MarketingSherpa Case Study: Google Local Underperformed

Here's a MarketingSherpa case study that reports on one retailer's experience with running ads on Google.com vs. a campaign on Maps.Google.com (formerly, Google Local). The results from Google Maps/Local were apparently disappointing:

Krutick is extremely glad he measured results based on coupon redemptions rather than relying on clickthrough rates. Turns out Google Local ads had a higher clickthrough rate than regular Google ads (even when geo-targeted by visitor).

However, out of the piles of redeemed coupons, not a single coupon came from the Google Local ads. "100% of total conversions were from Google.com, not Local."

This is one experience and few generalized conclusions should be drawn from it. But the retailer speculated about the outcome:

So why didn't Local clicks convert? No one knows for sure as no survey was conducted. But, the head of Krutick's search team did share this speculation, "Marketers are thinking Google Local is going to be used like the yellow pages. You know, you look there when you're ready to buy something and you want to know about local merchants.

"In reality it didn't turn out that way for us. Our theory is at Google.com, people are buyers and they are looking for a local store that sells mattresses. However at Google Local, the most searched for term tends to be store name, not category. It's possible people are only going to Local if they are actually searching for the store itself."

My take: I can't explain the higher clicks on Maps/Local vs. the no coupons redeemed result. But I can say this for sure: Google Maps/Local is a "white pages" product, not a yellow pages. Why? It's great for looking up business contact/location information but it's fundamentally difficult for consumers to truly compare local businesses. In other words, it offers limited "decision support." Yahoo! Local by contrast, among others, has sort and refine capabilities and other features that enable users to more easily compare merchants and make a decision. Google could remedy that fairly easily but hasn't added features to date to create a more yellow pages-like use case.

Google I'm sure knows how users interact with Maps/Local vs. Google.com results. Over time, depending on the evolution of the Maps/Local product it should perform better as an advertising vehicle for local retailers.

But here is an unexpected benefit from the program according to the case study:

No matter why the test failed, Krutick is pleased by one part of the outcome: turns out Google Local feeds the top organic search results on the main Google.com site for particular terms. So by uploading all Dormia's locations to Local, Krutick's now getting better-than-ever organic clicks from main Google.