John Hanke, Google’s head of Maps and Earth, keynoted this morning at ILM:07 and spoke in-depth about these products’ recent announcements. These include MyLocation, terrain maps, user address corrections and enhancements to MyMaps.

Just a normal week for Google though, as the frenetic pace of feature development rages on in the mapping world. Google in fact started this with the 2005 launch of Google Maps that raised the bar in mapping features (draggable maps, Ajax, satellite imagery, etc.). This launch was a direct result of the Google Earth platform, which was brought into the fold via the acquisition of Keyhole, the company Hanke started.

User- and business-generated (LBC) content will continue to develop, according to Hanke, as the company keeps looking for ways to improve its data. In this competitive mapping space, data is a key differentiator. Reliability and data integrity were in fact named in TKG’s User View study (Wave IV) as the most valued feature in sources of local information.

Bells and whistles also go a certain distance in getting users in the door and this is exemplified most by Google Maps and arguably more so by AskCity and its mapping features. Even MapQuest has joined the fray with its new feature-rich beta product, after staying true to a simpler interface for so many years.

Next up for Google Maps will be more mobile integration as the mobile device standards will raise via iPhone and Android: “The entire Google Maps experience that we know online will be available on mobile devices,” he says.

Lastly, Hanke projects increased 3-D mapping developments a la Street View, which will have consumer appeal and also open up a great deal more mapping real estate and inventory. This has lots of implications for new ad models such as transactional or CPA-based advertising that allows users to transact with businesses through a more immersive mapping experience.

Everyscape is also starting to think in these terms for 3-D mapping as described in a past post. We’ll see what kinds of opportunities open up as the map itself opens up in new ways.

Speaking this morning at ILM:07 in Los Angeles, Russell Horowitz, chairman and CEO of Marchex, dismissed the idea that a clean slate is needed to communicate the value proposition of local online advertising to small businesses. He is betting on legacy sales channel like Yellow Pages publishers.

“Local sales forces sell lots of products,” Horowitz said. “They are successful because they deliver value and their reps invest time in learning how to sell them. Online is no different. Our most successful partners have invested in training their sales forces. … Our belief is the winners will have trusted local relationships. Bet on folks already there and already winning.”

Horowitz and Bill Day, Marchex’s chief media officer, presented the company’s business concept, which is essentially all about building a “mile wide and mile deep” local content network, and distributing it on a private-label basis through channel partners like Yellowpages.com and Comcast. Marchex describes itself as a local online ad company and a leading publishing of local content.

Underlying the rich local content network Marchex is building are roughly 200,000 unique Web sites with names like ChicagoDoctors.com, NewYorkDoctors.com and Indianapolisautorepair.com, each of which offers targeted vertical and local content.

Jonathan Weber started his career in traditional media as a writer and editor at the Los Angeles Times, but the new media bug got hold of him. He was the cofounder and editor in chief of the Industry Standard, which more than any other publication reflected the rise and fall of the dot-com boom. In his remarks as opening speaker on the third day of The Kelsey Group’s ILM:07 conference this morning, Weber said he jumped at the opportunity to leave the hectic life of California to teach in Missoula, Montana.

In 2005, Weber launched New West Publishing, an online independent local media company designed to serve the “culture, economy, politics, environment and life style of the Rocky Mountain West.” He told the audience that the concept of citizen journalism where you “get people to do stuff for free and sell ads around it” seemed like a low risk business proposition. Indeed it quickly moved to “a pro-am model” with a mixture of paid and free folks. The idea is to “promote a conversation that helps us understand and make the most of the changes sweeping our region.”

Today NewWest.net is structured as a regional publication that also focuses in on seven local markets. He reiterated what several speakers throughout the conference have been saying about the difficulty of selling local online advertising. Success requires patience and persistence, the blocking and tackling of the online local media business. At the same time, you need talented players and a good strategy. These could be described as great content and local authenticity.

Not surprisingly, newspapers in the area have been hostile as Weber has had to bridge the gap between the two fundamental groups in his market area — environmentalists and business interests. For 15 years, The Kelsey Group has been encouraging newspapers to deliver their content interactively. It is no wonder that local papers resent another entity coming into their market and doing what they could have done if they had recognized the online opportunity.

What I find most refreshing about New West is that Weber resisted the forces encouraging him to replicate his platform in other markets (New South, New China, etc.). Unlike most other entrepreneurs in the city guide and free DA business, Weber said let’s do this right in one market area and then, and only then, consider expansion.

Google has launched MyLocation, a nice tool for mobile maps that triangulates your location based on your distance to cell towers.
A blue dot and a circle are placed on Google mobile maps that show you where you are and eliminate the need to type in a geographic modifier when looking for things around you. The technology is accurate within 100 meters on average and will work on BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Nokia/Symbian and Java-enabled phones. Ironically, this doesn’t apply to the Google Maps application built into the iPhone.

Check out a video on the new feature at the link above. I’m also talking to John Hanke, head of Google Maps and Google Earth, tomorrow at ILM:07 and will be sure to ask him more about it.

Executive Interview: The Leading Edge: Auto Advertising in Transition had very much the same ring to it as yesterday’s session on real estate in transition. At The Kelsey Group’s ILM:07 event, the final panel each day was on two of the most rapidly changing classified advertising verticals. Since home and automobile buying are typically the two biggest transactions a consumer makes, it is no surprise that buyers (and the huge number of people interested in houses and cars) are using the Internet to get as much information as they can.

David Schwartz, local category director at Yahoo!, shared with the audience quantitative research Yahoo! had conducted about how consumers decide which automobile to buy and what dealers are doing to attract buyers. Not surprisingly, Internet activities such as using search engines and Web sites have grown dramatically, although they are still second to people who select a dealership because they know it/drive by it or based on friends’ recommendations.

What is most interesting is that the “newest influence in a consumer’s decision about where to shop is the dealer’s reputation,” which is amplified by user reviews. In fact, online reviews are now the third most important reason about where people shop after price and a professional staff, but before location and loyalty. Like most every other industry, dealers are still not putting sufficient resources against the online opportunity.

Jim Riesenbach, president and CEO of Autobytel, said ”the Internet has revolutionized car buying for consumers in the last 10 years.” The change is a function of the amount of information that is available and where consumers get that information. Like real estate, newspapers, radio and TV, ad dollars are moving online. Riesenbach predicts an increase of 20 percent in online ad dollars in each of the next few years. In the automobile industry, Riesenbach says dealers make a profit of $300 selling a used car, but lose $20 on every new car.

Successful dealers are incorporating the Internet into the culture of their operations. Both Schwartz and Riesenbach believe that dealers will soon be generating new revenue from Internet marketing that emphasizes service, parts and accessories.

ILM:07 was fortunate to have Jason Calacanis, CEO of Mahalo, as a speaker. Always a straight shooter and a prolific blogger, Calacanis is very outspoken about his feelings about search, social media, SEO and local search.

When asked about the Facebook phenomenon, Calacanis said “Facebook is the best technical social network who iterates faster than anyone else.”

As for the company’s valuation, he had a very different opinion. “Facebook is overvalued,” he said. “If it come onto the open market they would never have gotten the multiple they got from Microsoft. It is extremely difficult to believe social networks can monetize their traffic for advertisers because users are not there to spend money except for online dating. Putting an ad on someone’s page is not very effective since it must compete with their social life like where to go tonight, ‘Bambi’ the exotic dancer wanting to join his circle of friends, and their online poker habit. Quite frankly people don’t want to be interrupted in their social pursuits to be faced with an ad for something they are not in the mind-set to address — see me later!”

When asked about his new search portal, Mahalo, and its human search approach, Calacanis was quite frank: “Getting humans to skim the search results to pull out spam and irrelevant search returns offers users the best most relevant results. This is the best way to compete with Google. Our goal is to seek out people who are passionate about topics and can help create the best, most focused search results for users.” Calacanis agreed that “human level local search is a way to make local search more competitive since it is calibrated to the local market. We sit between Wikipedia and Google, and this is a logical competitive position to do battle with Google.”

Taking a crack at how to improve local, Calacanis’ response was: “Local is too hard to achieve because you have to reach out to too many people with a big sales force and it’s hard to maintain your costs. Automation could make local more attractive and generate better returns.” After a bit more thought, he added: “Local SMEs are getting more sophisticated and smarter about online.” In fact, his dog trainer surprised him with her “level of sophistication and understanding of SEO and online marketing, which may be an indicator of a more attractive SME audience who would be easier to approach and sell.”

TKG’s Peter Krasilovsky asked the now famous question about Calacanis’ feelings about SEO and his infamous quote “SEO is for losers.” Calacanis qualified his perception, saying “my impression of SEO is tainted by the raft of bad SEO guys who are losers. They give you traffic that you don’t necessarily deserve through bad tricks and dishonest approaches. It is more about content that drives organic traffic and gets your content picked up in search engines, Digg, blogs and other high-profile sites.”

As a former AOL alum, Calacanis was asked his opinion about the ability of AOL to resurrect itself. “They [AOL] have always had brilliant people along with a contingent of tenured dial-up people who were unwilling to change,” he said. “This caused a lot of inner conflict that was tearing it apart. They have a ton of opportunity with their new advertising platform. The purchase of Advertising.com was one of their best purchases because it helped them migrate toward an advertising network model. “Look, AOL has all the components to make them successful search, ad network and social networks, which AOL owns, that could give them the potential to really have a chance of winning. If they spin off from Time Warner, they could have the last laugh.”

The long and short of Calacanis’ comments go to several of the key themes heard over and over again at ILM:07 — relevant content, deep content and engaging, passionate people are all needed to make a highly relevant and personalized search experience. Mahalo and Calacanis are both worthy of watching, regardless of how you feel about either one.

(Pic by Mel Taylor)

A panel of national agency representatives (”National Advertisers Going Local”) delivered the message that more local revenues would flow to local sites, including IYPs, if the focus were more on making their properties easier for national advertisers and their agencies to work with.

“The search value proposition has been established. We are feeling no sales pressure from the IYP companies for national clients. They need some research, and a framework for placement of ads,” says Shawn Riegsecker, chairman and CEO of Centro, which helps national clients and agencies buy online media at the local level. “We place a ton of display ads, and no one has explained to us why we should place at local level on IYPs or local sites. The industry has to get smarter about how they are selling it, and investing in research.”

Another interesting point of agreement was that most national advertisers are in no hurry to embrace user rating and reviews.

“There is a high degree of discomfort with user-generated content,” said Riegsecker, adding that national brand advertisers still look for “safe” environment to promote their brands.

Alicia Morga, CEO of Consorte Media, said her agency, which specializes in Hispanic media, has found that “social networking sites do not perform as well as we would like.”

An audience member asked whether national advertisers were bidding up local keywords to crowd out truly local keyword advertisers. The panelists pushed back on this, arguing that local accounts were the ones bidding up the local keywords.

“It tends to be local advertisers that drive costs up,” said Jeff Hughes, media director of GM Planworks.

During a keynote at our ILM:07 conference in L.A., Chamath Palihapitiya, Facebook’s VP of product marketing and operations, said the company is keenly interested in driving local advertising via local media partners, its own outreach efforts and other means.

Just six months after opening up beyond the college and high school student market, Facebook now has 55 million active users — with half signing on every day. Palihapitiya noted that “we can work with newspapers [and other local media] to complement demand fulfillment that already happens online. [Facebook has] a much broader solution for the marketplace. We have a much larger demand generation piece than has been captured by offline media.”

“Every user, every day generates 40 page views,” noted Palihapitiya. Those page views come from “searches, photos, communicating with friends, blog posts. … They are very subtle conversations with users.” Advertisers can do the same thing “on very open, very flexible terms. They get a massive amount of distribution that is otherwise really, really difficult to get,” given the fragmentation of media.

Two weeks ago, Facebook launched “Facebook Ads,” which provide complete user profiles for business owners, and an ad product tagged “social ads.” Palihapitiya said the ads have already generated a quarter million pages “and local is the second-largest driver of information.”

There have been a handful of announcements in and around ILM:07 so far. Here is a jumping-off point:

Online Consumer Generated Reviews Have Significant Impact on Offline Purchase Behavior

Yellowpages.com Advertisers Come to Live in Online Video Profiles

Citysearch Announces Strategic Partnership With MerchantCircle, Web’s Fastest Growing Local Business Network

WAND Taxonomy to Power UniversalBusinessListing.Org Local Search

Mediatel Licenses Discovery Engine From IntelligenX

Where 2 Get It Launches Local Search for National Brands

Yellow Pages Association Launches New Local Mobile Section of Local Search Guide at the ILM:07 & SES Local Conference

MediaTraks Unveils Internet Yellow Pages Ad Network

Stay tuned for more …

Speakers on a spirited panel on the “Convergence of Local Media and Directories” here today at ILM:07/SES Local agreed that online directories need to embrace elements of search and social networking as well as Yellow Pages in order to be viable long term, and need to partner more aggressively since none can assemble all the necessary pieces on its own.

“Regardless of where you start, you need consumers and advertisers. Whether you are a social media site that has an audience and needs to add advertisers, or a site that starts with advertisers but needs to gain more users, you still end up in the same location,” said Robyn Rose, VP of marketing at Superpages.com. “Convergence is a necessity.”

Emad Fanous, CTO of YellowBot, a new player on the IYP scene, said local search sites have to deliver the quality of experience that consumers demand in order to be viable.

“Convergence is happening because of the demands of users,” said Fanous. “After using Google and Facebook, they start to demand more from local search.”

The panelists also agreed that a very open approach to cooperation with competitors is essential in order to build the level of content necessary to create a strong user experience, and to generate enough traffic to support their business models.

“User-generated content is being generated in many places,” said Malcolm Lewis, VP and GM, private label at Local.com. “The key is not to rely on user-generated content on your Web site. Aggregate user-generated content from any and all sources, you cannot rely only on [content] only generated on your site.”

Rose pushed back when asked by blogger and front row fixture Donna Bogatin if publishers were “capitulating” by relying on search engines (namely Google) as the origin of their traffic.

“Nationwide a majority of searches may begin on Google, but the majority of ours do not,” said Rose. “We have traffic partnerships with other companies. And I have an ad budget. We do a lot of online and offline advertising. It is not all about Google. We have found other ways to attract users.”