TKG Data and Analysis: A Weekly Recap

Here is a sampling of posts from the TKG blog this week, in case you missed them:

VFlyer Taps Into Online Real Estate
Classified widget provider vFlyer has launched a low-cost Web site development and hosting product for real estate agents to post individual listings online. Like the rest of vFlyer’s product line (explored here), this is a seller-centric tool that aims to reduce the amount of cost and friction for real estate agents to market themselves and their properties online. (read more…)

Real Estate Connect: Zillow CEO Rich Barton
When Zillow originally launched, it was seen in some circles as a liberator for consumers who had relied on the judgment of Realtors for too long. But CEO Rich Barton, speaking at Inman’s Real Estate Connect conference, said its mission was, in fact, misinterpreted. (read more…)

Here Comes the GPhone
As we’ve mentioned in the past, the Web browsing capabilities of the iPhone could be the avenue through which search app developers can finally sidestep the carrier control over the home screen of devices that run on their networks. A phone from Google could also do this, if the company pushes its weight around enough, to appeal to carriers with an enticement of brand appeal and revenue boosting possibilities for data consumption, amid hyper competition and falling revenues in the mobile voice arena. (read more…)

Google Takes Bigger Step Toward Video Ads
The NewTeeVee blog reports on comments made by Susan Wojcicki, Google VP of product management, that the company is testing different forms of video advertising. YouTube has already begun to experiment with the inline ad format that Wojcicki hints at, and this type of integrated advertising is seeing some interesting developments we’ve covered from the likes of Blinkx and Adap.tv. (read more…)

Australian PE Firm Buys Israel’s Golden Pages
Another directory publishing asset has changed hands, with one investor cashing out handsomely and another coming in hoping to make a killing. This time the buyer is Babcock & Brown, an Australian private equity firm that is focused on media and telecommunications. The asset is Golden Pages Israel, that nation’s dominant directory publisher and increasingly a player in online local search. (read more…)

EStara Integrates Lead Gen; Auto Dealers Sound Off
Click-to-call technology provider eStara announced today that it will integrate a lead generation feature to its Click Suite for Local Search Platform, known as Form to Phone. This will be primarily geared toward auto dealers and third-party auto Web sites and will allow them to respond quickly to online lead forms that online shoppers fill out. Dealers will be prompted by phone and e-mail to contact these leads in hopes of response times and ultimately increasing conversions. (read more…)

Florida Times-Union Launches Free DA (read more…)
Free directory assistance services, funded by pay-per-call ads, have been rolled out by a number of entrepreneurial companies, telcos and Yellow Pages publishers. But now comes The Florida Times-Union, which quietly rolled out a local version of Say Hello Inc. (formerly America Says Hello) four weeks ago. The FTU, which has a daily circulation of 169,000, is based in Jacksonville. It is the flagship for Morris Communication, the lead investor in Say Hello’s initial $1.2 million funding. (read more…)

StreetAdvisor: Hyper-Local, Social Search, Maybe Even a Little Real Estate
Hyper-local neighborhood search site StreetAdvisor launched a series of features today that aim to make it more social. The Australian start-up launched in March as a place to share and comment on all things to do with your neighborhood. Today’s new features offer insider views and a “local experts” program that lets locals comment on everything from the service at the coffee shop on the corner to the loud music played by the college grads across the street. (read more…)

Searching for Enhanced Local Search Conferences
Yesterday, The Kelsey Group announced a partnership with conference series host Search Engine Strategies (SES). The two companies will work together to program upcoming conferences, the first being November’s Interactive Local Media Conference. (read more…)

InfoSpace Launches FindIt! on iPhone
InfoSpace’s flagship mobile local search product, FindIt, is now available on the iPhone. This is a natural fit for the ease of use of the new device and its mobile local search possibilities. (read more…)