I got a note this morning about Google Tags rolling out nationally. Here’s an example in North Carolina:
As you can see the ad ($25 per month) really “pops.”
Early SMB adopters are going to reap the benefits of this program. When every listing features a Tag it will dilute the value of the ads; so tremendous success would ironically backfire on the program.
Has anyone had experience with Tags, who is willing to share results? I know Dennis Yu at Blitz Local has.
June 24th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
I just signed my wife’s cardiology practice up here in NYC. I’ll let you know how it performs. It already showed up on her listing just 2 minutes after signing up. Here it is:
http://bit.ly/d9uF2e
June 24th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Scott:
It doesn’t show up for me probably because I’m in CA.
June 24th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Here is a screen cap:
http://ow.ly/i/2e5j
June 24th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Saw the listing but the tag wasn’t there for me. It makes sense in one way, since I’m unlikely to be a patient — hopefully very unlikely — but if it’s flat fee why not show it. You’re not wasting the advertiser’s money.
June 24th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
For $25 bucks a month and being able to cancel at anytime, it’s definitely worth the test. I’ll keep you in the loop and let you know the results. For a high price point service like a Doctor or Lawyer, it seems like a no brainer in the early days here when you are the only one that is going to have the tag. I used to have her in the 7 pack for the search “cardiologist” but I recently dropped out. Maybe buying the tag will get us back in there
June 24th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Greg, I wont give any specifics but a buddy of mine that owns a local repair business in a major city in the South. He has used tags to test a couple of new websites, instead of traditional methods such as Craigslist and SEO. Let’s just say that his tag, combined with being #1 in the 7 pack and a few user reviews has tripled, yes I said triple his business in the past month. Again I can not give specifics as his niche is doing great numbers, but lets just say he has told me that he would gladly pay a kings ransom for the results he has and that Craigslist and locals like Yelp, Kudzu and MerchantCircle have not come close to producing the results he has.
Lastly for your readers I would advise purchasing at least 3 different phone forwarding numbers (RingCentral, Google Voice, etc) that you can use to track the results of your local campaigns. It may take a couple of more steps but being able to quantify your results is paramount to successful ad spends in local.
June 24th, 2010 at 9:41 pm
I have 3 clients, each in unique industries, who started using tags about 3 – 4 weeks ago. I have seen no measurable improvement in actions as a result of this. None have reported any specific change in their new customer inquiries. How many of the clicks on the tags would have been clicks on their listing anyways? There is no way to tell. So far I am not impressed from a conversion standpoint. I wish I had something better to report. It’s hard to believe Google would roll this out nationally without some evidence of it making a difference (or is it?). One creative way to use tags is to highlight a coupon for a specific service across all categories – thus potentially promoting something other than the specific search. Are tags worth $25/mo. ($300/yr)? I’m not sure yet.
June 24th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Jeffrey:
Thanks for the feedback. I think this is consistent with what Dennis Yu told me about his initial experiences.
June 25th, 2010 at 7:09 am
Re Scotts ad:
Weird that you don’t see in CA, I see it and I’m in Norway!
June 25th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Might be that I was just seeing an older verrsion of the page and the ad simply hadn’t yet appeared for me.
June 25th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
In fact I now see it….
July 6th, 2010 at 11:47 am
[...] to the experimental page above. “Tag” ads, which are now rolling out now, would be de-emphasized somewhat in the SERP format Mike exposed. Their purpose is to “call [...]
July 10th, 2010 at 12:11 am
[...] Blumenthal got a tip that Google was promoting Tags — the $25 per month in-line ad option for local businesses — with a 30 day free trial [...]