Google Local Evolves with NEW Local Listing Ads
We’re moving beyond the tradition of consulting the yellow pages.
With 80 percent of people turning to search engines to find local information, Google last week launched its Local Listing Ads service, which makes fixed-fee advertising placements available in Google’s local search results as well as in Google Maps. The new service demonstrates once again how the Internet – and Google in particular – is changing how local business listings are done – and searched.
Available initially in San Diego and San Fransisco in limited beta, Local Listing Ads is different from Google AdWords in that it requires no creative or keyword management and no bidding. The monthly fee is flat, determined by Google with the goal of ensuring that businesses’ ads are seen by the highest number of people looking for relevant local information. Business owners who purchase the ad select the location and business category to ensure local targeting, and from there, Google takes care of the creating the ad. One needs only to have a claimed listing on Google’s Local Business Center (LBC). Beyond that, it’s a low-budget, low-maintenance way to advertise online on local listings and maps.
Other features of Local Listing Ads include free call-tracking, which announces each forwarded customer call by way of “This caller brought to you by Google.” So not only are local information and ads integrated into universal search results; the new service also solidifies the benefit of investing advertising dollars in the search, instead of in Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) space. Advertisers get access to full reports and performance tracking on the number of calls, clicks, requests for directions, and information window clicks on Google Maps. To help the small local businesses – for which the service is designed – Google is also offering customer support.
Oh, and the first 30 days are free. Advertisers can cancel an ad any time. This should entice business owners to try the Local Listing Ads risk-free.
While Local Listing Ads sounds enticing – and affordable – enough to small businesses, the challenge for Google is clear. It’s to provide enough marketing and educational support to advertisers, so that they’d see more clearly the returns of investing in the service. There is, for one, the balancing act of showing AdWords on place pages, as well as the ads of businesses participating in the program as advertisers.
Keep reading and check out these posts:
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- 7 Local Search Engine Optimization Tools to Help You Get Found Online
- FourSquare: Boon to Both Brands and Local Businesses
- Why You Must Use Google+ (Google Plus) For Your Business
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What do you think? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.
This will be a big change to the local results with many users using the Google Maps to find local businesses.
Something else to note is that this almost doubles the top ad space on the Google search engine results. As more people become accustom to ignoring the right side of ads, I think Google needs to expand the top ads to ensure their text ads do not take a dip in revenue.