: The National Impact: YP’s David Lebow: No More ‘National Local Wall’ appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

BIA/Kelsey and the Local Search Association have been working together on conferences since 1992, when most people thought print Yellow Pages, like newspapers, would continue to be a growth engine forever.

Much has changed in the directory publishing and local search space since then. Through it all, our organizations have continued to work together in a variety of ways on each other’s events.

With LSA’s next event, LSA|14 coming up April 27-29, in Huntington Beach, California, it seemed to be the perfect time to check in with Neg Norton, who has been the LSA President for more than 10 years. I was about to ask him some dull question about his objectives for the conferences when he jumped in with some background about the exciting new area LSA sees the business going in — “Last Mile Advertising.”

Those of us who come from the telecommunications industry remember “Last Mile” as the final leg of networks delivering communications connectivity to customers. There is an obvious parallel to how local advertising works, Neg said. Last Mile Advertising reflects locally targeted ads or messages that are delivered close to the point of purchase and facilitate consumer actions.

So, just what is Last Mile Advertising? Neg sees it as broader than local search advertising, and he explains it this way: There are three segments that make up the Last Mile Advertising universe: Discover, Seek and Consider.

In the Discover segment, consumers are informed about a business and its products or services that they didn’t necessarily know were available and/or didn’t plan on purchasing. Consumers are attracted to this segment via digital and mobile ad networks, location-based apps, daily deals, email marketing, coupons, and other awareness-building advertising.

In the Seek segment, consumers are ready-to-buy, but are actively looking for a specific business that can sell them the product and service they want to purchase. In most cases, their queries are tied to a geographic location. Local advertisers use print and online directories, mobile apps, search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM.)

In the Consider segment, consumers are considering a purchase, but want more information on the business, product or service they’ve identified. Consumers engage in this segment by browsing business websites, social media pages, online reviews, and videos.

Neg’s point is that there is no clear path to purchase and that is what will be explored at LSA|14. He is excited about their keynote speaker, Steve Wozniak, their partners and their Ad to Action Awards. He will also announce some new board members from well-known companies (HINT: someone who works for the best known brand name in the world).

It looks like a great event.

LSA is offering a 10 percent discount on registration with promo code BIA10.

The post Neg Norton Discusses LSA|14's Focus on 'Last Mile Advertising' appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

BIA/Kelsey and the Local Search Association have been working together on conferences since 1992, when most people thought print Yellow Pages, like newspapers, would continue to be a growth engine forever.

Much has changed in the directory publishing and local search space since then. Through it all, our organizations have continued to work together in a variety of ways on each other’s events.

With LSA’s next event, LSA|14 coming up April 27-29, in Huntington Beach, California, it seemed to be the perfect time to check in with Neg Norton, who has been the LSA President for more than 10 years. I was about to ask him some dull question about his objectives for the conferences when he jumped in with some background about the exciting new area LSA sees the business going in — “Last Mile Advertising.”

Those of us who come from the telecommunications industry remember “Last Mile” as the final leg of networks delivering communications connectivity to customers. There is an obvious parallel to how local advertising works, Neg said. Last Mile Advertising reflects locally targeted ads or messages that are delivered close to the point of purchase and facilitate consumer actions.

So, just what is Last Mile Advertising? Neg sees it as broader than local search advertising, and he explains it this way: There are three segments that make up the Last Mile Advertising universe: Discover, Seek and Consider.

In the Discover segment, consumers are informed about a business and its products or services that they didn’t necessarily know were available and/or didn’t plan on purchasing. Consumers are attracted to this segment via digital and mobile ad networks, location-based apps, daily deals, email marketing, coupons, and other awareness-building advertising.

In the Seek segment, consumers are ready-to-buy, but are actively looking for a specific business that can sell them the product and service they want to purchase. In most cases, their queries are tied to a geographic location. Local advertisers use print and online directories, mobile apps, search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM.)

In the Consider segment, consumers are considering a purchase, but want more information on the business, product or service they’ve identified. Consumers engage in this segment by browsing business websites, social media pages, online reviews, and videos.

Neg’s point is that there is no clear path to purchase and that is what will be explored at LSA|14. He is excited about their keynote speaker, Steve Wozniak, their partners and their Ad to Action Awards. He will also announce some new board members from well-known companies (HINT: someone who works for the best known brand name in the world).

It looks like a great event.

LSA is offering a 10 percent discount on registration with promo code BIA10.

The post Neg Norton Discusses LSA|14’s Focus on ‘Last Mile Advertising’ appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

According to our Local Commerce Monitor SMB study, businesses that track their lead sources say that the quality of leads sourced from calls is superior to other type of online leads, too.

With more calls being driven by paid search campaigns than ever, marketers need to be savvy about how to make sure inbound call channels are being tracked and analyzed to maximize campaign ROI.

Click here to watch an on-demand recording of our recent BIA/Kelsey webinar, Bridging the Paid Search Gap, sponsored by Invoca, to learn about the key components to consider when assessing inbound call intelligence solutions for your paid search campaigns.

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