Local search still sucks

I rarely blog about product ideas but I was just inspired by a frustrating experience recently.  The local
experience is just plain bad.  I was recently trying to find an ideal fence contractor and it was a big waste of time.

Sure, citysearch, urbanspoon, and yelp do a great job on restaurants, bars, and lightlife but where are the great services for professional services?  In my case, I searched and searched and searched for reviews on fence and deck contractors.  Someone should come in and build a great directory of professional service providers.  I want this more transparent than Service Magic which is just a straight lead gen play.  The other big players just don't have enough user generated content.  A big long list of service providers in a directory is just not useful.  They are still stuck in the offline world.  There are a ton of verticals that could use a great directory say automotive repair or home remodelers.

During my fence contractor search, I actually found some great reviews on Judy's Book.  The once deadpool site is rumored to be back.  My friend David Niu talked to me about how he and other investors are trying to bring it back last night at dinner.  Bring it back.  Build the TripAdvisor for local services.  I have now spent over 2 hours coalescing a list of providers. See a need fill a need.

Comments

[Conor]

Workpost.com is working to the void that was outlined in this blog posting. We have a posting system for work combined with a dynamic directory that includes user generated pro listings and a unique review system with rebuttal capability. Check us out at www.workpost.com and please give us feedback so we can keep improving!

[Thos K]

Agreed and sites like yellowbot make it suck even more. They got my business information all wrong and refuse to correct it. Yellowbot is long on attitude and short on validation of their crappy data.

[bill]

I think it will still be a while before we see someone really make local search work well. There are still way to few business's that are online.

[bill]

I think it will still be a while before we see someone really make local search work well. There are still way to few business's that are online.

[Matt Hulett]

Good comments. Its amazing how many emails that I have received about this topic. I found an interesting article posted to ClickZ from a company localeze: http://www.localeze.com/about/click-z-7-15.asp . Looking at the results of some of my keyword searches in my example (e.g, "best Seattle fence", "Seattle fence contractor", etc), you can see the inklings of some rich directories like yellowbot, openlist, etc. I have yet to see the new vertical players really take off in terms of placement in SERPs. This is a real opportunity for vertical search players. Build rich consumer powered directories that have high SEO rankings. My friends at Avvo.com are mentioned above....its nice to see that they are ranking in high natural search nowadays. Again, think about all of the really cool vertical solutions that could be great businesses.

[Shalini]

If you are looking for attorneys and can't get referrals through your own network, try Avvo. You can search by zipcode or by city.

[Marcelo Calbucci]

Here is the problem w/ most tech entrepreneurs: They miss the "offline substitute".

You know who is the biggest competitor for "local search"? Calling or emailing your friends.

Make that an easy transition to a web-based service and you win.

[Susie K.]

Agreed!

I have had the same experience recently, searching for bathroom remodeling and professional design experts - Have you looked at Angie's List?
http://www.angieslist.com/lp/angieslist2.html

I haven't paid up to join yet, but I probably should. Out here in small town New England, one reaches out to the nearest farmer and finds out who did his roof or built his fence.... Usually, he did it himself, but for the most part you can bank on whoever a Yankee farmer tells you to get.

[Susie K.]

Agreed!

I have had the same experience recently, searching for bathroom remodeling and professional design experts - Have you looked at Angie's List?
http://www.angieslist.com/lp/angieslist2.html

I haven't paid up to join yet, but I probably should. Out here in small town New England, one reaches out to the nearest farmer and finds out who did his roof or built his fence.... Usually, he did it himself, but for the most part you can bank on whoever a Yankee farmer tells you to get.