Forbes writes:
“Everyone is tantalized by the sheer volume and wants to tap into these billions upon billions,” says Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, “but it’s very difficult to capture those dollars–it’s a complex, fragmented and inefficient market.”
The biggest problem is getting small mom-and-pop business owners–some 23 million of them–to sign up and pay for online ads. The auctioned-off, pay-per-click pricing for ads at search engines like Google and Yahoo! are far too complicated for small retail and service businesses, says Assaf Ran, chief executive of DAG Media, a niche online directory company.
