Today Greg Sterling asked What’s Going On At CityGrid?:
“Here’s my paraphrase of some of the things I was told:
- CityGrid and Citysearch are struggling (to retain and deliver value to advertisers)
- Citysearch was characterized to me as having lost so much momentum that it was effectively “dead”
- CityGrid and associated properties (InsiderPages, Citysearch, Urbanspoon) are being reorganized, with an announcement to come soon
- I was also told that IAC had tried unsuccessfully to sell CityGrid (possibly Citysearch as well) but that didn’t happen
This is hearsay so be cautious. But most of these comments had the ring of truth.”
So I took a look at the SearchMetrics SEO Ranking for CitySearch and it’s pretty clear what happened, at least it’s pretty clear what happened to CitySearch.com:
#Panda
BTW, if someone at CityGrid is interested in unloading InsiderPages, give me a buzz.
11 Response Comments
Hi Andrew,
It’s not too surprising to see CitySearch’s traffic get cut in half. CitySearch was a great directory many years ago but over the years it has really proven to provide no real value to users or businesses.
I think this is a result of having a spammy review system. Yelp really crushed CitySearch with their reliable review system. I remember adding hundreds of reviews for one of my clients within a month. It’s easily manipulated and users catch on quickly.
I still think CitySearch has a chance to regain itself as a premier local directory if they focus on the quality of their data and user generated content. Sad to see a chart like that so hopefully they do something about it.
Thanks for sharing! Cheers!
#panda – ouch!!
Do you think the days are numbered for Yell.com?
Not necessarily. Local directory SEO has gotten harder over the past few years for two main reasons:
1. Google and others have coopted a lot of the directories’ functionality and made it a feature of a larger service such as Web search, obviating the need for pure local directories
2. Most local directories don’t do anything to add the additional value that makes them worth ranking
So Yell and others need to figure out how to be more than just a feature that is easily copied.
Does it have anything to do with Google’s fear of vertical search taking market share, or do you have an insight as to it really being a result of Panda?
I haven’t done an audit of their site, but I doubt Google just singled them out and tanked them.
Interesting..too much to say, buttoning my lip for once.
Any business that fails to deliver value & service will shrivel up & die.
Ok now I’ll shut up.
I still have a bad taste in my mouth for city grid. I did a pay per click with them for the keyword piano lessons and they switched the keyword on me to music lessons which is not targeted for the local business I was promoting. I got a big bill with no results for the keyword I was targeting. In another words, they totally ripped me off.
maybe if they would bring back the free listing option they used to have it would help with traffic.
I tried to sign up to provide citygrid and citysearch a few months ago, have heard nothing from them whatsoever even after several followup emails. Now it makes sense.
on Wednesday 6/26 Citysearch was dealt the final blow. There was another very big(massive) layoff that affected most of CityGrid and Citysearch. There are only 4 engineers left keeping Citysearch on “maintenance mode”. Sounds like in the ballpark of about 100 people were let go all around. if Citysearch wasn’t dead before, it sure is now.
YELP’s “reliable review system”….THANKS FOR THE LAUGH!!!!!