Citysearch Defends Its Space In Local
As much larger players like Google and MSN push their way into the local business listing game, steadfast veteran in the space Citysearch isn’t going away.
Why should it? Citysearch.com has been around since 1995, has 15 million business listing and 3 million user reviews. So, to keep the likes of Google at arm’s length, Citysearch opened up a set of APIs, called CityGrid, to other sites and mobile applications.
Flooding the market with local information, just as Google tries to grow Google Maps into the world’s biggest business directory, will help Citysearch keep its 500,000 local advertisers by getting them in front of more eyeballs.
CEO Jay Herratti told TechCrunch that the strategy of his site stems from the benefits of offering up the data.
“”I thought what if I took all the tools that we put together to build Citysearch and put it on a platter, an API and web services layer,” Herratti said. “What if I open that up to publishers big and small?” he asks. “I let them take it and enhance their experience, and get more page views.”
That’s Citysearch’s savvy move. While they don’t have Google’s muscle they have two factors going for them. First, a rich amount of data already assembled, while Google has to promote its Google Local services and encourage users to add their company information to Google Maps and then aggregate the content, Citysearch has a solid base of listings from which to build on. Second, Citysearch has existing relationships set up with businesses and with partner websites that will show a track record to get more partners on board with CityGrid.
What Citysearch needs to do is keep making Google play catch up or at least keep them from poaching any sites that may choose to use CityGrid.
The micro-local advertising boost that CityGrid powers should also finally give local businesses a larger reach across more sites. Something that small under-served business have been clamoring for. While Google has the biggest footprint, the ability of a local dentist to have his ad across a half dozen sites, including Yellowpages.com, is going to be very appealing. Bang for your buck is the bottom line to businesses with shallow advertising budgets and only a casual understanding of web marketing, so Citysearch can offer up that return on investment.
