Local Search Should Think Visual

YellowPages.com says it will spend millions this year in online and TV advertising to sway customers from using competitors Google Local and SuperPages.

However, the YellowPages site doesn't allow you to map all of the matches to your search, and that feature alone is enough to keep me using the other guys. Also, how serious can you take them as a business when the only sponsored ads on the page are provided by one of their main competitors -- Google!

YellowPages is missing a big opportunity by not capitalizing on the strength of its print books for generating revenue -- graphic ads that could be shown along the right hand column. You would think that given their relationships, they would have the best shot at monetizing graphic ads.

Also, why do so few YellowPages advertisers promote their websites in the books? On the rare occasions that I reach for a phone book, I usually only consider companies that have listed their websites so that I can get more information. Keeping print and web listings as separate islands is very inefficient.