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Overture launches paid local search offering on Yahoo and network
partners
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Yahoo Inc.’s Overture Service’s Inc. subsidiary has launched
a new paid search offering that allows marketers to target the serving
of paid listings to specific geographic areas. The new service,
Local Match, already serves the local listings on searches powered
by Yahoo and on MyCity.com. Over the next few weeks it also will
start being distributed through other sites including MSN, ESPN.com,
and some sites within the InfoSpace network, including search sites
Dogpile.com, WebCrawler.com, MetaCrawler.com, and Excite.com.
Industry estimates are that perhaps 25% or more of commercial searches
initiated by online shoppers now are from those looking for local
goods and services. Local Match allows online marketers to pinpoint
search queries that come from a specific geographic area surrounding
the physical location of their business, from within one-half to
100 miles, as the queries for which Local Match listings are displayed.
Under that scenario, for example, a consumer electronics store
in Austin, TX, could choose to have its listings appear in response
to searches for “DVD player” only for searchers who are
located within five miles of its location. Additionally, national
retailers can use the service to target listings and discounts to
customers looking to purchase items in specific local stores.
The partner sites through which Local Match is distributed will
have the option of choosing how to target the listings, according
to an Overture spokeswoman. For example, searchers could be prompted
to supply a city of location or a ZIP code. Alternatively, targeting
could be based on technology that automatically identifies IP addresses.
Overture is encouraging partner sites that choose to use IP as a
method of targeting to also offer users a method of getting results
for localized searches for areas other than their own IP-identified
geographic location. A user wishing to conduct a localized search
outside of his own IP area, for example, could be prompted to supply
a ZIP code or address, the spokeswoman says.
Local Match also provides a localized Internet presence for local
businesses that don’t have a web site: a customizable business
information page that lists location, street address, hours of operation
and other key information about the business.
“The launch of Local Match marks another addition to our growing
suite of integrated sponsored search offers,” says Geoff Stevens,
Overture’s general manager, Local. “As the product evolves,
we are confident that advertisers and consumers will realize the
significant value of the highly targeted marketing and incredibly
relevant search experience enabled by Local Match.”
Search on a growing number of engines such as through portal AOL.com
and Google also now offer localized options for sponsored listings.
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