To: Kevin Trainor
From: Nathan Bair
Re: Topic Paper 1
Date: 20 May 2008
There is a new search engine on the block and it is specific to north east Ohio. It is called HeyButler.com. It is one of the first regionaly exclusive search engines.
HeyButler.com launched 01 January 2008 since then it has had over 5 million hits and its membership numbers are closing in on 120,000. It is locally owned and operated and it has already created quite a buzz that has attracted over 500 local business. The rates for this ad space is very cheap by search engine standards and gives a web presence to companies that do not otherwise have the capability to do so.
The reason that this is so important is because if a person were to search Google for something they would have to sort though all of the sponsored links for all over the world just to find a local company. HeyButler.com eliminates all of that. The search criteria only allow for companies to list that are physically located between Columbus and Cleveland. They also take an interesting look at getting consumers to come back on a regular basis. They have installed games that a site member can play that could allow them to win prizes, however they can only try their luck 5 times a day then they have to wait until tomorrow. This gives a person a reason to come back and view the site again even if they are not looking for anything specifically.
The other new idea that is featured on this site is the concept of “specialized butlers.” This is an engine within the site that compiles all of the like companies that all service a similar need; i.e. the wedding butler, the anniversary butler, the homecoming butler, the holiday gift butler, etc. There are well over 50 different butlers that cater to any specific need.
This is a revolutionary type of search engine. HeyButler.com will soon have many imitators but they will go down as the innovator of these concepts.
http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20080128/FREE/916703362
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