SMX East: Notes from ROBO session
Some notes from SMX East 2009. Thanks to Josh Smith for compiling.
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ROBO (Research Online Buy Offline) is a significant factor in local search.
Respondent’s primary source of local biz info:
- Search Engines: 31%
- Print: 28%
- IYP: 21%
Just reiterating the study but it appears in the local space, more people use phonebooks and IYP’s to look for local businesses then they use Search Engines.
Some bullet points from the conversation and presentations:
- Demographic breakdown is as expected, with print skewing older.
- Search Intent – Online used to compare and decide, whereas offline is used by people who are looking to buy right away.
- People feel they can get better deals online – this emphasizes the need for content such as coupons.
- People like to speak with someone offline before they buy online.
- Growth from search engines are being outpaced by non search engines – directories and social networks.
- Customer Reviews: 57% say they are very important but only 25% actually use,
- 32% of users conducted a local search from the mobile internet – a 11% increase Smartphone penetration is a factor as we already know – BUT look for this to increase significantly in the next 5-10 years.
The chart below shows the market share of LOCAL search, not search in general. The chart is form TMP’s recent whitepaper which contains a lot of good stuff. You an download it here by submitting a bit of info.
Superpages seems to be the big loser with Google and Yellowbook making noticable gains. Looking at just 2009, Google has a clear lead withthe rest of the competitive pack all mulling about from 12-17%.
