TKG Data and Analysis: A Weekly Recap

Here is a recap of posts from last week, in case you missed any. Click below to read each post in full.

Cool Item of the Day: Watch the Inauguration on Your iPhone

Live streaming video company Ustream announced a new iPhone application today that will let you tap into whatever videos it is streaming live on the Web. Its coming-out party will be during the presidential inauguration next Tuesday. Mobile video is a topic that’s gaining steam, along with the general excitement around mobile hardware and software advances. Ustream will be the first live video application on the iPhone as far as I can tell, although the still unavailable LiveStation app (broadcast feeds) was announced last month. (read more…)

Signs of the Times in Yellow Pages

We got news this week of two directory publishing operations shutting their doors, a reflection of the challenges of running a competitive directory publishing company in the face of a difficult economy and intense competition from incumbent publishers and the Internet. HYP Network, a private-equity-backed company that built a substantial operation in Spanish-language directories through acquisition and start-up, has announced it will liquidate, citing the tough economy. (read more…)

Online Video: SpotMixer Goes Deeper With Google

A week after announcing being knighted as an AdWords reseller and working with Google to offer video ad creation to its advertisers, SpotMixer has been integrated directly into the Google TV ads dashboard. This will position it more directly as a video ad creation engine within the AdWords workflow. Previously Google TV Ads used a less sophisticated video creation engine with less media assets to offer. (read more…)

Krillion Extends Ad Distribution to Topix: A Conversation With Joel Toledano

Local product data provider Krillion announced a deal today that will distribute product ads and inventory content across Topix‘s hyperlocal news network. This will take the form of a geographically targeted “local best deals” section on many Topix pages. As Krillion’s data drills down to product feeds at individual store locations, these listings will promote in-stock merchandise at the closest stores. (read more…)

AT&T Launches Voice Search for the iPhone

AT&T Interactive, the new division that’s behind the company’s popular YPMobile iPhone application, has added a voice search app to its roster. Called Speak4It, the application allows users to speak local search commands into the phone to receive map-based search results of nearby businesses. The app currently doesn’t have much AT&T branding and could therefore be an experimental play that will be folded in as a value-added feature to the flagship YPMobile at some point in the future. (read more…)

What Do Local Search and Raking Leaves Have in Common?

SMBLive CEO (and blogger) Matt Howard has come up with a new metaphor for local search that I have to say I haven’t heard yet. I won’t steal his thunder, but I’ll point you to his analogy, which mostly focuses on the content and advertiser aggregation challenges at the fragmented SMB level. (read more…)

New Funding: A Conversation With Yodle

Following Yodle’s $10 million C Round funding announcement yesterday, I had the chance to talk to founder Nathaniel Stevens. The funding, for one thing, is a good vote of confidence for Yodle and its market opportunity, despite the current economic environment. It’s also supportive of the notion that many advertisers are demanding more measurability in their local advertising campaigns and moving ad dollars online. (read more…)

AOL Launches MediaGlow Verticals Division

AOL continues its evolution into a multi-pronged media company with the launch of MediaGlow, a new vertical division made up of 70 branded and non-branded niche sites, such as When.com, AOL Autos and TMZ.com. The company expects to have more than 100 niche sites by the end of the year. MediaGlow is AOL’s third “new” non-portal division. (read more…)

WebVisible Study Indicates SMB Advertiser ‘Great Divide’

WebVisible and Nielsen’s jointly produced research on local search shows there is still a gap between user behavior and SMB advertising. The annual survey was just released, including responses from 4,000 U.S. Internet users and 261 SMBs. Here are some of the key findings: (read more…)

Case Study: Weblocal.ca and Canadian Local Search

A new TKG report has been released that takes a look at Canadian local search start-up Weblocal.ca. As we wrote at the time of its launch, this is a joint venture between YellowBot and Canadian publishing company Transcontinental Media. After two months, the site already has more than 1 million monthly unique visitors. (read more…)