Infogroup: Indoor Location Data is Future of Listings Management

Infogroup Data Licensing is a provider of high-value business data to clients in search, navigation, and mobile. The company provides real-time location data that is human-verified by over 25 million phone calls per year and is delivered through a proprietary technology software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution Data Axle®. This unique blend of technology and human resources has helped Infogroup build a network of market-leading publishers that trust its content. The company makes this network available to SMBs, chains, and listing management companies so everyone can easily manage business listing(s).

We caught up with Malti Shukla, VP marketing and Infogroup, to learn more:

What local problem(s) does Infogroup solve? How?
Infogroup Data Licensing is passionate about getting location data right. Compiling data today is easy, as there are more sources of business data than ever before. However, more available data means more noise and the result is a local ecosystem littered with old, inaccurate, and duplicate data.

Compiling a comprehensive database with accuracy is a challenge. But that is the local issue that Infogroup prides itself in addressing. The solution requires a unique blend of great sources, technology, and human teams to solve the data problem. This is why we have invested heavily in our listing management platform Bulk Update®, one of the greatest sources of accurate content is the business itself. Bulk Update makes it easy for businesses to claim and manage their listing within the Infogroup database.

By using the Bulk Update platform, not only can businesses help get the core NAP data distributed correctly, but they can also provide rich content such as photos, URLs, social links, hours of operation, etc. Infogroup then feeds this data to our extensive distribution network which accounts for over 96% of all search traffic. By getting this accurate content distributed far and wide, we are helping businesses create location data consistency which is a significant contributor to Local SEO.

What makes Infogroup innovative?
Infogroup’s process to compile and human-verify data—including making 100,000 phone calls per day—makes us unique when compared to other data aggregators. What makes us innovative is the technology we have invested in to deliver the content we compile.

We recently rolled out proprietary technology, the Data Axle, to build upon our long-standing industry-leading processes. Through this powerful platform, Infogroup is now delivering updates to many of its publishers daily or in real-time. The platform has also allowed Infogroup to expand the type of content we compile and distribute to our publishers. The result: Listings show up within 24-48 hours in some instances vs. what used to take 45-60 days.

This new technology has also allowed us to expand the type of content we can accept through our Bulk Update listing management platform. We support over 150 fields including enhanced content that consumers are looking for such as social URLs, photos, business descriptions, hours of operation, etc.

How does Infogroup make the local space better for advertisers and/or consumers?
Our listing management service is a very efficient way to help a business and advertiser get found across a wide array of consumer channels without having to go through the pain of working with each channel or publisher individually. Compared to paid search, listing management is an extremely cost effective way to manage your online presence.

Additionally, the value expands beyond local search. Millions of consumers are looking for businesses in navigation applications as well and these consumers are generally looking to transact at that moment. Being found (or not found) in these applications has an enormous impact on a business.

From a consumer perspective, access to rich content such as hours of operation, payment accepted, photos, leads to a much better user experience and can impact the business they choose to use. This also helps ensure the business is not put in a negative light. If a consumer cannot find a business because the information is inaccurate, it creates a negative association with both the search application and oftentimes the business itself.

What is next in local?
In relation to the listing space, unveiling the next level of visibility is what’s next in local. We have covered the brick and mortar space of businesses from the outside when it comes to listings. But, there is still a gap when it comes to everything inside those locations, such as kiosks, brands being sold within locations, indoor mapping, beacons etc. The list is endless for what the future holds when it comes to bridging that gap between the outside and inside and enhancing the local experience even more.

For more information check out the video below, visit InfogroupDataLicensing.com or fill out the company’s Contact Form.