Local Yodle: No Biz Is Too Small

Adrianne Jeffries — Thu, 26 May 2011 11:26:05 -0400

Yodle, the New York-based search marketing agency that targets local and small businesses, is going after the nickels and dimes. The company announced an acquisition of an Austin-based agency, ProfitFuel, that targets businesses spending less than $500 on marketing a month.

Yodle plans to ramp that end of the business way, way up, doubling the 220 employees at what was ProfitFuel over the next 18 months. Yodle itself only has around 300 employees, the Austin-American Statesman reported.

Yodle currently targets small businesses--pest control, dentists, handymen--that spend $1,000 to $5,000 and up a month on internet marketing, which includes website creation and search advertising and optimization. ProfitFuel's clientbase is similar, but on a smaller scale: individual realtors, plumbers and painters, and focuses primarily on search engine placement.

Yodle hopes all these mini-businesses will add up to a reliable, low-maintenance clientbase. Yodle has more than 22,000 clients, raised $35 million from investors according to Crunchbase, and had $46 million in revenue in 2009 according to Inc. magazine. The company claims the acquisition makes it the largest, independent, local search marketing provider in the U.S.

Betabeat » Local Yodle: No Biz Is Too Small

Local Yodle: No Biz Is Too Small