Switchboard.com: The King Of Great Local Search

By: Dean Phillips

Forget about local search with Google, Yahoo! or MSN. They don't have a clue. When it comes to great local search, is king!

And no matter how hard Google, Yahoo! and MSN try, when it comes to local search, they'll never even be in the same league as Switchboard, because gets it. Local search is what Switchboard does better than any other search engine or directory on the planet--period!

You won't believe how easy it is to get incredibly relevant results for virtually anything you can think of--and I do mean anything!

Before writing this article, I played around with Switchboard for hours, trying to trip it up. No matter what I typed into the search box, Switchboard found it.

I typed in "ice cream parlor," no problem. "Old books," no problem. "Post office", no problem. "Italian restaurants," no problem. "Stuffed animals," no problem. "Soft pretzels," no problem.

And it not only gave me amazingly relevant local results every time, it gave me the businesses web site, directions on how to get there, and what other businesses were nearby.

Plus, you can search town directories, by category, classifieds, address and distance--there's even a trip planner!

Switchboard is a pioneer in the online yellow pages industry. After launching in February 1996, Switchboard introduced the Internet's first interactive yellow pages display ads, serving more than 20,000 ads covering 2,000 categories. These ads were the first to capture the look and feel of traditional yellow pages print ads in an online environment.

Switchboard provides a fast and easy way for people and businesses to find each other on the Web. Each day, millions of consumers find the businesses they need through Switchboard--from a local florist, to a nearby car dealership, to the restaurants closest to a planned travel or vacation destination. At the same time, Switchboard gives merchants an easy way to connect with consumers who are "ready to buy"--helping them establish and grow their presence on the Web.

So, if you've had it with the pitiful local search results provided by Google, Yahoo!, MSN and other amateur wannabe's, I highly recommend you step up to the "king!"

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