Techdirt posted earlier this month to talk about the relatively underwhelming need for Powerset.

We never understood the hype around Powerset. It was the latest in an extremely long line of startups that claimed to focus on “natural language search” — which is one of those holy grails for computer scientists who never stop to ask whether or not there’s actually any market demand for it. As Google has shown, people don’t need to use natural language to search. They’re just fine doing keyword search. Yet, for some unclear reason, Powerset was able to raise a ton of money at a ridiculous valuation, and did so using all sorts of buzzwords (and vague patent threats). But when it finally released a product (just to search Wikipedia) it proved to be rather ho hum. Searching Wikipedia via other means was still more effective.

Many people consider that Natural language searching would only be useful in a two areas:
1. The Jitterbug phone demographic
2. College students caught in a space/time continuum 2 decades ago

The fact is, natural language searches have not become extinct, they have just evolved for the current market. The generations that grew up with an on the internet now think in terms of keywords when they are looking for information. The askjeeves.com search engine tried to go the way of Jeopardy by asking users to search in the form of a question. It turned out to be more difficult to change the innate way people learned to search.
When internet users need to find information, they mostly instinctively form their thoughts by keyword. It was not taught so much as it was learned.

While keyword searches are growing in length, they still average only about 2-3 words. The communication method and the way in which people form searches are much the way toddlers communicate. Short, to the point, and with lot of nouns. A toddler can get his point across by simply yelling “Ball! Purple! Mine!” He doesn’t really need to say “I would like the purple ball for my own.” Just because the other words are missing, it doesn’t mean that the thought process isn’t there.

Keyword searches act in much the same manner. Users haven’t lost their ability to communicate or ask questions or form complete thoughts, they’ve just narrowed down the extraneous words to the ones that will focus the search the most.

I don’t think that natural language searches should be abandoned altogether, though. Someday soon we’ll just ask our computers directly for information, and personally I don’t think I can speak in just keywords. When the time comes for true interaction, natural language searches will have their day.

Tele Atlas, which is a leading global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, announced today that they have signed a long term licensing agreement with Google. This agreement will give Google the access to Tele Atlas maps and dynamic content in a global market of more than 200 countries from around the world.

“Google’s innovation and leadership is undisputed, and we are proud to have the opportunity to be the map foundation for one of the world’s most progressive web companies,” said Bill Henry, CEO of Tele Atlas. “This agreement is important too because it gives us access to input from a significant online community of map users, whose feedback can help us keep our maps fresh and accurate.”
“Geospatial data enhances global search significantly by organizing data and delivering results based on location,” said John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Google Maps. “Tele Atlas’ map quality and the company’s innovative approach to business were the key drivers for our decision.”

The agreement between the two companies will encompass Google’s current and future map-based services, as well as their navigation offerings that span mobile, online and desktop environments. This will, of course, include Google Maps (including Google Maps for Mobile) and Google Earth. Tele Atlas, for their part, will be given access to geographical edits from Google’s global community of users.

Tele Atlas, with the previous purchase of Tom Tom, has access to the largest navigation community, which they tap to continually point out errors and corrections to maps. With the Google partnership, they now also have access to the largest internet-based community.

In the end it means more users, more accurate maps and most likely, more accurate ads when all is said and done. The real interest will be in the dynamic changes and advances to be made with a real merging of dynamic geographical information and a company that pushes for locally pinpointed mobile advertising.

Mike Blumenthal created a very insightful post regarding the Local IYP market share values. In the article he poses his ultimate question almost immediately:

Does the IYP/online business directory market share matter or has the battle already been decided? Has this category been relegated to just another niche search area where money can be made but market dominance is not possible?

Mike drills down on his comparison and discussion of the dominance of the Local Search stakeholders with some impressive number crunching that is worth taking a look.

So this brings us back to the crux of the problem, and the decision that businesses must make when considering their local advertising strategy. There are so many markets available for Local, but if the top 2 stakeholders control 70% percent of it, is it worth it to concentrate all of your advertising budget on a piece of the remaining 30% share? This is especially important if your strategy is focused so narrowly that it ignores the components needed to be at the top if its game in the larger local markets, such as Google and Yahoo.

While companies ranking the top Local markets seem to make impressive lists, it doesn’t really matter if your Local Market choice comes in third if that third piece of the pie is only a crumb.

While a growing niche market is turning to sites like Yelp! For Local reviews and recommendations, simply promoting your business on sites like this will not push you to the top of the common Google or Yahoo searches.

Again the wisest choice for your Local Advertising strategy is to look into your specific market and make the choices that are going to serve you best. While it may seem focused to drive your advertising budget towards one or two specific Local advertising markets, loosing sight of the ‘Big Guys’ will not be to your advantage.

We have a lot of emails in our box asking us “Which is the best promotional strategy?”

First let’s look at the background:

There are over 140 million websites currently in existence, with millions more pages within them. While only a fraction of those sites are actively updated and promoted, statistically it still means that if your site doesn’t have a promotion strategy, it will never stand out bright enough to be seen in an endless internet sky.

Now let’s look at what your current strategy is for your website or internet business:

Are you relying on home-learned SEO tactics? Are you launching an all out Local Mobile Media Campaign? Are you relying upon a Pay Per Click model? What’s working? What’s falling flat?

Now lets give you the answer that you might not like:

There a lot of strategies out there to increase your exposure and traffic, and ultimately make you a tidy profit, but which strategy is the best for you? You’ll notice that I didn’t ask “Which is the best promotional strategy?” I didn’t ask it, because it’s a trick question, there is no magic bullet to internet marketing, there is only the creation of a strategy that fits your business model the best.

So What is Your Solution?

The solution for a business that is serious about their internet marketing campaign is to have a Local Web Marketing expert look at your business from every available angle and personalize a strategy for you. It’s possible that your current strategy needs only to be fine-tuned, and it’s possible that it will need to re-hauled completely to look into new marketing arenas.

Just about everyone is talking about Google Earth’s 3-D mapping images and how incredibly cool it is. Accesses maps, satellite imagery and aerial photography taken in the last three years has been combined to create 3-D maps that can be manipulated using a variety of features including navigational controls for tilting, zooming in and out and moving left or right.

Standard mapping tools such as distance calculators and routing directions are included, but it is the pure inclusive experience of really looking at something with the ability to explore it that has people buzzing.

Remarkably, I have seen very little about the local advertising potential that is exploding with this new imagery software. The travel industry is understandably the most excited, and why wouldn’t they be? If Travel Company A advertises its offerings using Google 3-D, customers will have the ability to really know and get excited about their destination; they can virtually visit the surrounding area of restaurants, shops, and fascinating side streets. If Travel Company B is advertising the same trips, with 5 static 2-D images, I can tell you straight out who is going to win that advertising war.

If you want to see how great this can be, go and see the Disney Google Earth site. I bet you’ll be taking a virtual vacation, and planning a trip there, in about 2 minutes flat.

There is potential for an absolute explosion of commercial applications for Google Earth 3-D for local advertising. Real Estate firms, retailers, service firms, Parks and Travel are just the beginning. If these companies don’t get into the 3-D game, they might find themselves lost in the dusty pages of search engine static.

It´s commonly known that Google and Yahoo are two of the biggest local pay per click networks around and many people use them. However, these two advertising giants aren´t the only ones out there and you may find that there are quite a few advantages to advertising with another local pay per click service.

In general, you will end up paying less per click with a smaller advertising network than you would with Google, particularly with the more popular keywords that often end up in bidding wars. This means you can save a lot of money, stretching your local pay per click advertising dollars out a lot further.

When looking for an alternative to the PPC giants, it´s a good idea to find one that fits the following requirements:

• Has been around for more than a few months
• Offers a banning system where you can decide which sites your ads should NOT appear on
• Has good to great reviews
• Offers quick replies to any questions or problems you may have
• Gives you an easy to use layout

Finding the right local pay per click alternative will take some research, but in the end you could save quite a bit of money and end up gaining a lot more visitors to your website. After which, it´s time for your landing page to do the work!

Many business owners know that they will have better luck with long tail keywords than short, general search terms. Now, Google local (maps) advertisers can choose their very own categories, and make use of long tail category names if they wish.

This is something that could potentially add a lot of value to the Google Local ads. The ability to figure out which long tail keywords people are searching for in order to find your type of business can greatly increase the chances of them finding you. Just use that long tailed keyword as your category.

Not all the pre-made categories on Google Local are actually appropriate for some businesses, so if someone feels the need to place their business in another category, a custom one, it can be very useful in searches. You might want to make use of this great new feature if you are currently advertising or plan to advertise on Google local ads.

Do you run a local hospitality business? If so, then you need to check out this post by Miriam Ellis on where Google Local Maps are sourcing their reviews. This is great news if you have your own local business in the hospitality industry . . . send your happy customers to one of the following websites to review your hotel or restaurant and you have a far better chance of getting some great reviews showing up on Google local maps.

10best.com
Aol.com
ChefMoz.org
Citysearch.com
Dine.com
DiningGuide.com
Dinnerbroker.com
Frommers.com
Gayot.com
Giatamedia.com
Greenopia.com
Holidaycheck.com
Holidaycheck.de
Holidaycheck.es
Holidaycheck.fr
Holidaycheck.it
Holidaycheck.nl
Holidaycheck.pl
Holidaycheck.ru
Hotelchatter.com
HotelGuide.com
Hotelguide.net
Insiderpages.com
Menupages.com
Mytravelguide.com
Priceline.com
RestaurantRow.com
Travelocity.com
Travelpost.com
Tripadvisor.com
Virtualtourist.com
Yahoo.com
Yelp.com
Zagat.com

All of these are from Miriam´s research of over 1,000 Google local map reviews. While some of these websites may not be very well known, they are obviously interesting to Google and should be watched carefully. Others, like Tripadvisor and Yahoo, are obviously already huge. Using these websites to your advantage can be a very intelligent move!

Yesterday, we looked at some methods of on-page local search engine optimization techniques to help boost your website´s search engine rankings. The ones covered yesterday were pretty basic and something that anyone can do, really. Today, we will take a look at some slightly more advanced local search engine optimization techniques. You´ll need to know a bit more to get these ones done, but you could also hire someone to help you integrate them into your blog.

Meta tags. Including your keywords in the meta tags of your webpage can really help with local search engine optimization.

Keyword tags. Add all your keywords and keyword phrases to the keyword tags. The latest version of Wordpress makes this super easy with a separate line below the posting area.

Text links. Using text links that have your keywords as the anchor text can help things as well.

No-follow tags. This can be very useful when linking out to a “bad neighborhood”. Search engines won´t penalize you for linking to sites they don´t approve of if you use a no-follow command.

Sitemap. A sitemap lets search engine bots find each and every page on your website quickly and easily and helps you rank higher for keywords.

Themed keywords. Use your primary keywords, but add other ones in the same topic category. For example if your keyword is “make money online”, you might also use “earn money” and “home business”.

These more advanced local search engine optimization techniques allow you to get higher rankings, thus bringing in more traffic. It´s a good idea to employ as many local search engine optimization methods as possible to boost your chances of making it to that number one spot.

We took the day off for Thanksgiving. We hope you had a happy holiday as well. Many of you are probably still not back at work, taking the weekend to go shopping. Many more of you are working today because your store is where the other half are shopping. Without you, the world would shut down. You’re called retailers and we love you.

When it comes to local business, there is perhaps no business more entrenched in the local community than retail. Your products may come from anywhere, or they could be locally produced. But your customers, unless you do heavy volume from your website, likely come from your local community. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use the Web to increase your business. And during this busy time of year, between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas, it is highly likely that your business will see increased volume. If you have a website then that is probably more true.

Having a Web presence for your local retail store is necessary because more and more people are going online to find businesses nearby to shop at. At one time, advertising in the local newspaper was the necessity. Then it was the radio. Then TV. More and more every day, the Internet is the place to be. If you haven’t started advertising online yet then you likely are falling behind your competition. Don’t you think it’s time?

Your local business deserves the best online advertising your money can buy. That’s why Nick Stamoulis, owner and CEO of Brick Marketing, is offer a 1-hour free consultation. Not only that, but you will also receive a custom written Internet marketing plan - tailored to your specific situation. Brick Marketing will provide you with specific recommendations for getting your business the local online advertising it needs to succeed - both online and in your community.

Brick Marketing believes that local businesses have a unique need when it comes to online marketing. That’s why we place special emphasis on local directories, Yellow Pages, and other local-specific online advertising vehicles. We will be as open and honest about your strengths as we are about your weaknesses, but our goal will always be to get you the maximum exposure possible for your local business. You have absolutely to nothing to lose.

Give Brick Marketing a call today or visit our website and take advantage of your free consultation.

Local business have special needs when it comes to local advertising online. You are not marketing globally. You are marketing to a specific geographic area and that requires a special strategy with the search engines, Yellow Pages, and other online advertising resources. Do you have a guide?

You might think you can do it all on your own, and you probably can. But, like anything else, there is a learning curve. You will spend the first year or two on your own learning the ins and outs of online advertising before you will see any real results. But if you hire Brick Marketing to be your guide then you can leverage our expertise in managing your local online advertising and get more bang for your buck a whole lot sooner!

Time is of essence. In business, time equals money. Right? If you agree then you’ll appreciate the value of leverage. That’s what Brick Marketing offers local businesses who want to market their services online and when you leverage your time and your money for maximum exposure online then you will see results a lot quicker. Give Brick Marketing a call today. Your online life depends on it.

When it comes to local advertising online you have a lot of resources available to you. As a local small business owner with a small budget, you have to watch where your dollars and time go. There’s no way around it. So which resources should you focus on? That’s a question that many small business owner want an answer to.

It’s a legitimate question, but there’s no easy answer. How you advertise your local business online depends on a number of factors: Your geography, the type of business you run, the cost of the advertising, your budget. These are just a few of the factors you should consider. But I would suggest that you start with all the free promotional tools at your disposal before you pay for anything. Exhaust those advertising opportunities then you can better judge what is working and what is not working and go from there.

• Google Local Submissions
• Yahoo! Local Sumissions
• Don’t leave out MSN and Ask
• Search Engine Optimization (of course)
• Local directories
• Reciprocal links from like sites, especially local businesses

This is where you should start, but not by any means is it the end of your local online advertising campaign. If you want a full evaluation of your local online advertising possibilities, with a report on how you can make local advertising online pay for your company, then give Brick Marketing a call. We can steer you in the right direction.