New Powerhouse Group Trying to Kill Google Local 7 Pack

[JordanJCaron]

I'm confused. These days perform any local search and you'll see Yelp and other directories taking over the first page and pushing down the local listings. I have a completely opposite gripe with Google, my thinking being, if I wanted to search in a directory I'd go there and do it. I'd prefer they show me what their algorithms detect to be the most relevant individual results instead, so I don't have to weed through those directories whose search algorithms aren't anywhere near as complex and accurate.

I can see if someone is searching for the plural of a term. Example "Plumbers in Victoria BC". I can see directories ranking well in this instance. But yeah, if people wanted to search through a directory, wouldn't they just go direct to that directory or at the least search for "Yelp Plumbers Victoria BC"?

These directories are mostly useless for the searcher anyways. They provide all of the same details a searcher can get off a companies website. And the reviews are a joke. Take a look at this news from Yelp on Search Engine Watch - Court Rules Yelp May Demand Money for Adding and Removing Reviews - SEW

When I search I want to see a companies website so I can learn more about them. In the process they might be able to answer my question by providing useful content. Business directories can't do that.

 

[Dialady]

Today's online local market place is competitive. It used to be simple. Buy a bigger sign or buy a bigger add in the Yellow Pages (talk about expensive!) or maybe buy a bigger ad in a newspaper. Notice the keyword was BUY.

It's not so simple today. Today, you're buying the expertise of a marketer to get your business in front of eyeballs who might notice you when they're searching. Lots of BUYING still around, but determining WHERE to buy is much more challenging.

I'm not a big fan of directories. I agree most folks prefer to use a simple search engine, but folks like YELP and TRIPADVISOR have their place. I do believe they should stop whining. They've got their own algorithm issues (as I've experienced more than once with clients on YELP).

Maybe part of the problem is what they promise their customers. I'm getting ready to sit in on a YELP pitch with one of my clients. We're both a little curious about their latest pitch to small businesses. She's not excited about throwing money out the window for online advertising, but is interested to see if it's worth it. I suspect it won't be based on their poor algorithm, BUT if they promise better rankings in Google for specific keywords than my client may be more open minded. Perhaps YELP (et al) are just trying to corner the market on Google rankings by whining it's not fair how Google+ is beating them without YELP (et all) making any money from it.

As always . . just following the money

Theresa

 

[Michael S. Doran]

I think Yelp sucks and should create their own search engine if they think they have a better way to serve the public. They could work with Bing and do their best to deliver a product that people like better than Google. Of course they don't want to tackle that, they just want to tell others what to do with their property. Let the European Union fund a better search engine for the people of Europe.

Yelp is full of crap when they pretend that they want to put the user first. Their horrible review system betrays them. Their extortion-like advertising sales reveals that they don't practice what they preach when it comes to putting users first.

Bottom line is that they want to pressure onto Google to prop up their own business. I say pound sand Yelp!

 

[Eric Rohrback]

This will have as much of an effect as Microsoft's attempt to get people to switch from Google to Bing. Google is the giant of search, but i'm not sure if complaining this way is really going to help. These directories are basically "local search engines" with a focus on reviews. They should really try to make their own products better instead of complaining that Google results are bad. People use Google's local pack because Google doesn't call and extort them for advertising dollars (not directly at least...), and for the most part has pretty relevant results.

IMO this group needs to start fixing their own products. Get users to think of Yelp or Trip Advisor as the number one source for research/information, and then they wouldn't need to rely on Google results as much.

 

[Kristen]

I think Yelp sucks and should create their own search engine if they think they have a better way to serve the public. They could work with Bing and do their best to deliver a product that people like better than Google. Of course they don't want to tackle that, they just want to tell others what to do with their property. Let the European Union fund a better search engine for the people of Europe.

Yelp is full of crap when they pretend that they want to put the user first. Their horrible review system betrays them. Their extortion-like advertising sales reveals that they don't practice what they preach when it comes to putting users first.

Bottom line is that they want to pressure onto Google to prop up their own business. I say pound sand Yelp!

Couldn't have said it better myself. How could Yelp possibly say they are pro-user experience, when their review system has negatively effected SO many local businesses?

If most local directories weren't such a confusing mess of flashing banner ads and poor results, perhaps they'd have more brand loyalty.