Hi all,

This post is more or less additional info on why I think Google would be better served by buying About.com than Monster.com. My additional argument is that LOCAL GUIDES will be the next big thing in local search. And that Google can turn About.com into the ultimate Local Guide System.

this from my post at http://www.tempcity.com/dramanyc/index.php?showtopic=3772 Local Guides The Next Big Thing in Local Search

Yahoo Local is an amazing operation.

I understand that most of the information on Yahoo Local is licensed from CitySearch, but Yahoo Local is still amazing.

However, it seems clear that LOCAL will eventually have to be a lot more than just listing local businesses. For example, consider temp agencies.

On most of the major search engines (and at about.com), the temp agencies listed in the local results for New York City are mostly temp agencies I've never heard of. Also, before this website, the lucrative Word Processing Center Market for temps had essentially never been addressed by any website on temping.

In other words, while the major search engines can and will beat out any one in the number of local businesses they can list and how many fancy features (like maps and directions) they can add to the results, it appears that there will be a need for a LOCAL GUIDE to local search results who is intimately familiar with his/her city.

While Yahoo Local can list more restaurants than Zagat's (and provide directions and maps), it does not seem as though Zagat's is in any major danger of losing its position as the ultimate GUIDE to restaurants in New York City.

BASED on all of the above, if in fact LOCAL SEARCH is the latest thing, then LOCAL GUIDES will be the NEXT BIG THING.


IS ABOUT.COM LOCAL?

The Mining Company (renamed ABOUT.COM) is the granddaddy/inventor of the "guided" search engine. However, ABOUT.COM does not seem to me to be LOCAL, it seems more TOPIC focused than city focused.

I think for ABOUT.COM to become more LOCAL, it will need a lot more guides and those guides will have to spend a lot more time covering their subject matter. In other words, the pay structure/arrangement that ABOUT.COM appears to have with its guides is not going to work for a LOCAL GUIDE SYSTEM. Also, it seems to me that the perfect way to get Local Guides to be totally focused on their local subject and to be totally focused on maximizing advertising revenue on their subject is to have those guides own their own Adsense-enabled Websites.

And here again we have Google and ABOUT.COM in the perfect marriage.

Google Local is already capable of incorporating a LOCAL GUIDE SYSTEM simply by creating the title LOCAL GUIDE and linking to the website of the designated LOCAL GUIDE in the local search results. Google Local is already constructed in a manner that provides for linking to DESIGNATED websites on different businesses/subject matters.

We have stated our position that ABOUT.COM seems to be a perfect buy for Google. And, Google seems to be the perfect entity with the ability and the desire to turn ABOUT.COM into the ultimate LOCAL GUIDE SYSTEM.

Hi Marion,

This is not the first time the idea of Google buying About.com has been bandied about, either externally, or internally at About.com. When google adwords first went into play on about.com this time last year, that may have been the perfect time for them to make a deal. It didn't happen then, not so sure it's a good time for it to happen now.

CitySearch has certainly added a lot to both Yahoo, and more recently, we discussed it enhancing Ask Jeeves (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=1724) local search.

Back to the idea of About.com expanding local guides. During my four years at About, we went from over 700 topical/local guides down to the 400 range. Probably half of those casualties were in fact local guides, and lack of ad revenue was certainly a factor in the cuts.

Of course, things were very different at that time, Adwords wasn't around, and Sprinks either hadn't launched as a PPC vendor, and even if it was, then it was struggling taking off, and we all know how that ended. Generally at that time too, the Internet economy as a whole was in a downward turn, certainly not looking nearly as strong as it is now.

Still, the concept of many local area guides at that time, simply didn't work - mainly because a lot of the regional areas or smaller cities just couldn't pull enough traffic to support the guidesite. And that's not for lack of trying SEO wise, either - About.com has a very strong organic SEM strategy in place.

Take a look at the current list of Cities & Regions that exist now:
http://www.about.com/citiestowns/

Most of them are larger market areas or those towns that do have a tourism appeal.

Secondarily to that are the regionally focused Guidesites for travelers:
http://www.about.com/travel/

These sites certainly do a good job on the local level, but the tourism space is greatly different.

Probably the greatest challenge to local sites at About.com, is lack of a standardized structure, which isn't always a bad thing, since Guides are completely free to do their own thing, and find what works without the help of a direct editor. That doesn't always happen well with the local sites, and the learning curve can be too great sometimes. But lack of direction and prioritizing content is difficult when you're on a part time basis, as most guides are, so the pay/reward structure also has to adjust.

That is a lot of great info, and great insight

You know, it is POSSIBLE that the Google/Primedia deal of last year (for about.com to go adsense and google to buy sprinks) did include a latter buyout clause, either in writing or understanding. As you say, that period last year would have been the perfect time for Google to buy if it wanted About.com. Of course, Primedia seems to have gone more into "liquidation" mode since then, selling off New York Magazine and other properties.

But I think the "economics" of about.com trying to building ONE site of local guides works/worked against it whereas Google's concept of a NETWORK of local guides works for google.

In other words, instead of an about.com being a house of guides working on one site, think of an about.com as a gateway to a network of local guides. That this can work is evidenced by the fact that it is already working, Google has a network of local guides in every manner except for the official use of the phrase "LOCAL GUIDES".

it is interesting to note that when you get a CitySearch local result, you get rather "limited" other linking options and choices. With Google Local linking to the adsense-enbabled websites of LOCAL GUIDES, there seem to be a lot more "billboard space" available to advertisers (in addition to Google not having to pay money to license CitySearch or Superpages.com content.