There are alot of articles posted on local mobile search today.  This article really lets you see the future use of cellphones as internet search tools and the local market.  iPhone is crushing the competition, and will force evolution in the cellphone industry.  Google.com will be releasing their Android phone sometime soon.  It will be interesting to see how their technology will measure up with iPhone.  They just might come out dominating the market after seeing all the pitfalls iphone has failed to deliver. 

That is one of the draw backs of being first in the industry.  Your competition gets to benefit off your failure to provide consumers a flawless product and they get the research and development out of the way, by listening to consumers complain about the product.  It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what consumers truly want in a cellphone after you have those essential sources.  

In the end, the consumer is going to have a pretty elite cellphone that will be capable of doing anything a computer can do.  Local search and local advertising will become the standard across the internet when this happens.  Not everyone can afford a laptop, but many can afford a cellphone that is capable of doing it all; talking, surfing the net, watching movies, listening to music, and scanning at businesses to make purchases.

Who needs a computer with such a handy tool?   The local internet market is the most under estimated market ever to present itself.  Geo domains are the center of it.  Watch how this story unfolds in the years to come.

The results, from a January survey of more than 10,000 adults, are somewhat dramatic. 84.8 percent of iPhone users report accessing news and information from the hand-held device. That compares to 13.1 percent of the overall mobile phone market and 58.2 percent of total smartphone owners – which include those poor saps with Blackberries and devices that run Windows.

The study found that 58.6 percent of iPhone users visited a search engine on their phone, compared to 37 percent of smartphone users in general and a scant 6.1 percent of mobile phone users. 

(via NYTimes.com)

This is a good article on local mobile search.  It highlights the growth of consumers using mobile devices to search for local content and states the importance of advertisers delivering ads that fit this new way of search.  What I find interesting is that big companies still use the term ”yellowpages” for local search.  A very powerful brand, but the truth of the matter is that yellowpages do not deliver the same results, content.  Content is the most important factor when a consumer is in the “Buy Now” mode or even “Window Shopping Mode” on the internet that will determine action being taken by the consumer.  They consistently use this term to identify the local internet market.  It really is the wrong term to use IMHO, until yellowpages delivers more content on the internet, other than a name, number, and address.

Big media will get it eventually, but I find it frustrating that the big guys with millions/billions of dollars and marketing gurus with PHDs and every type of degree, are just scratching the surface.   While everyone is faced trying to take over the world in local advertising individually, those who form networks will be the ones who are succesful at online dominance.  Geo Domains will be the primary platform that consumers will search for first, before they go to a company called Yourlocalpages.com.  One key statement that struck me and holds some truth, is the fact that consumers are uneducated on the different local platforms available for thier use. 

The reason I say holds some truth, is because local consumers already know where to find local information on the internet.  Think about it, where do you go for local information in your area on the internet? I am sure you have an answer, and that answer and reason is what we all are trying to replicate.   

(via searchengineland.com)

We have been hard at work negotiating deals and finding names that fit our business model.  It has been very exhausting at times, searching for names and contacting owners of these domains.  Many of you know this feeling.  Listed below, are only a few key domains acquired in the past month.  Negotiations really take a skill set in order to deliver a sense of satisfaction for both parties involved in a domain transaction.  It is very stressful when other parties are also interested in the same domain, but the statisfaction of acquiring a great name at a great price is well worth it and very rewarding.  Negotiating deals is also a great way to meet new friends and future business associates.   

What is in a name?  Everything, if you are building a network to exploit and promote an industry.  The Geo Domain Industry is going to be promoted through a network method no one has ever done in the domain industry.    

We are going to use the terms associated with the service instead of branding a name.  Makes sense when you look at how people search the internet on search engines and communicate at functions when discussing an industry.  

We are proud to announce that SimplyGeo.com, LLC has acquired the following domains.

GeoBusiness.com
GeoAdvertising.com
GeoExpress.com
GeoBuilder.com
GeoSourcing.com

These domains speak volumes if you understand the geo industry and see how they clearly communicate a clear message.  They will become integral parts of the SimplyGeo Network in the future.  We are currently negotiating a few more elite deals that should close in the upcoming weeks.  Once everything is successful, I will announce the final list of names for the geo network. 

This week is starting off outstanding for the Geo domain industry.  A variety of articles have been published today that validate the growth of local advertising, local search, and revenue sharing networks.    

CBS Corp.’s television affiliate stations have launched a revenue-sharing ad network that targets social media Web sites and blogs on a local basis.  The move marks a first for CBS Television Stations in creating partnerships to deliver local news on a revenue-sharing basis through new technology.

Solid growth continues in the local industry thanks to technology and consumers demanding targeted local content.  The proof remains in the pudding!

(via AdWeek.com)

The New York Times has decided to go local by embracing DirectoryM’s business directory platform.  This is a huge move for a major media company.  Just when you thought the NYTimes.com had the local market covered after years in the business, they go and form a strategic partnership to deliver local results for consumers searching for businesses.

This trend is not going anywhere for years to come.  The local rush is on in 2008.  Life is Local!

(via BusinessWire.com)

Marchex has released thier local industry trend report today thru businesswire.com.  As the owners of the largest geo domain portfolio owners in the world, their analysis is of great value to those professionals in the geo domain industry.  You can view the 23 page report for free at this link.  You will have to register briefly to get access to the 4.64 mpeg .pdf file. This is a great write up that gives you a forecast of where this industry is heading.

2008 Perspectives on Local Online Advertising and Content’ identifies several trends that Marchex believes will continue to accelerate the growth of the local market in 2008 and beyond:

1. The adoption rate of online advertising services by small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) will continue to rise, driven by local sales channels such as Yellow Pages providers.
2. National advertisers will expand their focus on local online advertising campaigns and will increasingly utilize local geo-targeting and tactics that encourage and measure offline purchases.
3. The demand for call-based advertising services, such as call tracking and pay-per-phone call, will grow.
4. For consumers, the local search experience will improve, delivering more accurate and actionable results that more effectively connect consumers with local businesses.
5. The local market will be less fragmented due to consolidation, innovation, and partnerships.

“Small- to medium-sized businesses are continuing to drive the growth in local online advertising, and ongoing investment from Yellow Pages companies and other local media will continue to fuel this growth in 2008,” said Russell C. Horowitz, Marchex Chairman and CEO. “In addition, based on direct input from our advertisers, we anticipate that national advertisers and agencies will increasingly focus on local geo-targeted campaigns, particularly as the Local Internet experience for consumers continues to improve and consolidation occurs.”

This is an interesting article that Jens Thraenhart has done an outstanding job researching.  I believe it is imperative to make this topic main stream in the domain industry so those who invested in this extention are aware of the deception ongoing with the extention.  I was very hesitant to do an article on the .travel extention management corruption, until there was proper research and evidence provided.  This extention would have been outstanding geo domains and would have propelled the geo domain industry into the stratusphere.  Unfortunately, under the current management, this may never become a reality due to greed.     

There has not been alot of news on this extention since its initial launch.  The only news has been press releases by Tralliance, the managers of the extention.  A large amount of business owners and domainers invested large volumes of revenue in this extention during the sunrise period.  I believe the cost was $99 and you had to validate credentials that you were in the travel industry.  In December 2007, the criteria to register a .travel domain was relaxed and thousands of domains were released to the public for registration, or at least that is what the press release said.

The article goes into detail and unfolds the truth about .travel.  I will do a part 2 on this topic once I receive some emails from a credible source and discuss more in detail.

Gone the dream of order in online travel. The opportunity to build consumers’ trust shattered.

But who is to blame in the end?

• Is it Ron Andruff and his founding Tralliance team, for needing an investor that unfortunately had a different agenda?
• Is it Ed Cespedes and Michael Eagan from The Globe, the new Tralliance Management: for trying to make money quickly off a great concept, but in their haste destroying the value proposition?
• Is it the TTPC Board of Directors under chairmanship of Birger Bachman, for not guarding the “crown jewels” and therefore letting the value proposition dilute, and for not listening to the outrcrys from the travel industry?
• Is it ICANN, the governing body of Internet domain names, for not taking back the dot travel domain name when the strategy went into a different direction?
• Is it the global Travel and Tourism industry, for not embracing the dot travel domain name extension fast enough, that motivated the new Tralliance Management to open registration up to make money?
• Is it the UNWTO, the World Tourism Organization, and travel trade associations all over the world (such as PATA, DMAI, ASTA, NTA, etc.), for not stepping in and get more involved to make dot travel a UNWTO priority earlier?
• Is it National Tourism Organizations and Destination Marketing Organizations for not encouraging their industry partners and members more aggressively to register their names?
• Or is it maybe even the Consumer for not embracing the dot travel domain fast enough to show value to doubting travel organizations?

(via HospitalityNet.org)