Marchex thinks “Local is the New Black”. Is it right?

2008 has been a hot year for geo domain names as internet advertising experts push local advertising as the next wave of internet advertising. Call it a coming out party: people have been successful with geo domains for over a decade but are finally getting recognition.

Perhaps it’s fitting that local-centric domain name and advertising company Marchex (NASDAQ: MCHX) filed a trademark for the term “Local is the New Black” earlier this year.

Is local really the new black? This year was the year geo domains finally received wide scale recognition. A geo-specific blog network launched. Attendance at the GeoDomain Expo surpassed that of some of the mainstream domain conferences. There’s even a geo-domain specific domain sales list.

And geo domains have been selling well, too. Here are some examples of both geo location and long- tail geo domain sales in 2007:

SanJuan.com $150,000
Bellevue.com $150,000
MyrtleBeachCondos.com $120,107
EdistoBeach.com $115,000
Sevilla.com $102,000
Yemen.com $100,000
FollyBeach.com $98,000

(Sources: RickLatona.com and DNJournal)

I’ve bought in, too. I’m working on launching a geo domain, Lakeway.com, to cater to the affluent city outside of Austin. eDirectory is currently working on customizations. Although it’s taking longer than I’d hoped to launch, it should be done by year end.

What do you think? Is local really “the new black”? How will it fair in 2009 compared to this year?

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Try “local affiliate programs” for your geo domain names.

Because of their local nature, geo domain names can be difficult to plug into affiliate programs. There are localized programs such as hotels, but finding dentists, doctors, and plumbers that are using localized affiliate program is difficult.

There’s an answer, and it’s detailed step-by-step in Jeremy Schoemaker’s latest newsletter. Schoemaker is a famous affiliate known as Shoemoney.

Schoemaker posted the newsletter online today. It describes how he works with local businesses such as dentists and car dealers to send business their way on a (mostly) pay-per-action basis. One car dealer is generating $40,000 a month in profit for his company.

Schoemaker’s company buys ads on Google, Facebook, and MySpace to generate leads for these local businesses and then gets paid based on certain actions, such as receiving a phone call or scheduling an appointment.

Most geo domain names I know of use flat rate monthly pricing for advertisers. This is certainly profitable, but it may make sense to consider setting up localized “affiliate” relationships. It’s low risk for advertisers and it can also allow you to share in the upside.

Domain holder engages investment bank to sell geo domains.

[UPDATED] Some of the world’s best geo-related domain names are on the block. Live Current Media (OTCbb: LIVC.ob) announced today that it is selling up to 6 of its premium domain names.

Domain Name Wire has learned that the 6 domains are the company’s geography related domain names. Based on the company’s portfolio, these domains are likely Brazil.com, Vietnam.com, Indonesia.com, Malaysia.com, Canadian.com, and GreatBritain.com. [UPDATE: Canadian.com is not on the list. But Communicate.com, the company's former name, is for sale.]

The company hopes to sell the domains for an aggregate amount of $6 million to $10 million in the next 90 days, but may not sell the entire portfolio.

Investment bank Arbor Advisors has the deal with Live Current. It is using Exclusive Domains to sell the domains. Exclusive Domains is run by Lou Doctor, who is also a Managing Director with Arbor Advisors. Doctor has spoken at TRAFFIC conferences in the past and attended the GeoDomain Expo in Chicago this year. Exclusive Domains has brokered valuable domains including Healthcare.com, Deals.com, Houseplans.com, Interest.com, and Billiards.com.

Live Current is losing about $2 million a quarter and had less than $2 million cash in the bank as of the end of June. The company planned to do a follow on stock offering, but its share price has dropped from over $3 per share to just 75 cents today. It also made a cash outlay of nearly $1.5 million earlier this year for an acquisition of Auctomatic, a company that helps people sell on eBay.

Selling the domains will provide a cash cushion. If the domains don’t sell, the company will likely need to seek an outside investment. With little debt, an outstanding portfolio, and a low market capitalization, the company may also be an acquisition target solely for its domain portfolio.

The company is focusing on its core retail sites including Perfume.com and its cricket ventures. Its prized domain is Cricket.com.

Here’s one more business the internet will kill off.

I got an interesting large envelope in the mail this week. On the outside of the envelope was a stamp “IMPORTANT”.

I opened the envelope to find a thin sheet of plastic with ads on it. I was confused as to what this was, until I read the accompanying letter.

“Enclosed is your complimentary phone book cover!”

Wow, it’s not every day that you get something for free. Especially something as useless as a phone book cover.

I honestly didn’t know such a product existed. But apparently phone book users like to use these covers to protect their phone books from coffee stains, food spills, and tears. Phone book covers slip nicely on the outside of a large metropolitan yellow pages and include ads for local businesses. The cover is the most expensive part of a phone book for ads, so advertisers on the plastic phone book cover usurp the directory company and the big ambulance chasing law firm that inevitably advertises on the back cover.

Needless to say, my cover is heading straight to the trash. Just like my delivery of two big yellow pages each year. (OK, I live in Austin so I actually recycle the phone books. I don’t want hate mail for saying I throw these things into the trash.)

I know one person who still uses the phone book. She happens to be my mom.

These days most people get what they need online. Search: Austin Plumber. Search: Austin Barnes & Noble. Search: Austin auto mechanic.

So you can add phone book covers to your list of businesses the internet killed off. If you even knew this business existed.

Q&A with Patrick Carleton, Executive Director of Associated Cities.

The 2008 GeoDomain Expo hits Chicago July 10-12. Advanced ticket sales are hot, and Associated Cities’ Patrick Carleton expects attendance to be double last year. I recently caught up with Carleton to get a preview of this year’s conference. Afterward, Carleton did a lengthy interview that was published on the Associated Cities’ web site. You can read it here.

Domain Name Wire: In the past, your conferences and organization have attracted owners of premium city .com domain names. Will the conference be beneficial to people with other types of geo domains, such as LosAngelesSiding.com?

Carleton: Yes, all Geodomains have a distinct branding and marketing advantage. Category Geodomains like DallasLawyers.com or OklahomaRealEstate.com are actually excellent Geo-specific search engine phrases doubling as a domain name. In other words, they will receive intuitive Geo-centric traffic. And in the advertising business, that’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Domain Name Wire: I understand it’s a big deal that you’ve teamed up with The Kelsey Group for this conference. What is Kelsey Group, and why is this important?

Carleton:The Kelsey Group is the world’s leading provider of strategic research and analysis, data and competitive metrics for Local Search, Yellow Pages, electronic directories, SMB advertising and Local Media. In other words, when these people speak mainstream media listens. They understand the future of Geodomains and their co-production of the 2008 Geodomain Expo is the first time they’ve done this in their 70+ conferences. Speaks volumes for our industry.

Domain Name Wire: Will the conference be more about networking or education?

Carleton: Both. Geodomain pioneers like the Castello Brothers, Dan Pulcrano, Josh Metnick and Skip Hoagland didn’t get to where they are by accident. All of them have previous media experience and recognized the incredible potential behind Geodomains early on. They’ll also be the first to tell you that they’ve only begun to scratch the surface and are representative of most Geodomainers in that they are generous with discussing their best practices and they love to network.

Domain Name Wire: The geo domain industry is a hot topic in domain circles lately. Where do you think it will be in 5 years?

Carleton: Huge. Mainstream media is just starting to take notice and collaborations are being formed as we speak. Look at it this way, how many people know the name of the city newspaper for Palm Springs a hundred miles out? (The Desert Sun) Now ask yourself how many know the name of the city? In a nutshell, that was the branding and marketing advantage a Geodomain like PalmSprings.com started with. Add lots of local advertisers into the mix and you have what Gordon Borrell called in his landmark 2005 review of Geodomains, “A beachhead that will only grow larger…”

[If you are interested in attending the GeoDomain Expo, registration is $695 up until the day of the show. On site registration is $795.]