There has been a lot of talk in the past week over some of the apparent challenges facing local destination sites. Last week, BackFence endured a major downsizing, including the resignation of cofounder Susan DeFife (past writing on BackFence and…
Last week, we linked to a Search Engine Guide Piece by Jennifer Laycock that outlined some of the challenges that small businesses face in devising and executing online ad buying strategies. Today, Laycock takes a closer look in her article…
As mentioned briefly yesterday, we expect much of the product innovation unveiled at CES to deal with device convergence particularly with sharing content between Web, mobile and TV. Bill Gates' keynote had this theme, but it showed little difference…
The departure of BackFence CEO Susan DeFife amid the layoff of 12 of 18 staff members brought in a flood of comments to my personal site. Here's a selective summary. Dick Larkin, the Small Business Commando, kicked off the comments,…
Steve Jobs' Macworld Keynotes are among the most awaited tech events of the year, as some of the products historically announced (iPod, for example) have represented inflection points in consumer technology. Today at Macworld, Jobs introduced the long awaited iPhone.…
Microsoft announced today that it is partnering with aerial and satellite image provider GlobeXplorer to enhance Virtual Earth with 400,000 square miles of U.S. high-resolution aerial imagery coverage. Virtual Earth is built on Microsoft's MapPoint Web service and is the…
We've written a fair amount recently on the topic of White Pages, specifically whether print White Pages has much of a future in a world that is increasingly mobile and digital. An article in today's Albuquerque Tribune adds to the…
The annual Consumer Electronics Show kicks off this week and there will no doubt be a flood of product announcements, many of which will be relevant to the local and online media space. Last year, CES saw the launch of…
Last week we had the chance to speak with MapQuest about a series of upcoming announcements (then under embargo). The first of those happened late last week with the company's mobile search platform enhancements. Today MapQuest announced the release of…
You have to wonder what AT&T is thinking. The lead article in The Wall Street Journal (sub req'd) Media & Marketing section on Friday was titled, "For AT&T, Ad-Sales Success Is No Cinch." No kidding. Essentially AT&T announced plans to…
Sebastien Provencher reproduced a MarketWatch article on his Praized Blog that goes into great detail about most of the major trends in online social media and user-generated content. It's a nice state of the union on where these technologies are…
BackFence CEO and cofounder Susan DeFife has resigned from the company, amid a major downsizing. Co-founder Mark Potts will serve as the company's interim leader as the company looks to solve what he calls "BackFence 2.0." Potts initially said that…
Following up on last week's post, here is an in-depth Search Engine Watch article that echoes some of the benefits of vertical search. Search Engine Land meanwhile profiles online travel site SideStep, which puts some of these benefits into action.…
Just in time for the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, Dash Navigation said it will integrate Yahoo! Local features into its dedicated in-car GPS system. The announcement basically recycles statements made by Dash execs at DEMOfall in…
The Kelsey Group's basic business has always been about the impact of new technologies on local media companies and small businesses. It is one thing to discuss this in the abstract and something else to read in The New York…
ShopLocal, the sales aggregator from Tribune, Gannett and McClatchy, is normally aimed at middle-aged women coupon-cutters. But in a bid to extend its audience, and get a little buzz, a couple of young Turks at the company have created a…
I'm a bit late on this but LostRemote and Search Engine Watch report on the launch of blog directory Placeblogger. The site is backed by the Center for Citizen Media, whose executive director is prolific blogger and Drilling Down on…
Following up on yesterday's post about merging online and print newsrooms, here is an interesting piece from newspaper industry expert and Editor and Publisher columnist Steve Outing. He warns that strategies in integrating online and print news operations should even…
MapQuest announced today that it will enhance its MapQuest Mobile product and make MapQuest Navigator available on BlackBerries from Sprint and Nextel. MapQuest Mobile is a mobile local search platform available on any cellphone, which requires only a free download.…
I'm a little late on this, as we approach the football playoffs, but Miller Beer has been targeting local consumers this season by providing local team content and commentary on MillerLite.com, while linking to the teams' Web sites. The Miller…
