Amazon announced this morning that Amazon Home Services has now grown to 15 US markets. Beyond original markets New York, LA and San Francisco, the company has added Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose and Washington D.C. Amazon launched the service earlier this year on March 30. The…
The Local Search Association (LSA) recently released consumer data showing that in “past week” searches, restaurants were by far the most searched for business category. The restaurant category has long been a major beneficiary of online search and new, related data shows that restaurant local search sites are growing mobile audiences at a significant rate. According…
Many times I’ve been involved in debates about the “addressable SMB market” or “true number” for SMB marketing services in the US. Census data reflects in excess of 20 million “firms” that qualify as SMBs by headcount. In contrast, Yodle said in its S-1 filing, “We currently target industry verticals with approximately 7 million local businesses, the largest categories of which…
Looking at the top 142 categories consumers searched for in the past week and the media they used to conduct the search, LSA’s latest Local Media Tracking Study conducted with Burke found that, as expected, media performance varied by category. Overall, search engines dominated and restaurants were the most sought after category. This isn’t to…
One of the richest pieces of research we do at the Local Search Association (LSA) is our Local Media Tracking Study conducted by Burke. It involves over 8,000 consumers that are surveyed on a variety of issues including where they search for local products and services. From this survey, we’ve complied a heat map that…
Earlier today Google exposed data on the massive growth of “how-to” searches on YouTube. The company said that these explainer searches have grown 70% YoY. And an increasing number of these queries are happening on mobile devices: “91% of smartphone users turn to their smartphone for ideas while doing a given task.” Google says that these searches concern a wide range of scenarios…
Yelp has acquired food ordering partner Eat24 in a transaction valued at $134 million (cash and stock). Yelp said in a blog post, “We believe that the acquisition of Eat24 will allow us to build a better, more seamless ordering experience for consumers that we can grow through 2015 and beyond.” Restaurants is the top…
According to data from LSA Insights, the Local Search Association’s new local media performance and planning tool, tire dealers are seeing almost 3X the click-through rate on mobile display ads as compared to the industry benchmark. More importantly, the secondary action rate (SAR) for tire dealer campaigns is about 20% higher than the benchmark. These…
MapQuest has updated its app to include roadside assistance in partnership with Urgent.ly. This not only offers real value to end users but helps differentiate the app from competitors. I exchanged emails yesterday with Chris Spanos, founder and CEO of Urgent.ly. The deal gives a big national boost to the startup. Until recently the geographic…
