Citysearch formally launched its text-based mobile local search service today: CS411 (27411). There’s also a send-to-phone feature (see, e.g., “Hotels, Burbank CA“).
Doing the same search online vs. CS411 on a mobile phone yields somewhat different results. Users get four results in SMS, which were not identical to the online search results I got for the above search in my quick test. They were, in fact, more geographically accurate. (I received results only for
Results I received were also “sponsored.” Rather than a relevant advertiser link at the top of results, there was an advertiser-sponsor referenced at the bottom. The advertiser had nothing to do with my particular search for hotels but I would expect over time that will change.
In speaking with Citysearch EVP Scott Morrow a couple of weeks ago he stated that mobile was being seen as an important channel and future traffic source for the company and that Citysearch would be rolling out other mobile offerings in the not-too-distant future.
One of the interesting aspects of my discussion with Morrow was about “lead quality” and the differences between a click and a call and a map view, and so on. Citysearch is experimenting with different pricing strategies to better reflect this concept of lead quality, in terms of what the local advertiser actually receives.
Ask.com recently launched a mobile application, the local search component of which (“business listings“) is built on Citysearch content and allows users to sort by rating, which is a very nice feature. Both companies are owned by IAC.
Here’s a related post on my blog about the current state of mobile local search and related issues.
Related reading
How to reduce the impact of images on your mobile site speed
With Google placing more and more emphasis on mobile site speed and user experience in order to achieve a good ranking, discovering issues with your mobile site speed is critical. But how can you fix those issues once you're there?
Accelerated Mobile Pages vs Facebook Instant Articles: Is Google winning the mobile war?
Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages and Facebook's Instant Articles are both lightning-fast takes on the mobile web. But Google unveiled some stats at its I/O developer conference which indicate Google might be winning the war.
How to optimize your mobile site speed: Testing for issues
The size of webpages sent to mobile phones has quadrupled in just five years, causing a major problem for webmasters and SEOs who want to optimize for mobile. This column will explore the source of delays in mobile page speed, and how to test webpages for problems.
Voice search: A digital space race
Voice search has been identified by the world’s leading technology providers as a huge opportunity to acquire market share over the next decade. It currently lacks mainstream adoption - but all that could change before long. So who is in the lead for the voice search "space race"?
