When people talk about improving local commerce and creating awareness for local shopping there are a lot of things that need to happen.  One thing is for sure and that's making sure that we have all of our local businesses setup in a central system. Just imagine trying to tame the crazyness below when there are SO MANY moving parts and you'll begin to see how complex this issue really is to deal with. Below you can see how the ball is passed from one area of commerce in the community to the other. If your business is not part of the local advertising system, you will lose many opportunities to catch these balls.  In this illustration a BALL = CUSTOMERS.