Citysearch rolled out its CityGrid publisher network this week. The network moves Citysearch away from an exclusive focus on its individual sites (“Citysearch.com,” “Insiderpages.com,” “UrbanSpoon”). Instead, it works on a distributed basis with partners (i.e. “SuperPages”) to marry local content and advertising.
“My vision is (that it will become) the leading content and ad network for local,” says Citysearch CEO Jay Herratti. It is no longer just about Citysearch.com as a destination site. “This is Citysearch,” he adds. “It isn’t distributed in one place. It is part of many places, all around the Web.”
The result also provides an alternative to Google. “We look at what Google is doing with local as a major competitive threat,” says Herratti. “It controls access to the Internet.
“Last year, we were building and rebuilding,” Herratti notes. “This year, we are very, very focused on execution.” Still, the current product is relatively primitive and will be rapidly evolving. “Right now, we are talking about version 1.0,” he says. “Twelve months from now, there will be new geotargeting solutions; new ways of creating content. We’re taking all of these pieces and putting them together. The next thing is to optimize, and optimize.”
Analysis of CityGrid’s impact by my colleague Matt Booth can be found on the BIA Kelsey blog.
