The future of search II - it’s local
Growing at 24%, local search is outpacing generalised Web search which grew at 14%, where local search is defined as searching services such as the Internet Yellow Pages for location-specific products, services and information. According to this article, local search currently accounts for about 80 million monthly searches; that is expected to grow to more than 30 billion monthly searches by 2009.
The Kelsey Group estimates that revenue from online will make up about 10 percent of the Yellow Pages industry in 2009–$1.3 billion compared to print’s $15.1 billion that year. Those numbers do not include revenue generated from Google’s or Yahoo!’s local search services.
Locally targeted campaigns too experience a better response.
Given the huge market that implies, it is no wonder that Yahoo! recently revamped the Yahoo! Local interface to make it far more graphical and interactive, with maps, city guides, reviews etc. which also brings in other offerings such as Yahoo! Groups.
Another local search engine currently in stealth mode, Grayboxx, is seeking to differentiate itself by removing the emphasis from user-submitted reviews. According to this Wired article, Grayboxx uses a “preference scoring” system based on a patented algorithm.
“When users take actions with a business by calling or visiting,” CEO Bob Chandra says, “we call those implicit endorsements. What our system ultimately does is cobble these clues together, and provide a rating.”
In India too, there is a fair amount of emphasis with Google entering the fray along with Guruji, Ask Laila, Just Dial, Onyomo.In fact, with search now available in multiple Indian languages the stage is set for even greater localization. Google has pitted itself against the likes of Guruji Raftaar.com, and WebDuniya. “You can’t bring a global product (Google search) and apply it for a local language,” said Anurag Dod, CEO of Guruji pointing that in countries such as China and South Korea, home-grown companies including Baidu.com and Naver.com lead in local language search over the US Internet giant. Guruji.com, which launched its Malayalam search on Thursday, said close to 15% of the searches on its engine were from users in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi; the rest is in English.
As search becomes a greater part of our lives, and the information overload increases, we can expect (a) more avenues for interaction such as the mobile and (b) emphasis on niche segments in search.
Related reads:
Think local
The future of Search
Google launches multiple local language search in India
Filed under: Digital culture, Ideas & Innovations