... Large national chains are inundating local Internet search directories with ads, making it difficult for small, locally owned businesses to get noticed.
Local search directories like YellowPages.com and Google Maps let consumers search for businesses in particular cities, usually popping up a map of the city along with a corresponding list of the local businesses' addresses shown on the map, their phone numbers and sometimes Web sites, reviews and other details about the business.
But many large chains -- even some without a bricks-and-mortar location in the city being searched -- are taking advantage of local search and buying paid results.
"The small guy can't get in there, and as a consequence, if you do florists, everything is 1-800-Flowers," said Neal Polachek, a senior vice president for the research firm the Kelsey Group, according to a recent article by MediaPost Publications. Mr. Polachek recently lowered his estimates for local search growth in part because of the trend. "You don't get any local retailers there. What we think has happened is these local guys have been shoved out of the way."
Florists are particularly peeved, accusing some national florist chains of buying local phone numbers to appear local, and popping up on the local search maps even though there's no real address. They detail the practice on
www.FloristDetective.com.
