What are data aggregators and how will they help me?
Data aggregators compile information and propagate this data to other directories, citations, and search engines.
Data aggregation is a fantastic way for businesses to spread their name through the web, accurately and consistently. With NAPW (name, address, phone number, website) consistency being a huge part of SEO rankings, data aggregation is a sure way to assure your listings and citations are being displayed accurately and consistently across the internet.
Who are the four major local data aggregators?
There are four major data aggregators, known as “The Big Four”:
- Infogroup, https://www.expressupdate.com/search
- Localeze, https://www.neustarlocaleze.biz/
- Factual, https://www.factual.com/
- Acxiom, https://www.acxiom.com/
Each of these data aggregators has its own unique function and directories it feeds information to.
Infogroup:
Infogroup calls each business personally to ensure accuracy of the information provided then feeds information to several directories including these fews displayed below:
Localeze:
Localeze collects and distributes data to other directories with a focus on local searches and location based services such as the few shown below.
Factual:
Factual is an open data platform that facilitates personalized and contextually relevant mobile experiences. Factual’s real-time data stack builds and maintains data on a global scale, for 65M local businesses and points of interest — in 50 countries.
Link:http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/2013/09/24/how-to-add-your-business-to-factual/
Acxiom:
Acxiom collects information about a business and sells this information for advertising campaigns such as the handful shown here.
How is The Big Four changing?
Acxiom announced they will be shutting down their local search / directory operations at the end of 2019. So what does this mean for The Big Four?
Well, what’s great is another key player is being added, Foursquare. Though Foursquare hasn’t been known to be a data aggregator, its recent partnership with AWS Data Exchange will allow it to become a powerful data aggregator, replacing Acxiom beginning January 2020. Foursquare will provide consumers accurate location data which can be purchased through AWS Data Exchange.
In addition, Foursquare’s acquisition of Placed in May of 2019 means that it has so many more media partners such as Twitter and Snapchat. These big brands, along with others, gather data directly from Foursquare.
Foursquare also has an easy to use mobile app, allowing more businesses to be discovered and more accurate information to be distributed much faster. Because of Foursquare’s location intelligence technology their reach has extended to over a hundred million locations of interest, across 190 countries, making them a key distributor of data through their Places API, and in turn, making them a crucial advertising platform for businesses.
Foursquare’s introduced yet another innovating project, Hypertrending, giving consumers a real time top-down view of how people are spread throughout a city with while showing their location. https://enterprise.foursquare.com/intersections/article/introducing-hypertrending/
The new Big Four Aggregators of 2020
- Infogroup, https://www.expressupdate.com/search
- Localeze, https://www.neustarlocaleze.biz/
- Factual, https://www.factual.com/
- Foursquare, https://foursquare.com/
What does this mean for SEO?
With Foursquare becoming the up and coming social media tool, allowing “check-ins” and shares to their favorite places, while using their latest location intelligence technology and hypertrending, it is expected to be a social media tool consumers will use, share and love. Best of all, because Foursquare has become a trusted, loyal directory, businesses listed on Foursquare get indexed and crawled by Google, improving your SEO.
Listing your business on Foursquare is free, but claiming it and verifying it is a fee of $20. If your business has been around for some time, chances are it may already be listed on Foursquare, but claiming it and verifying it for the $20 will be a worthwhile investment since you will be able to manage your Foursquare listing, ensuring your NAPW is consistent. This is even more worthwhile if you are a brick and mortar business to help generate more foot traffic through its location intelligence technology.
Best of all, submission to Foursquare through citation services such as BrightLocal and Moz is more cost-effective than submissions to Acxiom. For instance, via BrightLocal, Acxiom submissions cost customers $25 per location, where as Foursquare submissions will cost a mere $15.