Could zip codes burn Google in local search?

Reminds me of the 90s when a company bought up thousands of domains based on last names...so there was a baker.com. Then you could pay to have "Stephen" within that...www.stephen.baker.com.
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As far as for local, zip codes where I live are too narrow, lots of small tightly packed communities with their of zip (I could walk to 3-4 right now) so I would prefer semi-regional.

It's an even worse idea when you consider the fact that the zip code you travel to may not be the zip code that the restaurant or other service you are looking for is in.

People identify themselves by cities and larger areas not zip codes. If this survives it will need strong local content that users cannot get anywhere else; with the increasing number of players in the local search market that is pretty unlikely.

JD and PXLated, There's no reason the specific zip code pages would extend beyond the code's boundaries. Even now, if you use zip codes to look for movies, most services show you movies within a reasonable drive of the zipcode. So a lot of the pages, especially in metropolitan areas, would have loads of overlap. No problem there, though. Storage is cheap.

Steve, I don't want to debate you on this - but I know for my site I see a very small amount of traffic coming from searches done by zip code and a large number by city. I think it makes more sense to organize information as people already think of it as being organized (by city), or better still let them organize it.

I think it would be a useful service for local residents, so long as it includes some sort of city/town/county radius.

A person who isn't familiar with all the restaurants or other services in their area, may find the zip code search very helpful. It's much more challenging to perform a Google search when you don't know the exact name for what you're searching.

It appears that our local phone company or Yellow Pages is using the zip code domains in my city.

The company that bought all the surname-based domain named was mailbank.com, now known as http://www.netidentity.com (aka, a revenue-generating, sustainable business). :-)

Zip code domains are a sustainable business. The key is local population. While it is unreasonable to think that you would travel across the United States to another state and have any idea of one or more zip codes, it is reasonable that if you needed a dentist, an insurance agent, a doctor, a realtor, a lawyer, a yardman, a plumber, or an electrician...you could search locally for a provider. You would not be searching for one of these professionals in another state.....or even another city.

ZIPSEARCH is a search file utility to search zip archives for individual files INSIDE the zip archive or self extracting *. EXE files. The program searches multiple drives and multiple directories. It can locate search strings, display search results, view files and perform file operations. Zip files can be searched. Zipsearch's search parameters are disk/ directory, extensions, dates, file size and text. Search 19 Archive types or 33 archive Extensions. Replace text within Zip Archives and files SEARCH WORD DOCUMENTS AND EXCEL WORKBOOKS. FILES SEARCHED INDIVIDUALLY WITHIN ZIP FILES. Search multi byte unicode files eg Chinese, Japanese.

http://www.yaodownload.com/utilites/file-compression/zipsearch/

Zip codes are the way to go, but not how most people think. www.bythezip.com has developed a double targeted search program that enables service businesses to select their service area by zip code. Then when the consumer searches, they only get service businesses that serve their zip code. This is a much more targeted search system and provides for a better result when searching for contractors and other service businesses.

Only in the Philadelphia Suburbs today, we are expanding and expect large scale growth over the next 18 months.

Simply Zipcode Address lookup - a new revelation in zip code address lookup software using the internet. Simply activate - enter zip code - select address - and the software fills the appropriate information into your favorite Microsoft, CRM, Accounts application or your own web site. Thus reducing errors and speeding up data entry.

http://www.sharewareguide.net/Business/Applications/simply-zip-code-lookup.html