There wasn't much mainstream press fanfare (just a couple of pieces) about the launch of self-described next-generation shopping search engine Become.com (you have to register to use the beta). Behind it are the folks that started MySimon, which has been…
How about: Firefox is the new Google? (Say that like you're from the "old country.") In other words (and nevermind that full page ad in the NY Times), is Firefox demonstrating the kind of grass roots traction that made Google…
AOL's new and improved feature set for local will be on display starting today. AOL has revamped local in much the same way it stripped down and souped up its general Web search. There's lots of interesting new stuff to…
Most every traditional medium today faces challenges from new technologies. Yellow Pages and newspapers, the primary print directional media, are being affected mostly by the Internet. Radio faces the double whammy of iPod and other portable digital audio players and…
USAToday has an overview of cable companies working on delivering more targeted local advertising. Is it going to be a reality or simply more hype? We're going to explore this, as well as Internet TV and video search, on April…
Missed this one when it came out. But the NextSearchSurvey folks found that when they asked online respondents "If you were to choose one search engine out of the four major ones, which one would it be?" Eighty-seven percent of…
Very interesting story in the NYTimes today re Philadelphia becoming one big wireless hot spot. Many implications . . . There are implications for ISPs (although the regulators seem prepared to protect the economic interests of corporations vs. the public),…
The Interactive TV revolution€"long on hype, short on execution€"may not be "televised." It will be online instead. Yahoo!'s announcement that it will stream the full Showtime-produced "Fat Actress" is a milestone and ups the ante for Web companies doing video.…
Eniro is a very progressive directory organization operating in several very progressive markets (including Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) as well as some developing markets like Poland and Russia. It is probably fair to say that the company made too…
Google is offering more people the chance to open gmail accounts. Formerly this was a viral affair (which was very very smart marketing). Now, Google appears to be seeking to leverage gmail as the basis for an expanding relationship between…
Two interesting articles, one by Brad Stone of Newsweek on the data providers behind mapping sites/functionality. Another by the NYTimes about 3-D mapping. This is where it's going. Just wrote about maps today and we'll be covering this at Drilling…
This is sort of amazing. I was reading about pinot noir wines on the NYTimes' Web site (perhaps I was too influenced by Sideways). The Times liked a particular New Zealand pinot, Peregrine Central Otago 2001, better than the other…
I recently noticed a press release on the merger of two relatively obscure publishers of Spanish-language Yellow Pages directories. The acquiring party is Hispanic Yellow Pages of America, backed by the private equity fund called Hispania Capital Partners LLC. The…
Published reports confirm that direct marketing company and database provider infoUSA (which provides the data for many of the top IYP/ local search properties) is seeking to buy online marketing firm Digital Impact. Digital Impact, which previously acquired search engine…
I recently noticed a press release on the merger of two relatively obscure publishers of Spanish-language Yellow Pages directories. The acquiring party is Hispanic Yellow Pages of America, backed by the private equity fund called Hispania Capital Partners LLC. The…
DoubleClick and comScore released the results of a study about the relationship between search and e-commerce. This is similar to the comScore-Overture study conducted last year. The new findings underscore those of the earlier Overture study and reinforce the idea…
For a very nice overview of the entire local search space, check out the Local Search Guide. More profiles and resources have been added. Here's the new stuff: "The Search Tools section of the Guide, which now includes a Mapping…
Both MSN and Ask Jeeves have announced that they're going to spend money on TV to try and grab some search market share. Yahoo! has been spending (on TV, outdoor, etc.) for some time on search (and local). Several surveys…
So Fathom Online reported a crash after the holidays in keyword prices. But over the long term, they're going up up up (so implied Google in a BizWeek article ). The trend of branding dollars entering search means continued price…
Will telcos be able to do to cable TV (IPtv) what cable TV is starting to do to telcos with IP telephony? And with the possible exception of SuperPages, will the remaining U.S. telco-YP owners spin off their directories to…
