The latest move is to enter the local search wars, going up against the Yellow Pages; third-party resellers like ReachLocal, Yodle, WebVisible and Orange Soda; and direct customers of Google AdWords itself. The effort, which is a partnership with Clickable, extends earlier efforts that provide SMBs with online payment processing, comprehensive insurance information, and international payment and wire transfers.

According to VP of Business Solutions Rob Ciccone, it is all part of an effort to “provide a portfolio of tools to help SMBs grow revenue. We have excellent knowledge of SMB needs [and] a very large customer base,” he says. Those are supplemented by non-customers who are users of Amex’s OpenForum site, which provides articles and boards and e-mail links for a wide variety of SMB topics.

The Search Manager product itself has some advantages for SMBs, adds Ciccone. Most notably, it uses Clickable to manage search across multiple search engines, including not only Google, but Yahoo, Bing and Facebook as well. The product also includes a daily recommendation feature for improving campaigns. SMBs that don’t want to manage their own campaigns can use Search Manager Assist, although that carries a higher premium of 8 percent to 10 percent per month. The price of unassisted search is 5 percent of ad spend, or $49 per month — whichever is higher.

The search products are initially being promoted at trade shows and to the credit card and OpenForum list. They include a 30-day free trial.

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New York Connects, the local “content discovery” project launched late last year by New York Magazine and Clickable, has seen definite progress since its launch last December, according to NYmag.com General Manager Michael Silberman. Silberman spoke to us as part for a broad profile on NYmag.com’s extensive vertical efforts being issued in BIA/Kelsey’s Marketplaces program.

New York Connects enables local businesses to tap into the power of search keyword advertising through easy-to-understand lead generation tactics. Advertisers who sign up get a search campaign optimized for their business to drive qualified leads, a customized landing page and a dashboard to track leads, conversion and ROI.

Initial categories include weddings and dentists, which are frequently featured in New York Magazine. New York Connects makes the multi-category weddings franchise a year round money maker, taking it well beyond the twice-yearly special issues, says Silberman. Home design and spa services are also likely to be added this summer.

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ReachLocal says it is going ahead with its IPO. A new filing with the SEC noted that it will price 4.8 million shares between $17 and $19, allowing it to raise between $81.6 million and $91.2 million — below the $100 million it originally wanted to raise. If the IPO is successful, it may be followed by IPOs from WebVisible, Yodle and Clickable.

Prior to the filing, doubts have been raised whether ReachLocal’s IPO would see the light of day. While Reach’s revenues have been strong, from a typical base of 15,000+ customers, churn rates suffered throughout the industry have raised concern. Google’s recent efforts to cut back on markups charged by third-party resellers like ReachLocal hasn’t helped either.

But ReachLocal has been enhancing its appeal to SMBs by broadening its range of paid and organic services in creative and valuable ways. In March, for instance, it purchased SMBLive, a business profile and Web site service, for $8.5 million.

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Clickable has announced that it will add support for Facebook advertising that allows its Pro users to directly compare social and search results. The effort follows initiatives by rival “search resellers” like ReachLocal, Yodle and Orange Soda to broaden their platforms for organic search and display.

It also comes after accounts from Hitwise and others that Facebook is responsible for more traffic to portals, newspaper sites and even IYPs than Google News (although not Google generally).

On the Clickable blog, CEO David Kidder forms a position that “search and social advertising are complimentary. On Facebook, advertisers can be out ahead of the market. Every piece of information that a social networking user provides about themselves is an opportunity for marketers to learn about and target their audience: age and gender; college and occupation; hobbies and interests and relationship status,” he says. “These are the raw materials with which to build targeting ‘personas,’ every one a new potential customer.”

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New York Magazine, whose online effort is run by longtime MSNBC.com exec Michael Silberman, has emerged as one of the most ambitious city magazine efforts on the Web, competing directly against city guides and other local services. Yesterday, the site, which leverages a sales force of 100, announced a partnership with Clickable to power its local online advertising.

Clickable itself is gaining steam. The company has expanded beyond its roots in vertical search to include a platform with display ad management as well. Last week, it announced a similar deal with Fox Audience Network.

CEO David Kidder tells us that more than 2,000 sites are currently using the Clickable platform, which provides access to Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. Kidder says that Fox is rolling out the platform in two phases. The first phase will utilize Clickable’s performance-based model. It is a lot of strategic positioning for inventory and integration. The second phase will include several enhanced features, such as click to call.

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