Yahoo Local, FTD & OGs

[CHR]

You know, I've had just about enough of the industry pundits saying local florist just don't market enough.

Tonight, I looked at Yahoo! Local and the top slot (you know, the ones Yahoo promised would ONLY be sold to local companies - at $300/mo) for Anaheim was filled with an OG sporting a 'save $15' claim, a local Orange County city and a local Orange County phone number. There are many local shops listed under that slot but they have little chance since they only have the truth to tell.

The site is hosted by FTD and has no indication of location (even though I know they are from Florida.)

WTF? This is as low as Meola goes, and that's d@mn low.

Seems as though deception without impunity is staus quo and everyone but local flower shops are ready to jump on the ca$h OG bandwagon.

I'm gonna quit typing before I say something I may regret.

 

[BOSS]

Which result are you talking about... I'll do some snooping around...

 

[CHR]

Exceptional Flowers & Gifts Save up to $15 in the Santa Ana Area NOW! ! !
(714) 538-2360, Santa Ana, CA


Exceptional Flowers & Gifts Save up to $15 in the Beverly Hills Area NOW! ! !
(213) 488-9462, Beverly Hills, CA
www.exceptionalflowersgifts.net Map | Directions | Send to Phone

Exceptional Flowers & Gifts Save up to $15 in the Chicago Area NOW !!!
(773) 942-1808, Chicago, IL


Exceptional Flowers & Gifts Save up to $15 in the Cleveland Area NOW! ! !
(216) 875-5563, Cleveland, OH


Exceptional Flowers & Gifts Save up to $15 in the D. C. Area NOW! ! !
(202) 729-9926, Washington, DC

 

[BOSS]

Well, until I find out who they are, all I could do was write a review, and hang a "tag" of *deceptive florist* on them lol

 

[CHR]

Exceptional Flowers & Gifts
[SIZE=-1]www.exceptionalflowersgifts.com
2800 N Federal Hwy
Boca Raton, FL 33431
(561) 353-0182
The FTD site's owner is masked:
Registrant:
Exceptional Flowers & Gifts

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: EXCEPTIONALFLOWERSGIFTS.NET

Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.NOVATOR.COM
NS2.NOVATOR.COM

The TF site is registered as follows:
Registrant:
Exeptional Flowers & Gifts
2800 n. federal hwy suite 700
Boca Raton, FL 33431
US

Domain Name: EXCEPTIONALFLOWERSGIFTS.COM

Administrative Contact:
laddin, josh
Exeptional Flowers & Gifts
2800 N FEDERAL HWY STE 700
BOCA RATON, FL 33431-6840
US
561-353-4720

Technical Contact:
Chandarana, Bhavin
105 Super Shopping Complex
Bajaj Cross Road, Kandivali West
Bombay, MH 400067
IN
+91.228649346 fax: +91.228649346

Record expires on 21-Jul-2010.
Record created on 21-Jul-2001.

Domain servers in listed order:

EPRODNS1A.EFLORIST.COM 65.198.163.235
EPRODNS2A.EFLORIST.COM 65.198.163.236
[/SIZE]

 

[Ken]

Post a negative review.

Yahoo will allow you to post a review on their site. If they are not a local florist then you should post that information.

 

[Eric S]

Cathy this was the same reason why I stopped our featured listing.

Besides our reports from yahoo showed that the amount of clicks for the featured listing or is it the enhanced featured listing worked out to be any where from $8 to $10 a click. It actually took awhile for yahoo to turn this off and had to ask for two months worth of fees from them.

I gave notice on there Yellow Pages over a year ago after advertising for 3 years and six months ago the enhanced listing got the boot. They cater to much to the OG'r and not for the local business like they claim they do.

 

[PhillyPhlorist]

From what I remember, when the Yahoo Local guy called me about 6 ~8 months ago, I asked him that very question: why is there a national account listed where you say only local florists will list? His answer was that if the slot was open, and no local florist wanted it, a national company could list there. So, I said to him, if I list there, the OG/national account would be bumped. He said yes.

Was too costly for me in Philly, so....

- H.

 

[CHR]

Herb -

The Yahoo Local LA market says it's sold out for the term 'florist'. Those slots are $300/mo. But the national ads still appear. Yahoo's sales campaigns are just like everyone elses, promising limited listings and high placements....until they get your money and change the rules.

I completely agree with Eric, the ads are over-priced for the traffic they generate. But who knows the cost of 'national buys'? Probably far less per placement than local areas. My guess is it's some type of partnership placement with AT&T/YellowPages.com.

 

[RJD]

I completely agree with Eric, the ads are over-priced for the traffic they generate. But who knows the cost of 'national buys'? Probably far less per placement than local areas. My guess is it's some type of partnership placement with AT&T/YellowPages.com.

If you have no overhead, like these OGs, then it can be very profitable. No COGS, no staff, no shop lease, etc. Very profitable.

 

[BOSS]

But who knows the cost of 'national buys'? Probably far less per placement than local areas. My guess is it's some type of partnership placement with AT&T/YellowPages.com.

From what I know about the paper version, the National Accounts pay somewhere around 20-25% of local rates...most likely they get an even better deal for online ads.