Comments on: Google-Yelp … Nope!

By: val workman

val workman — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:55:11 +0000

Valpak has nearly 200 locally “sales forces” selling Valpak traditional print/mailed coupons, as well as call tracking services, valpak.com local online coupons, local mobile ads, etc. Also have a large national sales and marketing force.

As part of the “Cox” media group, we use newspapers, cable, and national televison and radio to drive consumers to Valpak and Valpak.com.

By: Brian Combs

Brian Combs — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:40:48 +0000

Is there anyone in the local advertising space with a large, respectable sales force? I’m having trouble coming up with anyone.

Google’s inability to provide local advertisers with the customer support they need may be Google achilles heel in local advertising.

By: Gordon Borrell

Gordon Borrell — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:52:30 +0000

I doubt anyone would pay such a large amount to acquire such a small sales force. According to its COO, Yelp has 200 salespeople. While that may seem like a lot, consider that there are 210 Designated Market Areas (DMAs) in the U.S. and a total of about 93,000 local advertising salespeople out there. It’s a crowded field, and Yelp’s 200 salespeople are in a very, very competitive environment. And as I said in the blog (and you gotta believe Google uses Google to research its own potential acquisitions), if you google “Yelp salespeople” you might get a better picture of Yelp as a sales organization. I could be wrong, but I think Google was after the content, not the sales force.

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:08:44 +0000

My understanding is that “sales people” is exactly why Google wants Yelp. I was under the impression from the recent kelsey conference they had people in the streets in each market. No?