We’re mid-way through Day Three of SES New York. Our Director of Media Randy Schwartz and I just sat down for a quick lunchtime chat with Barnaby Dorfman, VP of business development and Drew Herdener, senior PR manager, both of A9.com. Dorfman walked us through some of the features and functionality of A9 Local Search [...]

We’re mid-way through Day Three of SES New York. Our Director of Media Randy Schwartz and I just sat down for a quick lunchtime chat with Barnaby Dorfman, VP of business development and Drew Herdener, senior PR manager, both of A9.com.

Dorfman walked us through some of the features and functionality of A9 Local Search and shared his thoughts on what makes this product stand out from the local pack.

When you open a sample local search page on A9, there’s obviously a lot to look at. Dorfman helped narrow down the feature set by dividing it into three major areas of innovation:

1. An extension of the Amazon experience to local search. This includes the ability of registered users to post reviews, images and additional content, as well as rate that content for helpfulness and relevancy.
2. BlockView technology – This is the virtual walk down the block feature that everyone has been talking about, and boasts over 20 million pictures in 10 major US markets. Dorfman calls it an attempt to `reflect an irregular physical reality through a two dimensional medium.’
3. The listings themselves – Businesses owners can relatively quickly and easily create detailed descriptions promoting their company’s product or service, something that has been difficult for the little guy (aka anyone who’s not WalMart) in the past. Right now the service is free with a relatively short turnaround time between submission and review/posting.

A9 is all about small businesses and it makes sense for them to have that focus, says Dorfman. A9 Local was born from the traditional Yellow Pages, an area where 90% of the print advertising is dominated by the small players. The mass chains have had an easier time merchandising their businesses online, though Dorfman says an API is something that will most likely be in the works for companies with multiple outlets, such as fast food franchises.

I asked Dorfman why we should regard A9 Local as something cooler and more innovative than what the other search networks are doing. How is it going to help Amazon get over the somewhat sluggish adoption of local that others in the industry have been seeing?

Again, his answer was three-fold:

1. The quantity and quality of information. Right now the main advertising method employed by the majority of local businesses, the Yellow Pages, allows for a very small set of static information – it’s pretty much name, address, phone number. A9 Local allows businesses to present a large amount of relevant information in a way that impels users to buy. Businesses put a lot of effort into their physical presence (signage, storefront, etc.) – all of which can’t be seen in a Yellow Pages or print ad. Now it can see the light of day.
2. A built in customer base. Dorfman sees a strong crossover between those that are Amazon shoppers and who are small business owners as well. He cited the doctor with a private practice who uses Amazon to shop for medical texts as an example of this. Amazon’s shoppers have credit cards, have a history of purchasing online, and are ready to transact. This is a different population than you’ll see elsewhere and one that will help fuel A9′s local success.
3. The community angle. Not sure right now whether it’s loyal Amazon users, the blogging community, or Flickr fans that help tip the adoption curve, but the same community-oriented functionality and features that drove Amazon’s success will potentially resonate with these users and fuel the growth of A9 local search. Dorfman mentioned bloggers, artists, and others who’ve been using A9 image search to conduct online scavenger hunts, posting the results in some really cool and creative projects on Flickr.

Summing it up, Dorfman reminded us that A9 Local is still in beta and there’s lots more innovations to come. All of these will follow the “create value first, worry about monetization later” philosophy that seems to have become the universal mantra of search networks. Dorfman says that’s how Amazon has built the business, and “We’ll continue to follow that trajectory.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2005 at 2:43 pm and is filed under Advertising: Distribution, Search: Innovations, Search: Local. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.