Blog - Business Directories

Business directories have been produced for about 200 years now. Depending on your position, that is either a long time, or not very long at all. From my perspective, it’s not very long at all. Whilst trade directories might have existed before them, I doubt they were in the same format as those from 1818.

The remarkable thing about them is that they were pretty good. They were directories written by people that identified a clear need and provided for that need. Lists of businesses by classifications or trades.

The reason that I am writing this blog entry is quite simple really. There was a need for such directories, and there still is. People had a need to identify a range of suppliers and to develop suitable business relationships to fulfil their requirements with those suppliers. These business relationships didn't happen by accident. For example, if you wanted to source clock parts for your new clocks, you could get a grip on all the clock part makers in an area (as well as try and sell them things), and develop business relationships that were reciprical in nature. That need still exists today. Things have not changed that much, unless all purchasing agents now have godlike omnipotence and simply live in the belief that if they are good then the customers will magically appear at their door, regardless, and marketing is for those that God has forsaken, or devil worshippers. Clear nonsense.

Jumping forward 200 years, we essentially have Google. An American corporation that purports to provide the same thing. However, in a nutshell, it doesn't. Whilst there might not be as many button makers and clock part makers in London as there used to be, the need to identify suppliers is still the same. However, the difference between these directories and what we have now is that there was a level playing field. Essentially, everyone, in theory, was on the list. People traded from a level playing field. However, today we have Google, the gatekeeper and king maker (king destroyer). 

Taking a step back, lets look at County Industry. A simple search for Powder Coating.

There are 32 entries in that list. Its very similar to the volumes of 1818, a volume that Napoleon Bonaparte himself might have made reference to if he ever fancied invading England and finding the need to replace buttons on the tunics of his soldiers. This makes sense. Its clear. The lines are not there to sway the user from using one company or another, adverts came later.

However, what we have now is Google Search.

Which shows less than 10 entries, not all of them really that relevant and a map that misses many off.

At the very best, this is pretty poor, and at the worst, its total misinformation. Honest trading enterprises simply not included in the information presented because an American corporation is too busy taking control of business information in our country.

So what has happened? Have companies suddenly become free of the need for such information? Instead trusting in a god to deliver the right amount of business to them as required, through a network of telepathy, dreams and magic? Is there an argument for quantifying the amount of damage that Google has done to the United Kingdom’s ability to efficiently source materials and services for their business objectives, such that they are less or greatly less than their optimal efficiency? I think so. Will Google honour a cease and desist notice and stop messing with our country? I doubt it.

Is Google an enterprise that is focussed on keeping shareholders, mostly American I would guess rich? Achieving this by pay per click advertising? Repressing all individuals that might point that out? Is it right that companies spent £90,000+ on Google ads a year? As I have seen. Or that companies bid £10 per click? As I have seen? So that they can bugger our national business intelligence? I don’t think so.

Our forefathers were not stupid. I would argue that the people at the helm today have lost the plot.

TWS has provided County Industry now for over a decade. However, Google has essentially deindexed it from its index, the search engine Google. The directory never got much traffic and so that has never been an issue. However, after Kellys was put out of business and many other directories have died, County Industry has striven on, doing it properly. Clear, and simple lists that people can use online or buy through Amazon.

Google essentially limits information, stunting economic growth, controlling what people see, and even starves many companies out. Enterprises with good services that get no business whilst other comparable enterprises blossom, for no apparent reason that can be seen.

Their hold on this type of information is criminal.

Consider the value of the pay per click industry, I am certain that TWS could save this country billions of pounds each year. Its simple, County Industry could be ramped up to encompass all industry. Not a large task. If you continue the search for powder coating in Google, there are less than 400 results. It starts off by saying there are a couple of million, but how far can you get? My search, with 100 results per page, has resulted in under 400 results. And even that seems to change randomly upon refreshing. And most of that is not relevant, Wikipedia entries and university papers.

With some work County Industry could be a far superior product, there are already several hundred powder coaters in the listing, look for yourself. It doesn't take much to compile core market sectors.  Even if County Industry sold only 1,000 paper directories a year, that could be enough to curate a product that was 90% complete in its coverage. A large engineering company could probably complete that order in one hit if they supplied it to all subsidiary operations.

It could be argued that Google is gatekeeping, keeping out spammers and false businesses. It could be said to be manually curating its results for the better of all humanity. But really, who gave it that power. The legal system has judicial powers bestowed upon it by the British Government, created in the House of Parliament. The police have legal powers, local authorities are bestowed with regulatory powers. However, I do not see any Act of Parliament bestowing Google et al with the power to seriously influence and control our economy, society and culture. Yet they have the ability, and excercise to to kill anyone they want.

The situation is not apparent to businesses that flourish, or get by in todays economic climate, but when companies are losing out on business because Google simple doesn't include them in its search results, they will feel the pain. The power of king making, the power of killing business, and a power they have given themselves to police the new information age, without regulatory control or even understanding is without conparison in the history of man. Even the Stasi would be impressed.

It would appear that people simply don’t even know what is happening. Sitting there in silence, not knowing why people are not buying their buttons or clock parts, and ceasing to trade, or start spending money on Google Adwords, bidding up that top slot to £10 or more, all to find out that its not worth it and cease trading. Its pathetic. In my experience, the freshness and veal of a companies market efforts are often inversely related to their bottom line and directly proportional to their desperation.

Remember, Google doesn't even have an office in the UK that you can go and shout at or a customer complaints number or any form of appeal on any of its actions. I would go as far as to describe Google as an evil enterprise.

So really, what is better? A world where people sourcing products have to wade through an obfuscated subset of company information, missing many legitimate suppliers, or a world where all legitimate suppliers are presented, either online, such as County Industry? or in hard copy through Amazon where they can see each and every organisation and make a sourcing decision that is better for themselves and fair to suppliers?

Remember, not everyone is so smart that they can really get through all the misinformation. They really do choose the people at the top by default. The paid listings, even if they would be better off using a smaller, less busy supplier, even if by doing so they are putting other businesses out of business.

I don't want to say that people are not capable of thinking, but I don't really think that we can assume that the current method is without question the optimal for everyone. And when I see the amount of pain people suffer, trying to optimise websites and spending fortunes of Google Ads, I am pretty certain its not. So much, so, as already said, I am certain that TWS can save the United Kingdom billions of pounds if everyone in industry stopped wasting money on SEO and PPC and bought County Industry. What is more in the national interest, billions going to an offshore money scamming enterprise or money staying in the United Kingdom? Perhaps the United Kingdom would rather live handicapped and financially compromised than afford such majestic powers in the hands of such a low level web design company? Who knows.

The idea that the British Governemtn could ever step in is also probably very unlikely as they content themselves with talking crap about things of little consequence day in, day out in parliament, whilst the country burns.

So, as a last thought, how about a quick search for varied engineering companies in Luton 1973-74. Maybe the large paid adverts will sway your decision. Or maybe you'll go for the standard entries. Maybe you'll phone them all up?

Remeber, you can support Bitish Industry by buying County Industry in paperback format on Amazon. Its not brilliant, but if you have an incling to do business like they did in 1818 and not have Google tell you who you might or might not get quotes from, then its a start.