Amongst a couple of others, I was asked yesterday on Twitter for a recommendation for where to get a decent cup of coffee near Victoria Station.  Influential UK foodie blogger, Young and Foodish, replied with Flat Cap Coffee, which was new to me.  As I’m a burgeoning coffee geek, I decided to add it to the Google Map I’m building to track good coffee bars in London   Here’s where it gets interesting:

Google Search brings back, for me, the Foursquare venue page as first result (see image below):

From going to Foursquare, I get a map, some tips and the official Twitter account @flatcapcoffeeco.

I then go to Google Maps to add it to my map and nothing.  Actually, this is an awful results set

Ok, it’s inconclusive and I’m in a rush but interesting none the less because of the following:

1. Twitter was used for what I call an over the fence request ahead of Search
2. Twitter replied with somewhere I hadn’t heard of and looked good
3. Google hadn’t heard much of it, other than bringing back results from Foursquare, Twitter and Blogs
4. It was nowhere near Google Maps

So, actually I think I’m going to stick with my title as at least in the example Local Social whooped Local Searches ass.  Agree, disagree, got some more examples?

Ben Barney is a founding member and Director of Akesios. He specialises in productising new media products for traditional businesses with large sales forces, and creating monetisation opportunities from the developing players in the Local Search space. With over 10 years experience with Directory and Yellow Page companies throughout Europe, he is also a specialist in Google AdWords; from a reseller, agency and advertiser’s perspective.

Ben’s areas of expertise include:

• Strategic advisory services for digitising traditional media businesses
• Project coordination and implementation
• Google AdWords Reseller programs
• Marketing, sales and product strategy within Local Search
• Business turnaround
• Operational Due Diligence

Ben was a founder member of Thomson Directories’ Internet department and a key member of the team that developed WebFinder.com, Thomson’s PPC engine. He set up and managed WebFinder’s dedicated sales, account management, customer service, partner management and business development teams. He was also responsible for the commercial and operational management of their Google Reseller programme. He can manage or assist with all aspects of establishing and running a service with products that are highly usable by the sales force and customer base alike.

Ben is a full member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. You can also find Ben posting on the Akesios blog.

Please feel to comment here, on the LinkedIn group or via Twitter.

Local Content & Monetisation – A View from Europe

The local media landscape in Europe is unique in many ways and in particular is different to the US market. However, Google still dominates on the search side (both in terms of advertising and traffic volumes) in many European markets and is particularly strong in the UK. Yet Google is also a great source of traffic and revenue for many local publishers. In this panel we examine what makes local media different in Europe.  We will explore how media owners are attracting users and growing traffic. Will look at innovative partnerships and business models. In addition we will discuss what strategies are working for attracting local advertising revenue and look at where growth is coming from 2010 and beyond.
Moderator: Jonathan Ewert, Co-Founder Skepsis Group
Panel:

• Simon Greenman, MD – Online, European Directories
• James Thornett, Executive Product Manager, BBC Local and Location Services
• Ben Barney, Akesios
• Joachim Helfer, Müller Medien
• Roland Bryan, Associated Northcliffe Digital