I just hung up the phone with an InfoUSA staffer who called to verify our business record. Never one to miss an opportunity, I think I may have asked him more questions than he was able to ask of me. As my daughter noted on a apron she gave me for my last birthday: “Cooking up good questions for over 50 years”.
1)They attempt to call every business in their list on annual basis.
2)They verify very little information about the business:
-Name
-Owner
-Primary Business (does anyone have a single primary business?)
-Website
-E-Mail address
It is nice that someone, somewhere is attempting to verify core local listing data. By the same token, they sure don’t verify much information. Why didn’t they ask for hours? Why did they let me only list one primary business function? Do I have handicap access?
I could go on but with very little more energy they could have gathered both more and better information to feed into the local ecosystem.
Hi Mike -
I’ve dealt with InfoUSA on a number of occasions and collaborated on different pieces of work with them.
They actually will get data dumps from utility companies when doing their listing verification when prepping lists for their clients.
They have built strong relationships with vendors such as MSN – however; with Google they can never guarentee anything.
I found that rather refreshing – that I’m not the only one. Lone little old me is having the same challenges with Google as a company like InfoUSA.
Yaaaaahhh.
Joan
Comment by Joan van Hilten (102 comments) — April 24, 2009 @ 2:41 pm
Mike – I am curious, how would you feel if InfoUSA used an automated call, but asked more questions? Better or worse than a live a operator?
In addition to the data InfoUSA doesn’t collect, its interesting that they don’t seem to use the data from their call disposition logs. A disconnected number is most likely out-of-business, but what does a no answer, busy and/or IVR / voice mail tell us?
FastCall411 researched this topic a while back: 80%+ of users reported that *availability* was an important factor when choosing a local merchant. Answering the phone, and responding to a consumer call is a measure of availability. Undoubtedly important data that InfoUSA is either not collecting, or not licensing to their clients.
Last – in a way MerchantCircle has verified a ton a local merchants using a very different approach to InfoUSA (and w a different biz model). The calls are automated, but the merchant has a chance to add as much details to a MerchantCircle page as they wish. I think MerchantCirlce has the better model; I cant see the data aggregation companies like InfoUSA maintaining their model.
Comment by Rich Rosen (1 comments) — April 24, 2009 @ 5:01 pm
@Joan
I am sure that you saw the cityvoter article and how much trouble he was having with Google…perhaps I should rename my blog…The Trouble(s) With Google
@Rich
It is hard to say whether I would hang up on an automated call or not…I get so many of the freaking things these days. Perhaps a person to start and then optionally shifting to an automated system with an explanation of how I would benefit…ie more detailed accurate local records…etc etc.
MC’s tactics of getting merchant participation have often been very manipulative in getting this information…”someone has left a review on your business, hurry on over to MC and respond” kind of things.
So while a verified business model makes sense, it needs to be done honestly and centrally (why do 20 times when one good listing should do the trick) without a ton of cheap hooks
Comment by Mike (2424 comments) — April 24, 2009 @ 5:22 pm