USA Local Search

President Obama proposes providing $30 billion to small US banks to lend to small businesses.

2010-02-09T20:45:00.000-08:00

The president wants to give $30 billion from the TARP bank support program to small banks on terms that would make it very attractive for them to lend to small firms. The banks involved would be those with $10 billion or less in assets.

The objective is to reduce the 10% unemployment rate by increasing the level of loans to small businesses who have good credit credentials, but who have had difficulty borrowing due to the depressed economic conditions.

The suggestion is that banks would be provided capital at a 5% cost of funds but the cost would drop to 1% provide the banks increased the lending to small businesses by 10%.

The plan would operate outside the TARP provisions, so those restrictions would not apply.

There are 8,000 US banks with under $10 billion in assets that would qualify.

The plan requires congressional approval, and while the initial indications have been positive, Republicans may not cooperate since they want the TARP funds repaid to the US Treasury.

This is a creative idea which would assist in getting better access to loan funds for small firms who currently are not getting much satisfaction form the banks.

We help by providing prospects for small businesses at no cost to them, from our Local Search facility in our US Business Directory, which has 10 million businesses listed, most of which are small firms.

Monte Huebsch, CEO

19% of US consumers will use their mobile phones for shopping this Christmas.

2009-11-29T20:52:00.000-08:00

A Deloitte survey reports that 19% of US shoppers will use their mobile device over the holiday season to help find what they want. Younger people feature in this use. 39% of consumers aged 18 to 29 will use their mobile phones to check products, prices, find store locations and get directions.

25% of those who use their mobile phone to help with their shopping say they will buy the product on their phone.

While the sales figures are still small for purchases on mobile devices, currently $750 million, less than 1% of online sales, retailers are moving to provide mobile shopping sites to cater for the expected growth in this area.

Internet Retailer reports that 112 retailers now have either mobile commerce sites, or applications, or both. Many large companies are making mobile purchases available, including Toys R Us, Sears and Victoria’s Secret.

Mobile phones are being used to compare prices, and check whether goods are available. Smartphone applications are helping drive the trend of shopping on mobile devices.

Normal websites are not very successful to view from a mobile phone, and in most cases, they just don’t function.

EBay’s mobile website has over 1 million consumers visit a day and will make $500 million this year in sales, which is currently 66% of all mobile sales.

While shoppers are not yet as comfortable about buying on their mobile phone as they are on their desktop computer, the number of people doing this is increasing at a high rate. This will continue as consumers become more relaxed about mobile shopping after having used the facility.

We are assisting by providing an iPhone version of our Local Search Facility in our US Business Directory. We have over 10 million business listed and we provide the prospects to them without cost.

Monte Huebsch, CEO

Small US firm’s sales are down 3.8% in 2009.

2009-11-22T19:28:00.000-08:00

Sageworks, in a survey of 10,000 banks and small business CPAs, reports that small company’s sales reduced by 3.8% for this year to the end of October. They had a sales increase of 2.4% in 2008.

Large firms were better off with an average fall in sales of only 1.8% for the same period this year.

Certain small business sectors fared worse than others in sales reductions, transport and storage fell 16.7%, manufacturing fell 13.8%, wholesalers fell 10.4% and retailers fell 6.7%.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses reports that 86% of small businesses had flat or reduced earnings over the last three months and 82% had level or lower sales in that period. In the next three months, 21% plan to reduce staff and 32% will reduce stock levels.

From 1993 to 2008, US small businesses provided 65% of job growth and they account for approximately 50% of non government employment, so their recovery will determine the improvement in the current high unemployment rate.

The weak US dollar has hurt small firms who import raw materials and there is little upside in this for them since most do not export. The housing crisis has also created problems for building contractors which are mostly small companies.

Tight credit has meant that many small business owners have used credit cards to finance their operations and many lenders are now reducing credit limits.

So small firms are still having difficulties which have been produced by the economic downturn and Government assistance doesn’t seem to be getting to them.

We help by providing prospects to them at no cost from our Local Search facility in our US Business Directory. The majority of the 10 million firms listed in our directory are small businesses.

Monte Huebsch, CEO

US small businesses are struggling to move out of the recession and to hire additional employees.

2009-11-10T23:20:00.000-08:00

The US unemployment rate increased from 9.8% in September to 10.2% in October. Small businesses have led the turnaround in employment after economic downturns in the past, but that has not happened yet.

A survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses reports that 19% of small firms, on a seasonally adjusted basis, reduced worker numbers by an average of 4.2 workers in the July, August, September period. Only 8% increased staff in that period, by an average of 3.5 for each business.

The Small Business Administration says that small firms, defined as under 20 staff, provide 25% of all jobs and contributed 40% of employment growth after the last recession.

The reasons that small businesses are not hiring aggressively are:

Credit restrictions - most do not have property to offer as security, which is generally required, with tightened borrowing conditions being applied by lenders.

Few small firms export – so the economic upturn internationally is not helping them.

Cost of health care – the cost for small businesses is substantially higher than for large firms. The healthcare bill which was passed by the House of Representatives provides a cap on costs and wider coverage, and if passed by the Senate will help with this problem for small US companies.

So although the recession is technically over, with the US economy returning to growth, the state of business for small firms is still difficult and they are not yet hiring in sufficient numbers to lower the unemployment rate.

We contribute to the success of small businesses by sending them qualified prospects from our Local Search facility in our US Business Directory with no cost to them. Most of the 10 million business listed in our directory are small businesses.

Monte Huebsch, CEO

The US newspapers decline in circulation continues at an increasing rate.

2009-10-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

The Audit Bureau of Circulations reports that the average weekday circulation of 400 daily papers reduced by over 10% to 30.4 million for the 6 months to the end of September. This was more than the 7% reduction in the previous 6 months.

Readers are moving from print to online to access news and the online versions of the newspapers are not producing sufficient advertising income to replace the loss of revenue from their print products.

While some newspapers are now trying various methods to get web users to pay for their information, this is generally not succeeding.

The consulting firm Outsell Inc. reports that the reduction of content and the increasing of price for both single papers and home delivery have contributed to the decline in readers. They also say that 90 papers have stopped publishing at least one day a week and many have reduced delivery to subscribers in small, remote communities.

The Wall Street Journal, with 2 million subscribers, is now the largest selling daily paper, replacing USA Today, which fell 17% to 1.9 million.

The New York Times was number three, having fallen 7% in the six monthly period, the Los Angeles Times was fourth, down 11%. and the Washington Post was number five, having fallen 6%.

Smaller local newspapers are doing better because the local events they report are usually not available online.

The movement from print to online seems to be a permanent trend, making it very difficult for many well established newspapers to continue to trade profitably.

The switch to online also applies to finding businesses and our Local Search facility in our US Local Directory helps in that regard. We send prospects to the 10 million businesses listed in our directory with no cost to them.

Monte Huebsch, CEO

More employees of US small businesses are losing their health insurance.

2009-10-21T21:37:00.000-07:00

The Small Business Administration reports that health insurance premiums continue to increase and the projection is that by 2025 a quarter of the US economy will be spent on health care.

As premiums have increased, the number of businesses offering health insurance to employees is falling, reducing from 63% to 60% in the last year.

This is accentuated in small firms, those with less than 10 employees, where firms offering coverage reduced from 57% in 2000 to 46% in 2009.

The reason small businesses are having such difficulty maintaining employee health cover is the higher premiums they are asked to pay, 18% higher than large firms, and administration costs which are four times higher than for large companies.

Almost 3 million employees, who are uninsured, work for firms with less than 25 staff. Over the last two years, 25% of employees of small businesses lost their health cover.

Half of the individuals working for businesses who don’t offer health insurance have no private cover. The option of private cover is not viable for most due to the high cost, with no premium limits being applicable in 33 states, and broad exclusions which can be applied by insurance companies in effect in 45 states.

Reforms currently being discussed would give small businesses tax credits to assist with employee health care costs and allow people to switch jobs without loss of cover. The changes would also not allow insurers to discriminate based on age, gender or prior conditions.

With the unemployment rate increasing from 5.8% in 2008 to 8.9% in 2009, 4 million workers lost their health cover, increasing the number uninsured to over 50 million.

The reform of health care is critically important and very difficult to enact due to the power of the vested interests involved. Small firms are the most vulnerable and urgently in need of assistance to provide or retain health cover for employees.

We assist US small businesses with our Local Search facility on our US Business Directory which delivers qualified prospects to them without cost.

Most of the 10 million firms listed on our directory are small businesses.

Monte Huebsch, CEO

Small U.S. businesses are not using social networking sites for business purposes.

2009-10-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

A survey for Citibank Small Business by GFK Roper of 500 small U.S. firms reports that 75% of them do not use Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn to find prospects for their businesses.

86% do not use social networking sites to get business information and only 10% have used them to find business advice.

42% have used their websites substantially to get business prospects and new business.

19% of the small firms said they were advertising more due to the economic slowdown, 41% were doing the same level of advertising, and 38% were doing less.

28% said they were using email and 25% were advertising online to attract new sales.

Hitwise reports that Facebook has 56% of social network traffic, MySpace has 30% and the next best has less than 3%. Facebook had a 200% increase in user numbers compared to a year ago.

However, U.S. users spend an average visit of 26 minutes on MySpace and slightly less, 23 minutes, on Facebook.

In the search field, Google still dominates with 64% of U.S. searches, with Yahoo having 19% and Microsoft having 9%.

As more business searches are done online, at the expense of old media, particularly the print phone books, we help small U.S. firms by delivering qualified prospects to them from our Local Search facility in our U.S. Business Directory with no cost to them. We have over 10 million firms listed in our directory and most are small businesses.

Monte Huebsch, CEO

U.S. small businesses need assistance in meeting the cost of employee health care costs.

2009-09-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

A Families USA study in 17 U.S. states reported that, in Georgia, health care premiums rose six times faster than income, over the last 9 years. The cost to employees increased 150% over that period, from 2000 to 2009.

Small businesses are the hardest hit, with the least capacity to pay. The U. S. Small Business Administration advises that there are 27 million small businesses in the U.S. providing income for over 70 million employees and their families. This is over 99% of all U.S. employers and firms with up to 20 staff produced 80% of all new jobs from 1990 to 2003.

So even though small U.S. businesses are the basis of employment growth, the attention given to them in the health care reform debate has been minor. The current health care bill being debated means while some small businesses would pay less, others would pay more.

The influence that large companies are able to exert over legislators is obvious.

A recent survey of 343 small businesses proprietors by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, found that 76% thought that they were not being correctly considered in the health care reform discussions. 78% of firms who don’t provide health care benefits said they wanted to, but 80% of them said that the cost involved stopped them form being able to offer coverage.

Congress needs to address the cost issues for small businesses, particularly the substantial discounts in health care premiums that are offered to large firms compared to smaller businesses.

We assist U.S. small companies by sending them qualified prospects from our Local Search facility in our Business Directory at no cost to them. There are over 10 million businesses listed in our directory and the majority are small businesses.

Monte Huebsch, CEO.

The average cost of a U.S. employer paid family health care plan has increased by 5% in the last year.

2009-09-16T22:54:00.000-07:00

A report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust says that the cost of the average employer provided family health care plan is now $13,375 per employee, an increase of 5% from 2008.

The increase is less than earlier years, but inflation was minus .7% over the same period.

The survey of 2,000 companies found that 40% of employers are likely to pass some of that increase on to employees, by increasing the amount that their employees pay for visits to doctors, and for prescription drugs.

9% of employers said they would make the eligibility conditions for health care cover tighter and 8% said they would stop providing health care cover completely.

A separate survey of 1,250 in July reported that now people are more concerned about not being able to afford medical treatment than about meeting mortgage payments or losing their job.

Many large health insurers anticipate a 10% premium increase in the next year. Premiums are now double what they were a decade ago.

The Business Roundtable, an organisation of C.E.O.s of large U.S. companies, anticipates premiums will increase to about $29,000 per employee over the next 10 years.

As the President pushes for health care reform, the various special interest groups are exerting political pressure on legislators to satisfy to their individual agendas.

Small U.S. businesses are the hardest hit by health care cost increases, with the least capacity to pay.

We assist them by providing qualified prospects from our Local Search facility in our U.S.A. Business Directory, which has over 10 million business listed, at no cost to them. Most listings are small firms, so the additional business which is created without expense is very helpful.

Monte Huebsch, CEO.

Female C.E.O.’s have been very successful during the economic downtown.

2009-09-15T15:59:00.000-07:00

The annual economic survey by the Women Presidents’ Organisation shows that 55% of female C.E.O.’s of large companies have maintained or grown their staff numbers during the global recession.

67% of their companies either increased or maintained their staff’s salaries.

The Women Presidents’ Organisation is an organisation of 1,400 women executives who own or control large businesses in the USA, UK, Canada, Peru, and South Africa.

82% of these C.E.O.’s have a positive view about the results for their businesses in 2010.

Comparing 2008 to 2009:

31% of their companies have grown. 54% have made their business “green”, that is environmentally friendly and 35% additional intend to do so.

These results demonstrate the flexibility of female executives in coping with difficult financial circumstances and support the view that greater female numbers in large company’s boardrooms would produce a positive outcome.

As most of the developed world comes out of recession, unemployment is still a major concern, particularly in the US. Creativity and flexibility are qualities that are greatly needed at this time.

Female creativity and ability to change with changing circumstances is a resource which has been undervalued and not properly utilised. Results like these are an indication of the benefits in making a change to a more gender balanced mix of business leaders.

We support females in business with our USA Local Search facility in our Business Directory, by supplying the 10 million businesses listed, many of which are owned or run by women, with qualified prospects at no cost.

Monte Huebsch, CEO.

Only 12% of eligible US homeowners have had loan modifications done under the Federal housing rescue plan, the Home Affordable Modification Program.

2009-09-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

The US Treasury reports that by August 360,000 homeowners had their monthly mortgage payments reduced, which was an increase, up from 235,000 in July.

The assistance plan, which was launched in February, pays cash to limit monthly mortgage payments to 31% of the borrower’s income.

US Treasury officials report they expect to approve 500,000 borrowers by the end of October. A trial period becomes permanent when the homeowner has made three monthly payments at the reduced amount.

The Treasury spokesman said that even if the program is a success, millions of foreclosures were still expected, the estimate being that more than 6 million US homeowners face the risk of foreclosure over the next three years.

A Federal Reserve official said that the real problem was the rising number of unemployed and that mortgage relief is no assistance if there in no homeowner’s income.

Treasury said that 47 Lenders had agreed to be involved in the loan amendment program, but that 21 of them had altered less than 5% of eligible loans, and that a number of them had amended none at all.

So the impact of the economic downturn will continue to be felt for some time.

Both homeowners and small businesses have been the hardest hit, and the best hope for improved employment, which will help reduce foreclosures, comes from small US businesses.

We help small businesses with our Local Search facility in our Business Directory by providing qualified prospects to the 10 million business listed, most of which are small businesses, at no cost to them.

Monte Huebsch, CEO.

The Government is providing funding for small USA businesses for “green” technology development to help them compete with Chinese companies.

2009-09-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

Grants totalling $37 million in funding from the Department of Energy are available to small US businesses that have up to 500 employees to develop and apply technology which reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Companies with research capacity in science or engineering are invited to apply for a share of the funds.

Applications in a number of areas are being invited including: building air conditioning and refrigeration, efficient water use in electricity generation, cooling of power plants, gas turbines, wireless networks, solar technology, and more efficient manufacturing processes.

Application must be submitted by September 4 and successful companies can receive up to $150,000 to use towards providing a demonstration of the commercial benefits of their technology.

In the field of solar power, the Chinese are the current leading player, particularly in the US market, where they have reduced the cost of solar panels by 50% in the last year. There is currently an oversupply of solar panels, and the largest Chinese manufacturer is selling them at below the cost of production and transport in the US to capture market share.

Clean energy is an industry that receives substantial support in subsidies and cash incentives from the national, state and local Chinese governments and Chinese companies are about to build factories in the US to avoid tariff penalties.

IMS Research reports that the solar power industry had record sales growth in 2007 and shipments of solar power equipment increased by 81% in the second quarter of 2009, over the previous quarter.

The total stimulus funding for green energy in the US is over $61 billion but it is thought that it will take at least 5 years to catch up to the Chinese in this field.

Small businesses in the USA need all the assistance they can get in the current depressed economic conditions and we help by having them found in an online local search with our business directory portal which provides them with qualified prospects at no cost to them.

Monte Huebsch, CEO.

USA small business confidence in the economic conditions is improving.

2009-09-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

Discover Financial Services reports, in an August survey, that small business owners’ confidence in the economy was at its highest level in one and a half years.

The small business proprietors indicated that they are more prepared to invest in advertising and stock, the best result since February 2008.

The improvement in attitudes was across a number of areas:

In August, 38% think the economy is improving, up from 30% in July. 27% intend to increase their outlay on advertising, stock and capital outlays, up from 23% in July. 51% say they have had cash flow problems in the previous 90 days, down from 53% in July.

Many small business owners see growth opportunities in “green” industries, with 21% saying that they helped their business. They said that energy conservation was the greatest assistance with profit improvement. Alternative fuels and recycling were also helping with a better bottom line result.

23% said they would incorporate “green” systems in their businesses in the next six months.

Regarding the current health care reform debate, the study says that 39% of small business proprietors had communicated their views to their representative in Congress.

Since small businesses are such an important component in the employment level, the increase in confidence is an indicator that the start of the end of the recession may be at hand.

Online local search is now an important source of new prospects for small USA businesses and our Business Directory Portal provides qualified prospects with no cost involved for the business.

Monte Huebsch, CEO.

Health Insurance for small USA businesses is too costly.

2009-08-31T23:03:00.000-07:00

Small business owners at a Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce forum say that cost is the main barrier to them being able to provide health care coverage for their employees.

As the health care reform debate continues, the attendees said that their inability to meet the health care expenses for staff was affecting their ability to hire and retain the services of quality employees.

The small business proprietors say that they pay a loading of 18% on the health care cost for large businesses and that 20% more workers have become uninsured I the last 7 years.

This represents a real hurdle for small businesses, since the standard of staff is critical to their success. Standards have to be high and customer service excellent to succeed in competing with large firms.

Our USA Local Search Business Directory is assisting by providing qualified prospects from Google and other search engines for the 14 million businesses listed, many of which are small businesses.

Monte Huebsch, CEO

USA consumers will buy gifts online more than ever over the holidays

2008-11-19T19:34:00.000-08:00

Nielsen Online reports, from an online survey of 1,300 online shoppers, that USA consumers will move more of their gift buying online over the holiday season due to the convenience, time efficiency and price benefits.

Convenience was very important, with 76% referring to the ability to shop 24/7, and 76% saying that the time saving in online shopping was a motivation.

53% of consumers surveyed said that price was also a major factor in buying online this year, compared to 45% who said that last year.

41% said that an increasing proportion of holiday spending will be done online, compared to 39% last year.

36% said that they would spend the majority of their holiday gift budget online, compared to 32% a year ago.

Toys, video games and books are the top three categories for this year’s online gift purchases with Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Wal-Mart the main online retailers being used.

The survey predicts that online holiday sales will increase from last year at about 10%, which is the smallest yearly increase to date.

Convenience is the main driving force for most consumers, as opposed to price, however comparison shopping for higher priced products will be important.

So even though the depressed economic conditions will dampen retail sales expectations, the expansion of online shopping continues, although at a lower rate of growth.

We assist with our USA Online Business Directory, which has 10 million businesses listed and provides them with qualified prospects at no cost to them.

Google increases its USA search result market share and introduces voice search on Apple iPhones

2008-11-17T13:28:00.000-08:00

Hitwise reports that in October 2008 Google accounted for 71.7% of all USA Web searches, an increase from 71.2% in September and up from 64.5% in October 2007.

Yahoo had a drop in search market share from 18.1% in September to 17.7% in October.

Microsoft increased its search market share from 5.34% in September to 5.4% in October. However, a year ago, Microsoft had a 7.4% of the search market.

Ask.com had its search market share reduced from 3.6% in September to 3.5% in October. A year ago Ask.com had 4.8% of online search.

In addition to Google’s improved search market share results, the New York Times reports that Google is about to launch an online voice search application for Apple's mobile phone.

The free iPhone application is Google's initial venture into voice based internet search.

Microsoft and Yahoo already let Smartphone users search the web with spoken queries.

As Google’s search market share continues to grow, the 10 million businesses listed on our USA Online Local Search Business Directory benefit from the extensive listing we have on Google, and the prospects are provided to them at no cost,

USA online research for products and services, and shopping online by consumers, continues to grow across all fields

2008-10-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

133 million of buyers shopped online in 2006, which was 85% of USA online users.

Only 40% of consumers come to a shopping site with a committed brand in mind, so the site must engage, inform and make the purchase easy.

Retail outlets recorded sales of about $3.5 trillion in 2005. From 2004 to 2006, retail sales grew about 7% year over year.

E-retail sales are a small proportion of total sales but are growing very quickly, and excluding travel, increased to $114 billion in 2005, a 25% improvement compared to 2004.

comScore reports a 25% increase in online sales during the 2006 holiday season over 2005.

Online sales reached $138 billion in 2006, and Forrester Research forecasts online sales of $171 billion by 2009; an 18% increase, year over year.

Travel spending online was $65 billion in 2005. Analysts anticipate travel sales online to nearly double to $122 billion in 2009.

90% of consumers now research online. Then some buy online and some from a physical location.

These are very large numbers and the growth of online research and buying will only increase as people become progressively more strapped for time.

Our Online USA Business Directory is playing an important role for the 10 million businesses listed, since we direct qualified prospects to them, with zero cost involved.

USA Internet use is growing quickly

2008-10-27T22:45:00.000-07:00

The USA Department of Commerce reports that 140 million people in the USA now have Internet access in their home, and that those small businesses who sell their goods and services online have grown 46% faster over the past two years than businesses who do not promote their firms on the Internet.

Digitrends reports that 87% of online users now depend on the Internet to access local businesses and information.

Harris Interactive reports that 52.7% of online Business Directory users visited a business as a result of what they saw in the online directory and that 85.5% of online Business Directory users would recommend the site to friends.

The Washington Post reports that less than half of Americans read a newspaper on a daily basis.

As people become more time poor, and as 3G mobile devices become more widely used, online activity, particularly searching for goods and services from local businesses, will continue to increase.

All old media is in retreat before the trend to get information online, and it’s impossible to see this being reversed.

Our USA Online Local Search Business Directory, with over 10 million businesses listed, is at the leading edge of this movement to online, and the prospects are provided to the businesses with no cost to them.

The depressed economic conditions are substantially impacting USA small businesses

2008-10-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

The United States Federation of Small Business reports that 95% of small business proprietors think their business is being negatively affected by the current economic circumstances, with 55% saying they have had a downturn in revenue.

85% said that health care costs, reduced credit facilities and increasing fuel prices were the main concerns.

23% of small business owners have cut staff, 36% have reduced business travel, 36% have lowered marketing expenditure and 29% have frozen bonuses and staff income increases.

A majority of the small business owners surveyed reduced business expenses in the last six months and 45% tried to increase productivity, in many cases, with new technologies.

The trend to lower sales, higher costs, less available credit, and longer periods for payment of invoices by larger companies creates a very difficult environment for small businesses.

The advantage they possess is the flexibility and agility to adapt quickly to changed circumstances.

Those who survive what looks to be a fairly long period of economic uncertainty and general gloom will be well placed to grow when good times return.

Our USA Business Directory is helping small businesses, by sending them highly qualified prospects in their locality, with no cost for them.

USA consumers do their research online but mostly purchase offline

2008-10-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

ComScore reports in the second yearly Local Search Usage, an online survey of 3,000 respondents, that total USA searches have increased by 25% over the last year, and while substantial research is done online, most purchases are made offline.

Local business details are found by consumers in search engines 31%, Yellow Pages or White Pages 30%, internet Yellow Pages 19% and local search sites 11%.

The results have altered from last year which had Print Yellow Pages at 33% and Search Engines at 30%.

Although online is used for the majority of local research, purchases are mostly made offline.

After online local searches, consumers contact a business by phone 39%, visit the business 32%, or contact the business online 12%.

1 in 5 local business search consumers with an internet enabled cell phone have conducted a local search on their phone. 1 in 2 iPhone and other wi-fi device owners conduct local searches on their phones.

22% said that they called directory assistance from their mobile phone, with 411 getting 64% and 1-800-FREE411 getting 29%.

So the local search field is becoming more focussed online, but people still prefer to shop in person after the research has been done.

Our USA Online Local Search Business Directory is proving very profitable in the current tough economic conditions, for the 10 million businesses listed, because we provide qualified prospects at no cost to them.

USA small business owners would prefer to be responsible for their Social Security retirement fund rather than have it run by the government

2008-10-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

ING DIRECT's ShareBuilder 401k reports, that in a survey of 500 USA small business proprietors, 67% would rather have control of the management and distribution of their Social Security funds, in a personal account such as a 401(k) or IRA.

77% of those surveyed thought that people should look after their own retirement arrangements, with only 23% saying that the government should take care of it.

30% thought that Social Security was a major issue in the current presidential election, and an additional 45% thought it was important.

Fewer than 10% of companies with 50 or less employees currently offer 401(k) plans, which makes small business staff rely on Social Security benefits more than employees at larger companies.

The general view was that small business owners are happier if they are in control of their retirement funds rather than having the government control them.

The wish to exercise control is typical of the small business community which has to try harder than their larger competitors who have both better access to credit and superior buying power.

We assist small businesses with our USA Local Search Business Directory, which has 10 million businesses listed, the majority of which are small businesses, by delivering qualified prospects to them, without cost.

Online advertisers in the USA are focusing on Local Search to secure offline sales

2008-10-07T22:27:00.000-07:00

Borrell Associates reports that Local online advertising in the USA is predicted to grow 48% to $12.6 billion in 2008.

Marchex reports that 73% of national advertisers in the USA who sell products or services through local outlets do digital or online marketing and 50% said they were doing local online targeting.

However, 45% of these said they did not use different tactics for different local markets.

50% of marketers are trying a number of different local sources, but managing the campaigns and generating volume are difficult.

While 47% reported that 25% of their in store sales were a result of their online marketing, measuring the return on Investment and tracking the online prospects to sales was difficult.

Paid search produces 30% of the consumers’ local business information, and print directories provide 31%. Internet Yellow Page sites, local search sites and cell phone marketing account produce 31%.

So the importance of online local search to generate off line sales is being recognised and substantial advertising funds are being invested to get results.

Our USA Online Local Search Business Directory, with 10 million businesses listed, is at the cutting edge of this development, with substantial pages indexed on Google, and providing prospects to the businesses with nil cost to them.

Small businesses in the USA are very concerned about the economic future

2008-10-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

A ShareBuilder 401k survey of 500 small business owners found 63% are now very concerned about the future of the economy.

59% said that they are saving less money for personal use or for retirement compared with a year ago, and 40% said their businesses are in a worse financial situation than they were a year ago.

Many small business owners are making smaller contributions to their own 401(k) accounts, with 11% also reducing or eliminating matches for their employees.

16% of the businesses surveyed have made premature withdrawals or borrowed from their retirement accounts.

In 2007, 35% of small-business owners had some sort of retirement plan. In 2008, the number has dropped to 26 percent.

And of the 74% of businesses operating without retirement plans, 45% say they are now less likely to start 401(k) plans compared with a year ago, even though tax credits are available.

The current economic situation for small businesses, of reduced credit being available to them and slower payments from their customers, is hurting them.

Our USA Local Search Business Directory is helping, by providing qualified prospects to the 10 million businesses listed, most of which are small businesses, with no cost to the business.

Wal-Mart has now listed groceries, pet supplies and health and beauty items on its e-commerce website

2008-09-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

Wal-Mart’s USA retail website is the second most visited retail site, after Amazon, and while these items are not yet for sale, this is appears to be an indication of Wal-Mart’s intentions.

The retailer has begun listing tens of thousands of items ranging from prepared salads and cooked shrimp to dog food and lipstick on its site.

The goods are not available for delivery from an online purchase at this stage it but allows customers to check availability and the details of the product, including nutritional information on the food items.

Wal-Mart is the largest USA grocery retailer, with more than 20% of the total market, but to date does not provide online home delivery of perishable groceries.

Wal-Mart’s 2,500 stores operate a site to store feature that allows goods ordered online to be picked up at its stores and they have suggested that they could extend their existing in-store pick up service to the three new product categories.

Only Safeway and Royal Ahold’s Peapod offer online grocery delivery services in some areas in California, the Midwest and the north-east.

The potential of online sales of supermarket items continues to attract retailers and Amazon launched an online grocery store two years ago, offering bulk packaged groceries that are delivered by parcel service.

As commerce of all types more to a greater online presence, this is another indication of the likely development of retail supermarkets.

Our USA Online Business Directory, with 10 million businesses listed and a substantial number of pages indexed on Google, provides great consumer convenience, with no cost involved for the businesses.

Google’s new Android powered mobile phone is unveiled in New York and will be available on 22 October

2008-09-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

The next generation of the mobile phones was announced as T-Mobile, Google, and HTC introduced the first Android-powered handset, the G1.

The handset will include a touch screen, QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi, GPS, Google App integration, and support for Amazon's music download service.

T-Mobile USA will sell the phone for $179, slightly cheaper than Apple Inc's iPhone.

G1 users will have free push GMail, wireless syncing with Google calendar, and support for YouTube.

The Google Maps feature has a built-in compass which enables users to view locations and navigate 360 degrees by moving the phone with their hands.

The handset will have a multimedia player, preloaded with an Amazon application that enables users to search, download, and buy music from more than 6 million DRM-free tracks.

The G1 also has Bluetooth capabilities, a dedicated search button, and users will be able to download applications from the Android Market.

The Android operating system has widespread possibilities beyond the mobile phone market, and being open source will invite creative applications in other fields.

Google has a very wide spread of online products and while some will falter and disappear, the take up and success of others will produce income streams to supplement their huge online advertising revenue.

Our USA Online Local Search Business Directory has 10 million businesses listed; a very substantial number of pages indexed by Google, and provides prospects to the businesses at no cost, via Google’s organic search results.

Google’s value as a brand grows the fastest

2008-09-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

Interbrand reports that Google's brand value has risen by 43% in the past year to $25.6 billion, from twentieth place last year to tenth this year.

Interbrand values brands by taking into account revenue forecasts, market research and brand risk analysis, which includes customer loyalty.

Coca Cola is number one, valued at $66.6 billion,

IBM is number two, valued at $59 billion,

Microsoft is third, also valued at $59 billion,

GE is fourth, valued at $53 billion,

Nokia is fifth, valued at $35 billion,

Toyota is sixth, valued at $34 billion,

Intel is seventh, valued at $31.2 billion,

McDonald’s is eighth, valued at $31 billion, and

Disney is ninth, valued at $29.2 billion.

As Google becomes intimately incorporated in consumer’s lives, particularly by their use of the Google search facility, the brand valuation can be expected to continue to increase.

So the 10 million businesses listed in our USA Online Local Search Business Directory enjoy this rise in Google’s popularity, since they receive qualified prospects via the directory’s extensive Google listing, with zero cost for the business.

Google’s USA share of search traffic continues to grow

2008-09-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

Comscore reports that Google now has almost two thirds of USA search enquiries.

At the end of August, Google had a 63% share of the USA search traffic, an increase of 1.1% for the month. Google had 7.4 billion of the 11.7 billion USA searches in August.

Yahoo’s share of the USA search market fell .9%, to 19.6% with 2.3 billion searches.

Microsoft’s share fell .6% to 8.3%, with 977 million searches.

Ask Network had a .3% increase to 4.8% and AOL increased .1% to 4.3%.

So Google’s continued increase in search market share, with the increased advertising revenue that goes with that, means that Google’s position in the on-going competition with Microsoft is progressively more dominant.

It’s recently been suggested that the most profitable solution for Microsoft would be to have Google serve the ads on the Microsoft search results. Of course, this is highly unlikely.

The strength of Google’s search results is great for our 10 million clients who are listed in our USA Online Business Directory, which has a large number of pages indexed on Google, and which provides prospects to those businesses with zero cost involved.

The growth of Google over its first 10 years is remarkable

2008-09-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

Google has just had its 10th birthday. Here’s a summary of the firm’s development:

Sept. 7, 1998: Google incorporated in California.

February 1999: Google opens their first office in Palo Alto.

June 7, 1999: Google secures venture capital of $25 million from Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

June 26, 2000: Google becomes Yahoo's default search provider.

Oct. 23, 2000: Google offers AdWords, an online advertising service.

March 26, 2001: Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Novell Inc., is named chairman.

July 19, 2001: The "Don't be evil" motto is first mentioned and becomes Google's ethical motto.

Aug. 6, 2001: Schmidt is named chief executive.

April 1, 2004: Google starts e-mail service Gmail.

April 29, 2004: Google files for a initial public offering.

Aug. 18, 2004: Goes public with a market capitalization of $23 billion.

June 28, 2005: Release of Google Earth.

January 2006: Google successfully wages a court battle to avoid handing over search user’s information to the Justice Department.

Jan. 17, 2006: Buys dMarc Broadcasting, a radio advertising company.

Jan. 27, 2006: Google creates search engine for China that censors results.

June 15, 2006: The verb "google" is added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Oct. 9, 2006: Google announces plans to acquire YouTube for $1.65 billion.

January 2007: Fortune magazine names Google the best company to work for in its annual list.

March 13, 2007: Viacom files $1 billion suit against Google regarding video piracy on YouTube.

April 13, 2007: Announces $3.1 billion deal to buy online advertising service DoubleClick.

This is a remarkable rise to wealth and power. The Google brand is now independently valued at $61 billion, the world’s most valuable brand.

The businesses listed on our USA Local Search Business Directory benefit substantially from Google's success since the directory is extensively indexed on Google, and the service for businesses is free.

USA advertising expenditure continues to move from newspapers to online

2008-08-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

The New York Times Co.'s advertising sales revenue from continuing operations fell 10% to $235.9 million from a year earlier. Advertising sales decreased by 16% and circulation revenue reduced by 0.5%.

Revenue at the publisher's News Media Group dropped 18% as classified revenue slumped 30%, on weakness in real estate, employment and motor vehicle ads.

Ad revenue at the New York Times Media Group fell 15%.

At the New England Media Group, ad revenue for the Boston Globe fell 25%. In the company's regional-media group, ad revenue was reduced by 18%.

The results come after Gannett Co. last week reported a 17% slump in July ad revenue and McClatchy Co. posted a 19% decline.

The USA newspaper business is going backwards and substantial job losses are occurring.

Because of the immediate nature of selected online information provided by services like Google Alert, the relevance of newspapers as the breaking source of news, even quickly via their websites, is being challenged.

While there will always be a place for considered comment in print, the news aspect which has been paramount, is being lost to online sources.

Our USA Local Search Business Directory, which is a free service for the 10 million businesses listed, is a direct competitor to newspaper ads, and we continue to succeed.

USA online advertising spending to produce qualified prospects for businesses is increasing

2008-08-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

The Internet Advertising Bureau reports that spending for online prospect generation grew to more than $1.3 billion in 2006, which is a 73% increase in one year, making it the fastest-growing segment of online advertising spending.

Paramore Redd Online Marketing, says almost any company selling a consumer product can benefit, by building a database of prospects whom they then can approach via e-mail.

They say that online prospect generation works best if your product or service costs $1,000 or more and this has worked well in travel, medical services and publishing.

A prompt response is essential to making this work.

The internet has made possible the widespread use of New Sell, which is where a prospect approaches a business rather than the other way around.

This changes the psychology of the sale; particularly in these times of market hardened prospects who are conditioned to reject unsolicited approaches.

So the prospects delivered to the 10 million businesses listed in our USA Business Directory are greatly appreciated, and in keeping with the web 2.0 model, there is no cost for the businesses.

USA paper phone book enquiries are moving online

2008-08-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

The Kelsey Group predicted in March 2008 that USA print business directory revenue, would decrease from $14.2 billion in 2007 to $12.3 billion in 2012.
At the same time, Internet business directory revenue would increase from $899 million to $2.6 billion, a compound annual growth rate of 23.7%.

The Kelsey Group study says that while online is growing quickly; the current share of local search is about 50/50 with the print alternative. 14% of users looking for local business information used a print phone book, while 14% first used an Internet site.

Mobile online search for local businesses is seen as a driving force in moving more users from print to online, since the enquiry can be answered immediately and with Apple’s iphone, it’s only one click to make the phone call to the business.

Our USA Business Directory has been configured to run on Apple’s iphone, which means that the 10 million businesses listed, who are sent the prospects without cost, will benefit further from this usage trend.

Google is rated number one in the USA for customer satisfaction

2008-08-20T21:32:00.000-07:00

The University of Michigan's annual American Customer Satisfaction Index for the e-business sector puts Google at number one for customer satisfaction in the big search and portals category.

Google's score of 87 out of 100 is one of the highest scores ever recorded by the ACSI.

For the e-business sector, customer satisfaction improved 5.5 percent from 2007 to 79.3 this year on the ACSI's 100-point scale. That's a 25.9 percent increase since e-businesses were added to the survey in 2000.

In 2008, Google replaced Yahoo, which had been number one in 2007.

This is another indication of how the addition of features and superior search results enhance Google’s value as a trusted brand.

This is great news for the 10 million businesses listed in our USA Search Directory, because the listings are extensively indexed in Google, and provide them with prospects at no cost to the businesses.

USA Online advertising is expected to grow by 17.4% in 2008

2008-08-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

eMarketer now expects

USA

online advertising to grow by 17.4% to $24.9 billion in 2008, a reduction of 4%, from their projection of five months ago, due to the recession.

The video advertising spending estimate was also reduced by 64% from their February prediction.

Now it says that $505 million will be spent on online video in 2008.

So online advertising will still grow by 17.4% in 2008, compared to 2007, when online ad spending grew by 25%.

Online video ads are expected to grow by 55.9% compared with 2007. While online video ads are still a small part of the total online ad market, analysts say that there will be continuing strong growth in this area.

Our

USA

Local Search Business Directory is also enjoying popularity, with over 10 million businesses listed being provided with qualified prospects, at no cost to the businesses.

Online sales for USA college textbooks are increasing

2008-08-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

A major competitor for college student textbook dollars is online sales.

The National Association of College Stores reports that 23% of all textbooks were bought online, an increase from 16 percent in 2003.

Twenty-four percent of students said they had bought textbooks or other course materials online.

The National Association of College Stores says that the trend has been to purchase more course materials online and that most college book stores now offer online sales.

The National Association of College Stores reports that students spend about $6 billion a year nationally on college and university textbooks.

Online sales in all fields continue to increase and our USA Business Directory, which has over 10 million business listed, is a way of securing online sales without cost, since the prospects are provided to the businesses listed with no cost involved.

Google now offers Coupons for USA businesses on Google MAPS

2008-08-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

To assist businesses to attract additional customers, firms can now have coupon information, including images, in their Google Local Search MAPS listing.

The customer can print out the coupon to receive the offer being made. This means that small firms can compete without having to have a web site. There will be no charge by Google for the service.

Google will distribute ValPak coupons; Valpak is a large USA provider of direct mail advertising. Valpak will receive free exposure to Google's audience, and Google will receive content to offer to Google Maps users.

Businesses will be able to buy Google sponsored links to drive traffic to their coupons, even if they don’t have a website.

This will have substantial benefits in increasing Local Search traffic and sales.

Our USA Business Directory for Local Search also contributes, since the 10 million businesses listed, the vast majority of which are small businesses, have prospects sent to them 100% free of charge.

Google continues to dominate the USA search Market

2008-08-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

Hitwise reports Google had 70.77% of all online searches in the USA for the four weeks to July 26 2008.

That is the tenth month in a row that Google has increased its search market share. It had 64.35% last July and 63.06% in January 2007.

Microsoft's MSN search had only 5.36% of all U.S. Internet searches in July, down from 8.79% in July 2007, and from 10.35% January, 2007.

This reduction is the motivation for Microsoft’s recent takeover attempt of Yahoo.

Yahoo had an 18.65% share of USA Internet searches in July, down from 22.13% a year ago, from 21.40% in January, 2007.

The continuing strong growth of Google’s search results is good news for the 10 million businesses in our USA Business Directory since it is extensively indexed on Google and the listings are 100% free of charge.

Google and Yahoo now allow USA users to opt out of online advertisement targeting

2008-08-11T23:10:00.000-07:00

Both Google and Yahoo have decided to allow web users to be able to opt out of advert targeting on both their websites and on the web.

A one click procedure for each company will make that possible.

Analysts have suggested that Congressional hearings into the behavioural targeting of advertising, with the privacy concerns involved, are behind the decisions.

It’s thought that this will make little difference to online ad revenue because most people won’t bother to do this.

The concern for Google and Yahoo is that authorities may go further and only allow online ad targeting by cookies for users who opt in.

This is of interest for the 10 million businesses that are listed in our USA Local Search Business Directory, which is partially funded by Google AdSense, since this allows their businesses to be listed at no cost to them.

The depressed USA economic conditions reduce the growth rate of e-commerce

2008-08-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

ComScore reports E-commerce sales for the first half 2008 were $106 billion, a growth rate of 12%, down from growth of 17% for 2007 and from 20% for 2006.

43% of those surveyed spent less on music, movies and video, 61% spent less on entertainment, 57% spent less on vacations and 53% reduced their spending on automotive expenses. 38% spent less on home improvement and 32% outlaid less on health and beauty.

Online sales of music, movies and video were reduced by 20% in the second quarter of 2008, compared to a year earlier.

Consumer spending online is now 50% with solely online businesses and 50% with retailers with an online presence.

So online businesses are generally experiencing growth rate reduction, due to the generally depressed economic conditions, and small businesses are particularly affected.

Our USA Search Directory is assisting the 10 million businesses listed, most of which are small businesses, by being 100% free for their listing.

AOL’s dial-up internet and advertising divisions are to be restructured into separate divisions

2008-08-07T21:33:00.000-07:00

Time Warner reported that AOL revenue fell 16 percent to $1.1 billion in the second quarter due to a 29 percent decline in subscription revenue.

AOL operating income fell 36 percent to $230 million.

Online advertising revenue was up 2 percent in the second quarter. This was helped by paid search and third party ads.

Analysts suggested that it was likely that the separation into two divisions, to occur by early 2009, would lead to their sale.

So the portals are diminishing in favour while search traffic continues to increase.

This is good news for the 10 million businesses listed in our USA Business Directory, particularly since we follow the web 2.0 model and provide the business listing at no cost.

The increasing cost of USA employee healthcare

2008-08-05T23:19:00.000-07:00

The Wall Street Journal reports that during 2008, USA employers expect to see a 10% increase in healthcare costs, which is causing some small businesses to reduce their employee health benefits or to eliminate them.

An option for small businesses is to provide employee wellness programs, with financial assistance for employees who are involved. This involves getting a health check, risk assessment and then developing a healthier lifestyle.

Prudential Insurance reports an expense of $312 per person enrolled in a wellness program compared to an expense of $574 per employee who was not enrolled. Coors Brewing Company reported participant absenteeism dropping by 18%.

So employee health is an important issue, in reducing costs, particularly for small business. We also assist in providing our USA Local Search Directory for over 10 million businesses, most of which are small businesses, at no cost to those businesses.

Local Search is in the USA increasingly being done on mobile devices

2008-08-03T03:23:00.000-07:00

CYIA reports that more than 70% of people in the USA now have a mobile phone.

M Metrics reports that 14% of mobile phone users received SMS adverts last year.

eMarketer reports that advertisers in the USA spent 3% of total ad spending on mobile devices, an amount of $4.8 billion last year. That amount is expected to grow to 12% in 2011.

More than 10% of mobile searches are for local businesses and restaurants are the most searched.

As Google moves more seriously into the mobile search space our USA Directory for Local Search , which has substantial indexing in Google, is proving very successful, with over 10 million businesses listed, and the searches are 100% free for those businesses.

USA banks are lending less money to businesses and the businesses’ clients are paying their bills slower

2008-07-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Federal Reserve said that commercial and industrial loans to businesses reduced by 3% in 2007, dropping from $3.36 trillion to $3.27 trillion, the largest yearly decline since 2001.

At the start of 2008, bank lending to businesses and individuals was at an annual rate of in excess of 10 percent, but by the end of June it had reduced to 6 percent.

Small businesses with less than 500 employees, which employ more than half of the 112 million employees in the USA, have been most severely affected, with tighter lending standards being applied for companies with yearly sales of less than $50 million.

In addition, 73 percent of business owners said that the number of their clients who delayed payment or asked for deferred payment terms had increased.

So USA small businesses are getting less access to credit from their banks and at the same time are being pressured to extend more credit to their clients.

In these conditions our Local Search Directory for USA Small Business is valuable. We provide qualified prospects to over 10 million businesses listed, most of which are small businesses, at no cost to those businesses.

The size of the World Wide Web and the aggressive competition in the USA for market share of search advertising

2008-07-28T23:04:00.000-07:00

In 1998 Google had twenty-six million web pages indexed, in 2000, one billion pages indexed, and today one trillion web pages, that is, one thousand million web pages that have been identified by Google.

They are not all indexed since they are not all unique web pages. There is a great deal of duplicate content, but the one trillion pages is after deleting exact duplicates, although many of the balance are very similar.

So obviously, the Google index is very comprehensive.

Search advertising is the prize and Google currently has the bulk of the search market and the advertising that goes with that enviable position.

To compete with Google, Microsoft, the number three search engine in the USA, plans to spend at least $2.5 billion a year for the next few years.

EMarketer says that online ad sales will double to $51 billion in the USA by 2012, so it’s a huge online advertising market that will be shared.

Our USA Local Search Business Directory is a 100% free service for over 10 million USA businesses, and is being progressively indexed on Google so their products and services can be found by consumers on the Google organic search results.

If a business can’t be found easily online, its future is thought to be very limited.

The credibility and voting power of USA small businesses:

2008-07-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

The NFIB/Washington SAFE Trust survey reported the following results regarding small business:

The Winston Group said that USA voters prefer political candidates supported by small business by a margin of three times over those supported by organized labour.

CNN/Gallup said 75% of voters trust small business owners more than doctors, who are trusted by 66%, or lawyers who are trusted by 25%.

Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates said 68% of voters think small business owners are more honest than labour unions, who rate 3%, the federal government, which rates 3%, and big business which rates 3%.

Small business owners make up 15% of registered voters in the USA, and with their employees this number increases to 43%.

Our USA Business Directory has over 10 million businesses listed, the vast majority of which are small businesses.

As the USA economy experiences difficulty, the 100% free nature of our directory is appreciated by those small businesses who are finding the current times a little tough. They are being sent qualified prospects with no cost to them.

The Google click inflation rate and its continued dominance in search advertising

2008-07-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

Efficient Frontier Inc. reports that Google’s Adwords rate increased by 13.8% in the second quarter of 2008 compared to the second quarter of 2007. The rate increased 5.6% for Microsoft Live Search and reduced by 7.3% for Yahoo.

For every new dollar spent on search advertising in the second quarter of 2008 compared to the second quarter 2007, Google took in $1.10, Yahoo Inc. lost 9 cents and Microsoft Live Search lost 1 cent.

Google secured 77.4% of total search engine spending in the second quarter of 2008, an increase of 2 percentage points over the previous year. Yahoo lost nearly 2 percentage points, with 17.8% of total spend while Microsoft Live Search remained at 4.8%.

The continuing increase in the cost of Adwords is a reflection of the desirable and competitive aspects of being found on the first page of Google searches.

This makes our USA Local Business Directory very valuable for businesses, as it observes the web 2.0 principle of being completely free of charge.

It is indexed on 440,000 pages of Google, enabling businesses to be found, at no cost to them, in the Google organic search results, which produce 8.9 times the number of clicks that occur on the sponsored links.

Google's search market share continues to increase

2008-07-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

Based on a sample of 10 million internet users in the USA, Hitwise just reported that Google's share of the USA internet search market was now 69%. Yahoo's share was 19%, Microsoft's was 5% and Ask's was 4%.

Google had a 60% share in July 2006 and the growth in its share has been consistent since that time, taking search market share from the other three.

Google and Yahoo now have an agreement for Google to provide ads on Yahoo and this agreement is being aggressively contested by Microsoft in hearings in Washington currently. The agreement will not take effect until it has been cleared by the Justice Department.

Since our USA Local Search business directory is mostly found by consumers and businesses on Google searches and is partially funded by Google ads, the outcome of the dispute is meaningful to us.

Internal legal advice not to take action against Google was ignored.

2008-07-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

In a Federal Court test court case, in Australia, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission sued Google, for breaching the Trade Practices Act, by the use of Adwords, claiming there was not a clear distinction between organic search results and sponsored links.

However it has been revealed that the Commission ignored its own internal advice which was not to take action against Google.

Google said that no complaints by users of Google searches had been provided by the Commission.

The Judge's decision was reserved.

This is an important case since the precedent set in Australia could be applied in the USA and elsewhere.

Our Local Search business directory www.usa-local-search.com which is a web 2.0 site, offering a 100% a free service to the businesses listed, uses Google ads to help offset some of the costs of administration, so the outcome is important to us.

Monte Huebsch - Google AdSense partner

Local Search growth with Video Ads

2008-07-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

The Kelsey Group http://www.kelseygroup.com/ says that U.S.A local search online video ad revenues will increase from US$10.9 million in 2007 to US$1.5 billion the end of 2012, a compound annual growth rate of 167.8 percent.

Kelsey anticipates that video ad products will command 11.6 percent of the online advertising budgets of SME businesses by 2012.

Kelsey says 62 percent of consumers surveyed said they had seen an online video ad, an increase from 59 percent in 2007.

Of those consumers, 47 percent went to a web site, 19 percent requested information, 18 percent went to a store, and 16 percent made a purchase.

Our local search business directory at USA Local Search is monetised using Google AdSense. We are now including images ads and with Google's new Ad Serving platform, we are making changes to accommodate "rich media ads" including video.

We have taken the advice of the Kelsey research so we stay current with internet user trends and reality.

Monte Huebsch CEO

Local Search - keeps looking for a business model

2008-06-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

It's a moving feast: http://www.infospace.com/ was worth $31 billion in March 2000 and seemed about to dominate the market for local online advertising. Today, the company’s share of the search industry does not even reach 1 percent. Last year, it sold off its directory businesses for $225 million to Idearc http://www.idearc.com/ , a spinoff of Verizon. It bought the unit for $108 million in 2004. InfoSpace says it is now focused on its “metasearch” services. Those services combine results from other search engines, like Google, Yahoo and Ask.com. and advertising sales rose 18 percent in the first quarter, however on an operating basis, the company lost money in 2007.

Lots of VC money has been invested and lost in the "local search" space. Too many optimistic internet entrepreneurs figure if you can get a few dollars from each of the multitude of small businesses - you can make millions.

We believe that this is the wrong model. Webs 2.0 is all about wiki content and advertiser supported business models. USA Local Search and Business Directory is built on these principles.

Enjoy

MF Huebsch - aka the Google Guru

Projections for local search advertising growth

2008-06-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

According to the Kelsey Group, http://www.kelseygroup.com/ , local search, will grow from US$33 USD billion in 2007 to US$41 USD billion globally in 2012.

Interactive segments will drive much of the industry's growth.

Print will be an important source of leads for small businesses, but a multiplatform business model is emerging and the historically print based industry is now immersed in the new media revolution.

At USA-Local-Search.com we monetise the site using Google's AdSense. Our revenue grows in a direct proportion to the amount of users to the site. As the user population grows, so does our revenue. This is a sustainable and obvious approach in the web 2.0 environment.

Monte Huebsch CEO and aka "the Google Guru".

USA Local Search - with Reviews

2008-04-17T01:48:00.000-07:00

This Blog looks at the "state of play" of reviews as they pertain to Local Search.

Regarding people reviewing restaurants and other local businesses, Yelp has thrived. In March, 2008, it had 3.3 million users, according to comScore, up 87 percent from a year earlier.

Citysearch is still the largest with 16.2 million users.

What Yelp did differently was spend most of its energy attracting a small group of fanatic reviewers, rather than use professional reviews, as is done on Citysearch.

Instead, it built the site to motivate people through the praise their reviews receive from others.

Yelp is said to about the reviewing experience, like a blog with a bit of structure.

Currently, www.USA-Local-Search.com does not include reviews. We are monitoring this issue and watching to see how reviews develop, what legal exposure there is and if alternatives, like social media may not be a better approach.

Best

Monte Huebsch - CEO and the Google "Guru".