Looking at the likes of L.A. companies such as SpotRunner, which is cutting staff and changing its business model to focus less on local businesses, you might think that businesses that deal in local advertising have a pretty bleak future. But Woodland Hills advertising juggernaut ReachLocal says that business is just beginning to heat up in the local online advertising marketplace.
One of the challenges in the local advertising and local Web publishing spaces is that there has not been an ad exchange or network which has worked effectively on that often micro level. That's all about to change with the release of a new platform from ReachLocal (the ReachLocal Xchange). . .
. . .ReachLocal has done something potentially quite significant here, making local inventory more accessible to more marketers. It has also shifted its model somewhat and potentially made itself that much more valuable as a company as well.
With Xchange, ReachLocal enables major publishers to attract local advertisers. The company believes the offering should make it more compelling to agencies, franchisors/dealers and national brands.
ReachLocal.com gets a ringing endorsement from Tony Cena, owner of Colorado Shutters: "As soon as I switched to that company, I would say my revenue went up 20 percent within 1 ½ to 2 months," he says. "I decided to put more money into that and less into creative that wasn't drawing."
You can also do this through ReachLocal, which focuses on local searches such as "Florist in Downingtown, Pa.," which probably cost around $100 a month.
The Wall Street Journal reports companies are still trying to strike gold in the local online ad market. Calif.-based ReachLocal this week unveiled a new targeting system to help local advertisers show ads only to those consumers who previously visited the advertisers' Web site or live in a certain area.
As media traditionalists lament plummeting newspaper and print yellow pages ad spending, ReachLocal hopes to steepen the descent. The firm has unveiled a display ad and retargeting offering for small and local businesses.
ReachLocal chief Zorik Gordon says that despite the slowing growth, the shift from traditional ads to more-measurable online advertising, which includes pay-per-click ads, will continue, and that ReachLocal should benefit.
Woodland Hills-based ReachLocal, which operates a service to help small and medium sized businesses place online advertising, said this morning that it is adding a online display advertising product to its mix.