Tom Higley, CEO at Local Matters, a longtime player in the business of building local search platforms for publishers, provided his perspective on what’s necessary for his company – and the industry as a whole – to continue to compete in an increasingly more complicated marketplace.
Higley, who believes that Yellow Pages companies were the first develop compelling local search technology for consumers, said the industry needs to ensure that its search offerings place consumers are at the center of the innovation universe. He said that today, the Googles of the world have captured the innovation momentum in the space, and that his company and others must determine how to deal with the radically changed reality.
The key to future success, Higley said, will be to deliver something new of value to consumers that captures their attention, fosters their engagement and closes the loop between offline and online activities among consumers and businesses alike. He said an important step will be ensuring that search tools provide consumers with effective results, or they will be “almost worthless” and a failure.
Higley made clear that taking a start-up approach to innovation can and needs to be done in a way that does not put the entire company at risk. We’ll be keeping a close eye on Local Matters and its unique approach to tackling the new realities of the local search arena.
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[...] Interview with Tom Higley, Local Matters [...]