Update: April 11, 2012
Google has decided to come back to the Dallas area and open up an office in Frisco, Texas (north of Dallas). Chris has more info.
Perhaps it is a sign of the times, but Google is closing their Dallas, Texas location, as well as their Denver, Colorado location. These were primarily sales offices to support their Google AdWords programs.
As one of the founders of the Dallas Search Engine Marketing Association, I have to say that I am very surprised by this move by Google. I honestly can say that I personally believe that Google could have done a better job at selling their PPC products to businesses here in the Dallas Fort Worth area. The DFW market is one of the largest markets in the USA, not to mention the fact that lots of corporations make their headquarters here in Dallas. In fact, AT&T recently announced that they are moving their headquarters out of San Antonio to Dallas.
“Bottom line, North Texas is a great place to do search engine marketing. We believe it’s the best place in the country to do search marketing,” said Tony Wright, Vice-President and spokesman for DFWSEM. “According to our internal survey at DFWSEM, our members represent more than $100 million spent annually in search engine advertising, and much of that money goes to Google. And while our membership is large, it’s only a fraction of the actual amount being spent or allocated from the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I just don’t think the guys in Mountain View have ever been to Dallas and don’t know what they are missing.”
We first had word of Google closing its Dallas Texas office on the Google Blogoscoped blog.
In order to show our appreciation, all current Google members are invited to attend the DFWSEM’s quarterly meeting on July 16 at the Renaissance Hotel in Richardson, Texas for a night of networking and education. There will be many search engine marketers present that are sure to have opportunities for those Googlers that choose to stay in Dallas.
For more information, take a look at the official press release.
Here are some other sites mentioning the closing of Google Dallas office:
Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association Questions Closing of Google…
