Search Engine News :: Optimise Web Sites for Organic Search: Local search tested Yahoo, Google Ask Jeeves MediaPost Advertising & Media Directory

Saturday, August 14, 2004

Local search tested Yahoo, Google Ask Jeeves MediaPost Advertising & Media Directory

MediaPost Advertising & Media Directory: "MediaPost inspired the Search Insider to take the Elkin challenge. Should she and others plug in ZIP codes? Is it worth Internet users' time? The Insider devised a quick test to get a rough, but honest answer.
Before embarking on this study, there's a caveat. Yahoo! is beta testing a local search site at local.yahoo.com, Ask Jeeves has tapped CitySearch for local business information that will be incorporated into its results next month, and Google Local (local.google.com) has been in beta since March. Local search is constantly improving, but the Insider looked at each of the engines' main sites to get a snapshot of ZIP code searches today.
For the test, the Insider hypothesized some ZIP codes might work better than others, so three samples were employed: For the West Coast, Portland, OR, ZIP 97204; for the East Coast, the Insider used MediaPost's Manhattan headquarters, ZIP 10011; for Middle America, it's Ponca City, Oklahoma, ZIP 74601, population 26,000...

So far, Yahoo! wins with a knockout. It stands out as the most innovative with what it currently offers. Google loses points for its word order quirk, and Jeeves still needs to serve up something for ZIP-only queries.

Impressive as Yahoo!'s victory here is, the crown is up for grabs. Google has had months of live tests to hone its local site, and it won't settle for being second best. Ask Jeeves is willing to pay to stay competitive, and in the past year, it has earned raves as the most-improved search engine. Finally, Yahoo! only wins if users and advertisers vote with their traffic and dollars. It's not enough to have the best technology.

There are dozens of tests the Insider had in mind to run, and the search landscape changes so quickly that it requires countless snapshots to assemble a complete picture. Meanwhile, for marketers, the tens of thousands of U.S. ZIP codes present tens of thousands of opportunities that are largely wasted so far.

With billions of dollars of local advertising at stake, everyone's stepping it up. Whether you're a user or marketer, now's the time to take advantage of the new options. "