By EMILY STEEL
Local ads have accounted for some of the fastest growth in Internet advertising in recent years, as small businesses from car-repair shops in Dallas to bakeries in Charlotte, N.C., have taken their marketing online.
This year, growth in the local-ad market -- which represents about a third of total online ad spending in the U.S. -- is expected to shrink, according to one key estimate, challenging the ad and media-buying shops that rely on the local Internet market.
A number of start-ups, including ReachLocal, Yodle and Spot Runner, have cropped up in the past few years, raising millions of dollars and building technologies to help local businesses make the most of their Internet ad buys. Meanwhile, more-established local-media companies, from newspapers to Yellow Pages directories, have scurried to retrain their sales forces to sell online ads alongside their traditional products.
2 comments:
This is a pretty interesting article. The idea of more targeted local ads on the internet is a good and bad thing in my opinion. Yes it could potentially help spur more growth with local businesses which can only help the economy but on the other hand it seems a bit too targeted. I know that everything you do on the internet is watched and cataloged but it is tad "big brother" to think when I type in Peoria florists that there will be a local Peoria florist ad right there on my search page. It reminds me of a movie I watched in COM 101 where it talked about the future of advertising. They discussed how when you drive past certain stores in your car, an ad will be sent to your cell phone or GPS device. Another thing they talked about was the possibility of ads on the sidewalks. This is a bit out there but probably not too far away. Even with the added creepy factor, this does seem like a good idea and hopefully time will tell to see if it actually works for those companies.
ReachLocal is doing a great service, in times where we often see local businesses shut down as they fail to compete with national corporations. If local buisnesses are slashing their advertising budgets, it is at least necessary to have the technology available for efficient advertising in order for the local buisnesses to stay afloat. Without access to ReachLocal, there is no way local advertisers can compete with major marketers. The article reminded me of a lesson learned from "The Millon Dollar Media Rep," that advertising should be viewed as an investment, not a expense that is slashed during an economic downturn. I think it is important for the local businesses to keep spending money to develop effective advertising strategies, and if there not spending it is necessary to have access to ReachLocal, which can help the local businesses overcome their odds as they face national competition.
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