Yellowpages.com unveiled the first screen shots of its IPTV Internet Yellow Pages channel at Local '07 yesterday. The shots show a colorful video service that enables users to select and browse by popular categories, with details of nearby businesses also…
Yahoo! EVP Hilary Schneider, during her opening keynote to Kelsey Local '07, emphasized that the company is really zeroing in on local to play a major role in Yahoo!'s growth plans. Local search's share of overall search within Yahoo! went…
Just got a press release in my inbox from Yellow Book announcing that it would begin publicly disclosing audited circulation figures for all its directories with distribution greater than 100,000. In the release, Yellow Book makes the claim that it…
The "little guys" at the local level are generally obscured in both the "organic search" and "paid" rankings of the search engines. A search for "home improvement" in "San Diego," for instance, yields just two local contractors in 10 slots.…
The America East show the largest regional event in the U.S. newspaper industry took place last week in Hershey, Pennsylvania, with 1,200-plus attendees. I'd sum it up by saying that the attendees' mostly small and medium-sized markets remain…
Skype officially launched version 3.1 earlier this week. As we wrote about a few weeks ago, this includes a new feature that lets users find local businesses. This has clear synergies with its core product and represents an opportunity to…
We noted with interest the recent move by Canada's Yellow Pages Group to introduce a companion directory in the Calgary, Alberta, market along with this year's core directory. YPG's decision to introduce a companion book may be related to a…
Getting down to the final wire.... we think the Local '07 program in Santa Clara next Tuesday and Wednesday is looking really good. Piper Jaffray's Safa Rashtchy is the latest big add. Safa will be talking about PJ's new report,…
A new compact between Monster and Adicio, a classified vendor that previously insisted on newspapers' "independence" from Internet verticals, seems likely to evolve the world of classifieds even faster. The deal was unexpected Monster has recently grabbed the key…
Pegasus News, the social network site based in Dallas, made a deal with Fox4 TV for a mutual content swap that would fill Pegasus' news hole, leverage its features (weather, etc.) and increase awareness about it in the community. At…
AOL launched a beta version of its new local search product today. Though MapQuest has served as the de facto centerpiece of its local search functionality, AOL has trailed behind its search and portal competitors in having a dedicated local…
Microsoft announced today that it has agreed to acquire Tellme, a Mountain View, California-based voice search provider. Yesterday, Microsoft and Tellme briefed The Kelsey Group about the pending acquisition. Neither side would disclose the size of the deal, but we…
While I'm spreading rumors about online giants today, I might as well be fair and include others in the fun. The San Jose Mercury News has more on the rumored Google phone. Just as Microsoft would gain ground in mobile…
Rumors are swirling about a potential Microsoft acquisition of Tellme Networks. The latest is a Wall Street Journal article (sub. req'd) that reports a possible sale price of US$800 million (here is coverage from TechCrunch if you don't have a…
Eric Grilly, president of MediaNews Group Interactive and a major driver of the Yahoo! consortium for HotJobs, has left his position to take a new job as head of Philly.com, the Web site for The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia…
Greg Sterling wrote an interesting column in the YPA's Local Search Guide, and on his own blog, about the growing importance of video in local search. He gives lots of good examples of local video ad programs either launched or…
Google has added a new set of features to its Local Business Center. This is the place you can go to enter information about your business that is then indexed in Google Local. Any business with a physical address, in…
Our annual forecast was released today. The headline of the news release is "Global Ad Revenues for Print and Internet Yellow Pages and Local Search to Reach $38.9 Billion in 2011." The subhead is "Kelsey Group analysts expect continued growth…
The Kelsey Group's Global Print Yellow Pages, Internet Yellow Pages and Local Search Forecast is out today. The forecast has a five year outlook, comparing 2006 figures with 2011 projections. At a high level, here are some of the key…
With the onslaught of online, fragmentation and new advertiser models, newspapers and other local media could have it tough. But perhaps no one has it tougher than the free shopper publications that are distributed at grocery stores, vending boxes, libraries…
