If you do a search through the archives of just about any major news site, you're bound to run across mentions of the big players in online advertising and their attempts to break into local markets.  Both Google and Yahoo have made deals with local newspapers.  Both claim to offer a valuable service to local business owners.  But have either really succeeded or done much for small businesses?

Writing for ZDNet, Donna Bogatin calls Google on their failure to really reach out and touch local markets.

Bogatin's main assertion is that the Google approach to advertising won't work for local businesses.  I completely agree and I think her article should be a wake-up call to the online world.  There's a real problem here.  To date, no truly viable advertising option exists for small and medium sized businesses.  As Bogatin suggests, small businesses are used to being assisted and, in some respects, solicited for advertising.  The primary online advertising systems in place today are very do-it-yourself, automated, and cold.  Local business owners want a person to deal with.  Not an interface.

There's a lot of space here for someone to come in and snatch the market up.  You can find phone numbers and directions to local businesses at any number of websites.  But there aren't any easy, familiar online advertising options for these business owners.

Will Google, Yahoo, or one of the other familiar faces step up the challenge?  Or are we simply waiting for something new to develop to fill this need?