• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 1, 2015

ReachLocal is in talks with Yahoo to extend their existing partnership into native ads, Search Marketing Daily has learned. The deal would mean offering its advertisers and businesses ads that run through the Gemini network and a mobile search and native ad strategy that would blend more targeted ads for local businesses. It would also support a focus on nearby, hyperlocal real-time targeting.

Kris Barton, ReachLocal chief product officer, acknowledges that the two companies have been running tests, but declined to provide details other than "it's in [ReachLocal's] plan to extend an existing partnership with Yahoo."

A positive cost-per-lead remains the primary metric that ReachLocal looks for when testing whether or not it will partner with another technology company, Barton said. "It really depends on the vertical and population density in any specific region," he said. Similar to the way companies should A/B test campaigns, ReachLocal needs to drive its own tests to verify results.

The partnership would add to a recent feature integrated into ReachLocal's nearby strategy that focuses on how local drives leads. Based on geofencing, the real-time targeting radius of ReachDisplay InApp reaches between 100 yards and 5 miles from an address, a business location, and even a competitor's location. Barton said it allows companies to target very local, but also allows them to do something he calls "conquesting," when one company can target a consumer on another company's property.

Similar to an impulse buy, competitive pricing that serves up in real-time can spark a sale and become a competitive advantage. For example, one consumer walking around an automobile lot doing research on cars can see competitive pricing from other dealers, similar to what Google is testing in Google Shopping.

"The best products and services for a lower price should win across markets," Barton said.

The emerging "nearby" mobile search strategy will make small businesses more accountable for their products, including quality, but Barton said local businesses must focus on making ads more relevant. "Ads are annoying unless they're relevant," he said. "They're relevant when in proximity. It's another tool to make ads relevant."