TKG Data and Analysis: A Weekly Recap

Here are the highlights from the TKG blog last week, in case you missed any posts. Click below to read each post in full.

Friday Yellow Pages Potpourri

This from a guy who has managed most of a lifetime without using the word “potpourri” in a sentence … At any rate, here is a rundown of some Yellow Pages-related items of note from the past week. (read more…)

‘Where to Shop’ Now Available for iPhone

TheFind launched its “Where to Shop” application in the iTunes App Store today. I’ve been using it a bit this morning and it has held up to the test for some product searches around town (see screen shots below). This is essentially the mobile manifestation of the product inventory features that Krillion and NearbyNow have brought to online product search. Like TheFind’s online search engine, the iPhone app pulls local inventory data from both of these providers. (read more…)

Topix CEO on Site’s Evolution as a Local Portal

When Topix first came on to the scene in 2003, it primarily crawled local news. These days, the 30-person company has largely remade itself into more of a local portal, especially for smaller markets. It still isn’t profitable, but CEO Chris Tolles says it delivers a lot of upside to its primary owners: Gannett, Tribune and McClatchy. (read more…)

Eventful CEO on $10 Million Funding, Mobile and Ticketmaster Deal

Eventful, which competes with Zvents for leadership (and affiliates) in the fast changing local event marketplace, has just completed a new $10 million C round lead by Telefonica Capital. Also participating are alumni investors, including Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Bay Partners. In all, $19.6 million has been raised. CEO Jordan Glazier notes that the company now has 1,200 partners using the API and syndicating data, including the L.A. Times, Topix, Ripple and leading mobile application providers such as Earthcomber, Loopt and uLocate. (read more…)

Google Extends Reach in Television

Google announced today that it will partner with Harris Corp. in order to tap into its television inventory. Harris has an existing network that places television ads where there is remnant inventory. This is yet another move for Google TV Ads to extend its sources of available inventory, joining recent deals such as NBC Universal. This growth in inventory is happening somewhat in step with the growth of the ad creation that will fill it. In a chicken-and-egg-type scenario, the growth of this inventory will also serve to make its TV Ads program more attractive to advertisers. (read more…)

MerchantCircle Enlists Feet on the Street

MerchantCircle today announced that it will tap into its base of merchant listings to aide in selling its local marketing services. This comes with the notion that these 630,000 businesses are already entrenched in the community and selling their own wares. Giving them an additional incentive to push MerchantCircle advertising is a logical extension, says Walt Duflock, senior director of channel development. (read more…)

Print Skepticism Abounds in Tough Times

I read two columns today that had similar themes regarding SMBs’ general need to adopt better local marketing strategies. Carrie Hill’s Search Engine Watch column argues the relatively weak ROI transparency of print advertising (compared with online), while Danny Sullivan’s Search Engine Land column looked at SMBs’ need to get on their online advertising game. (read more…)

A Conversation With Center’d

We’ve heard bits and pieces over the past six months about Center’d — the company that was repurposed and re-branded from FatDoor. After information leaked out about the stealth-mode company back in April, we’ve been able to spend some time talking to CEO Jennifer Dulski to get the real scoop. (read more…)

Relocating? New Service Finds Similar Neighborhoods

Neighborhood-level intelligence isn’t always easy to find, for residents, travelers or resettlers. We have neighborhood boundaries, courtesy of the sociologists and mapmakers at Urban Mapping. But other information can be scant. (read more…)

MySpace Launches MyAds

As Peter Krasilovsky examined a few weeks ago, MySpace launched the beta version of its self-serve pay-per-click ad platform last night. Called MyAds, it will offer a number of text and display ad creation tools and targeting options within the MySpace network. (read more…)