By Dennis Clemente
Yodle, the online advertising company for small business, expects its 2012 revenue to reach $135 million. But how come nobody has heard of it? Has the industry grown that much? Or should the question be, Is it too different to be under an entirely new category other than advertising? People don’t know where to place it.
Still, you got to give it to Yodle is raking in the awards. It was cited as one of the “Best Places to Work For,” “Fastest Growing Company” and “Most Promising,” as brandished by Forbes and other biz pubs.
Still doesn’t ring a bell? How about its projected 2012 revenue of $135 million?! It may even be more mystifying that in 2008, only three years after it was founded, the company’s annual revenue was a “measly” $18.8 million.
Which is why is not unusual why it has won several honors. The money’s there.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, The Charlotte Business Journal cited Yodle as “The 13th Best Company To Work For;” with The Phoenix Business Journal in Arizona going as far as naming us one of the “Best Places to Work for In The Valley.” In Austin, Texas, Yodle was cited by the Austin-American Statesman as one of the “Top Workplaces” and the Austin Business Journal “The 2nd Best Medium-sized Company To Work For.”
Yodle was also recognized as a great place to work for. To cite an example, Inc. magazine’s Hire Power Awards placed Yodle 33rd among the top job creators in America.
From 10 employees in 2007, Yodle now has 850 employees claiming it gives a cost-effective way for local businesses to connect with consumers using online methods. It has put more than 30,000 local businesses on Google’s top pages.
Still, people I’ve asked don’t know Yodle from its business model. I guess that’s how the Internet has become such a vast landscape. Or it could be just how a Yodle insider simply puts it: “It’s not Pinterest.”