Anyone use/heard of ThomasNet.com? (Industry specific Search Engine)

One of my clients pours upwards of 15k+ in having their company listed on ThomasNet.com

For those who don’t know ThomasNet.com: is an industrial search engine that provides one source for finding the exact product, service, or supplier –quickly and efficiently. ThomasNet provides direct access to the detailed information needed to make a purchasing or specifying decision, including line-item product details, CAD drawings, and more.

The more you pay at Thomas, the higher you rank in their rankings, already I do not like this…

I’m fairly new to SEO and I can’t imagine spending over 20k with these guys can do better than a well SEO’d website for google for a fraction of the price.

I was told that they really do not generate many leads. ThomasNet has been in this business for years and years when they offered their big green catalogs (hard copies). My client is very apprehensive to give up on Thomas, but without any solid ROI data, I’m not sure what they’re sticking around for.

I also read that being registered with these guys can actually hurt your rankings!? (although I cannot find where this is confirmed).

What are your guy’s thoughts on this? Spending around 20k/yr is a lot of $$ for a small manufacturing company.

I’d never heard of them but out of interest I did a google search for Thomasnet.com reviews. The first few results are all from Thomasnet themselves, but the first independent one is http://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.thomasnet.com the first review there is likely also from Thomasnet, but the rest make pretty scary reading!

I am in a construction business in Chicago and have spoken with Thomasnet about their options. I don’t remember the pricing, but I decided at the time that it was too expensive for a directory listing service. I can definitely confirm that your client’s 20k would be better spent elsewhere.

Back in the day when Thomas put out their set of big green books, my client was spending upwards of around 60k to take place a decent size listing!.