blinkx on the Go
Web-delivered video is hot right now, with a number of video start-ups having launched or received funding and with the iPod video making it the newest sexy thing to cover in the media. The latest move comes from online video…
The Yellow Pages is the Yellow Pages
I have trouble understanding how a top business publication like BusinessWeek can say, €œBelieve it or not, among the hottest media bets is the $15 billion a year U.S. Yellow Pages market.€ Why has it taken so long to recognize…
Yahoo! Launches Open Shortcuts
Yahoo! has launched a new service called Open Shortcuts, according to SEW, that allows users to create custom search commands.According to Yahoo!, this will let users:- Instantly navigate to any URL on the Internet- Easily recall common searches on Yahoo!-…
Video Game Ad Placement Takes A Step Forward
Game Publisher THQ announced that it has joined the online game advertising network of Massive Inc., which places real-time ads within the gamescapes of many popular online games. In-game advertising is a concept that is starting to become a reality,…
New Year’s Resolutions for Newspapers
Editor & Publisher columnist Steve Outing lists his New Year's resolutions for the newspaper industry here.It's a good summary of many of the challenges facing the newspaper industry, and it echoes much of our own analysis and recommendations to the…
Local.com to Distribute InsiderPages PPCall Ads
From the release: Insider Pages, the community-based local-search engine, and Interchange Corporation, owner of Local.com, a leading local-search engine, today announced an agreement for the distribution of Insider Pages Pay Per Phone Call advertisers and merchant reviews on Local.com. Insider…
Google: 'Alea Iacta Est' or 'Jump the Shark'?
"Alea iacta est"' (the die is cast) is what Julius Caesar is supposed to have said as he famously crossed the Rubicon river in Northern Italy, marking the beginning of events that would cause him to become "dictator for life."…
AOL: It's Google
In something of a surprise, Google is set to buy 5% of America Online from Time Warner for $1 billion. We had anticipated a Microsoft announcement. There's more on this story from The N.Y. Times. This is obviously a big…
New Zealand YP Jumps Into Mapping
Telecom Directories (New Zealand) is showing more aggressiveness in business development under its new leadership (GM Dudley Enoka). We recently noted in Local Media Journal that Telecom Directories has acquired a company that publishes a retirement guide for Kiwis over…
Eniro Closes Door on Eastern Europe
In a transaction unlikely to alter the delicate balance of power in the global Yellow Pages industry, Swedish publisher Eniro announced earlier this week that it has sold its 75 percent stake in Belarus directory publisher JV Eniro Belfakta, for…
Google (Local) Lab at Heathrow
I haven't been there in person, so I had to read about it on the Google Blog. Some time ago Google created Google Space (a physical place in Terminal 1) where users can access the Internet for free while waiting…
Classifieds Bits
AOL has apparently decided to no longer offer direct classifieds advertising and will instead become a distributor or aggregator of classified ads from other sources. Also the San Diego Union Tribune is apparently having good success with free classifieds (the…
Ingenio Fine-Tunes PPCall Features
On the advertiser side, Ingenio has added a couple of features ("auto-bidding" and "conversion management") to make PPCall easier and more effective. Ingenio explains: Auto-bidding: Similar to the proxy bidding features popularized by Google and eBay, Ingenio Auto-Bidding allows advertisers…
Gmail Mobile
One day there may be an official phobia related to fear of e-mail in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. An obvious moniker would be "e-mailophobia." Or maybe it will be swept broadly into a more general fear…
Wi-Fi Phones May Challenge Traditional Wireless
Earlier in the week I wrote a post about the inexorable spread of Wi-Fi and how "21st-century" businesses (i.e., ISPs and wireless) are going to be challenged and that currently fat revenues may dry up sooner than anyone expected. Now…
Yellow Book Reveals Online Revenues
Last week Yell Group conducted a detailed investor presentation in which it revealed for the first time online revenues for Yellow Book, its U.S. subsidiary. We will cover the details of the presentation within the TKR program, but here are…
Tellier Talks About Trader Deal
Had a discussion this morning with Marc Tellier at Yellow Pages Group about his company's acquisition of Trader Media Group, a Canadian classifieds publisher. We will cover the whole idea of directories and classifieds in greater detail within the TKR…
Sensis Exports a Strategy to Europe, Beyond
Spoke yesterday with Robert Rath at Sensis about a range of issues. One was to learn more about Platefood, a London-based joint venture that is majority owned by Sensis. The other partners are Norway-based Fast Search & Transfer and Schibsted,…
Brightcove CEO Predicts Future of IPTV
There will be a €œwholesale rewriting of the television business,€ according to Jeremy Allaire, founder and president of online video distribution service Brightcove (which recently raised $16.2 million from AOL, IAC/InterActiveCorp and others). Allaire spoke at the Syndicate conference in…