Citysearch and AOL in Reciprocal Deal

Citysearch will be distributing content and local advertising (including video) via AOL local properties (i.e, Mapquest, AOL Local, AOL CityGuide). From the release:

Under the agreement, Citysearch, a leading online local guide and an operating business of IAC, will provide its local content, including editorial reviews, user reviews, merchant videos, photos and offers for distribution across AOL properties, such as AOL CityGuide, AOL Local Search and MapQuest. AOL will integrate local advertising and content from Citysearch’s broad base of local advertisers into AOL’s leading local properties, offering advertisers access to more than 57 million unique users per month (comScore Media Metrix, January 2008).

Citysearch has arisen from the slumber that characterized it a couple of years ago and allowed Yelp to overtake the site in terms of brand recognition. (Citysearch would not doubt disagree with that statement.) After a redesign and the addition of video, Citysearch has undertaken a number of distribution and biz dev deals that give its “local ad network” broader reach.Aggregating local traffic and providing broader online reach and scale is one of the keys to making local work economically for publishers. This is true for everyone: pure-play or traditional media company with online assets. Consequently we should see these kinds of deals increasingly.

One thing that many people forget about Citysearch is that the company has a local sales force, both outside reps and call centers.

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Here’s more from my SEL post, MediaPost and Reuters.

In a somewhat parallel move, Local.com broadens its syndication and ad opportunities. Heath Clarke ran an ad network before founding Local.com and appears to be putting renewed emphasis on that concept with Local.com as a channel or entry point.