Ask Gains Citysearch-Powered Local Search

I bet they launch their local section as well. Weren't they talking about that in their CitySearch deal press release? I tell you what I would really love to see though is that Tukaroo desktop search application.

Something is going on with Local search. Look what I found on a hunch!

http://local.ask.com/local

[Webvisitor]

Muscle--
This is a very nice feature. It reminds me of the Google local when it was first released in beta. I was impressed at how relevant it was for a random search (floor cleaners) (Armenian food) in our area. The map has a slightly different presentation than G but it is about as clean.
Imagine this combined with Findwhat's new Pay-per-call service down the line.
What other surprises will you uncover?

Looks to me like Jeeves did a deal with Topix.net for their local news search. When I look up local news on Jeeves now I see a link to Topix.net at the bottom of the results. The overall improvement on Jeeves news search is fantastic. It wasn't that great before the overhaul but now it rivals Google news. Take a look

http://news.ask.com/news?o=0&q=&qsrc=0

[dannysullivan]

Gary's added some examples of this in action over here:
Ask Jeeves Local: CitySearch Data Begins Appearing.

How in the world does Jeeves think people will use their new local search without a link on their home page to local? Not even in smart search? Come on!!! Are people supposed to guess?

[rustybrick]

Originally Posted by MUSCLE13

How in the world does Jeeves think people will use their new local search without a link on their home page to local? Not even in smart search? Come on!!! Are people supposed to guess?

Well, if I am looking for pizza in manhattan new york, then why not just show me local results?

Rusty - Personally I would much rather see the local search page linked on their home page so people KNOW they can enter a zip code with a search term to get local results. With Google they at least have a link to Google local in their "more" section. Local has the most revenue potential in the search space. The Yellow pages is a $15 billion dollar industry. Let people know you have local search capabilities. Don't hide it for goodness sake!

[STrader]

Originally Posted by MUSCLE13

Rusty - Personally I would much rather see the local search page linked on their home page so people KNOW they can enter a zip code with a search term to get local results. With Google they at least have a link to Google local in their "more" section. Local has the most revenue potential in the search space. The Yellow pages is a $15 billion dollar industry. Let people know you have local search capabilities. Don't hide it for goodness sake!

Here is a rare case I can disagree with you. "Hidden tabs" feature is very easy and intuitive and people are getting impressed with this stuff much more than when they have boring dialog boxes explaining what to do and how to type. Users will slowly learn either occasionally or "by the word of mouth."

Hope you are right STrader. Local is so important to the industry. It has to be done right. I am shocked there is no local tab on Jeeves home page.

[Webvisitor]

My reasoning for wanting to see a local tab placement on the front page is based on the following information I read today in an article written by Dan Russell of InfoSpace

http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/4271.asp

Dan Russell writes;

"Internet yellow pages are increasingly able to focus the benefits of search to marketers through more precise targeting at the local level and a more qualified audience of ready-to-buy consumers who arrive on IYPs specifically to purchase products and services. According to the Yellow Pages Integrated Media Association (YPIMA), 62 percent of IYP users contact a business after using the product and 68 percent of IYP users make or intend to make a purchase -- just like they always have when they open their local Yellow Pages."

By making the visitor "search" for the local search page you effectively turn away ready to buy custumers.
I would like to read Danny Sullivan's take on this issue.

Webvisitor - I think what Rusty and Strader are saying is that users will intuitively just know to search for what they want to see from Jeeves home page and the local results will be there. I hope they are right. I would rather see a tab like you want. To me local is just too important a category to count on people to know they can put in their zip code or City. I don't expect people to intuitively know anything but that might just be my opinion. I think about 98% of people are morons and only about 2% have a clue.

[rustybrick]

So you know, I think Google at on of the SES conferences said, a very small percentage of their user base know that the tabs at the top exist. Oh, and I think Google's user base is much more savvy then Ask Jeeves.

So maybe, just maybe, not having a tab, is a smart thing.

FYI - Just arguing the other side.

I like seeing opposing viewpoints Rusty. I think it makes forums much more interesting and worthwhile. G-d knows my viewpoints are usually opposing most others. I am starting to see there is a bigger issue here and thats the invisible tabs issue, which is certain to be an important trend in the future of search. I just think local is so important to the industry that tabs are necessary. Would love to know Jeeves longterm thinking on local. I noticed on the monthly Comscore adfocus rankings that Yahoo's "Get Local" page actually had 22 million users on its own in August. Its a huge category. Everybody here has made excellent points on this thread. I enjoy the back and forth on this topic.

Now this is a cool local page and they even linked it on the home page. Nice going Jeeves!

http://web.ask.com/local