I already ranted about Rogers OutRank and mass PPC platforms including Yellow Pages 360.

But there’s one very important problem with them that I failed to mention.

That is the problem of competition.

Yellow Pages 360 marketing solutions offer Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, and Display Marketing, among other things.

But the problem with offering these services is that both costs and success are very much intertwined with what your competition is doing (or not doing).

For example, you’re the owner of a home renovation company in Toronto, and you sign-up for Yellow Pages 360 SEO services so you can rank better on Google for terms like “home renovation company Toronto”.

The problem comes when another home renovation company also signs up for their SEO services, and they’re also looking to rank better on Google for terms like “home renovation company Toronto”.

You have two companies competing against each other to get better rankings on Google for the same keywords, and they’re both paying the same company for SEO services.

The same goes for Search Engine Marketing (SEM) services, also known as Pay Per Click or PPC services.

If both of our Toronto home renovation companies are using Yellow Pages 360 SEM services, and both companies bid on keyword “home renovation company Toronto”, then they are driving up each other’s Cost Per Click (CPC) costs.

And what happens if your business isn’t localized, but can sell online or anywhere in Canada?  What if 2, 10, or 50 companies where competing in the same market, and all using Yellow Pages 360?

As a rule, I don’t think most Digital Marketing Agencies take on more than one client per industry, sector, or market.

I don’t know how Yellow Pages 360 or other mass marketing platforms get around this conflict of interest, but I’d definitely be interested in hearing how.