Local matching in Google Adwords is different from that of Yahoo! Search Marketing (YSM). Local match in Adwords means targeting a campaign to regions/cities or targeting to a customized area around a business. When a user sees an ad targeted to a region or city, the ad will display location information beneath it. When users click on the ad they are sent to the landing page you specify – same as what normally happens. Local match in YSM means targeting a campaign to a specified radius around your business. When a user sees an ad that is in a local match campaign, it will look like any other ad. However, when users click on the ad, they are sent to a map with your location and business-specific information:
- Business name, address and phone number.
- Business Description.
- Link to Web site.
- Hours of Operation.
- Accepted payment methods.
- Link to driving directions
- Dynamic map
This is a huge difference from Adwords. It also makes a difference that Yahoo’s Local Match listings are less geared toward specific keyphrases and more geared toward the business itself.
Using YSM Local Match
Use YSM’s local match if you think advertising in the Yellow Pages is something that would work for your business. Users are encouraged to contact you based on very little information, either through the phone or at your physical location. This doesn’t work for online services (these aren’t allowed for local match anyways). It also doesn’t work for companies that feel like users would want to see their site and read more details about services before getting serious about making a contact. For instance, if I was looking for an orthodontist in my area and landed on a local match page, I probably wouldn’t hesitate to contact the orthodontist just from that information. I might look around the site a bit, but an orthodontist is an orthodontist, and I’ve got better things to do than look at a bunch of before and after pictures of kids with messed up teeth. So an orthodontist might use local match. However, if I was looking for a used machinery dealer that carried a specific machine and I landed on a local match page, I probably would click away. The maps, hours of operation, and contact information are just a distraction from my primary goal – finding that machine. Other ads might give me more relevant information without having to do so much exploring. So a used machinery dealer might be deterred from using local match. At least, they should be more careful about which keyphrases that were entered into a local match campaign.
Using Adwords Local Match
Adwords local match makes it more practical for advertisers to bid on general keyphrases. The ads can still be keyphrase targeted, and it doesn’t matter if the main attraction is a service or information offered up by the site itself. Generally it makes sense to do both local and national match campaigns for companies. The local match campaign would contain keyphrases that are general (for instance “public relations firm,” in a campaign targeted to Southeast Michigan, makes sense for a public relations firm in Detroit). The national campaign would contain location specific keyphrases (“Detroit public relations firm”) or keyphrases targeted to products/services offered on a national level. Adwords Local Match is less specialized and is practical to use in more cases than Yahoo’s Local Match.
Conclusion
Yahoo’s Local Match is a lot different from Adwords’, and they should be treated that way. Local match in YSM is similar to a Yellow Pages listing; local match in Adwords is more generalized.
