TKG Data and Analysis: A Weekly Recap

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

What Is the iPhone’s Real Impact?
M:Metrics released a study earlier this week that makes big claims about the iPhone’s impact on the mobile market. It points to the high percentage of iPhone users who are accessing mobile data such as search, browsing and mobile entertainment. This all makes sense because iPhone users are mostly a self selected segment of mobile power users or early adopters who, not surprisingly, have a propensity toward mobile search and data (not to mention that all iPhones are tied to unlimited data plans). (read more…)

Google’s LBC: Now With More Fiber
We knew it was coming sooner or later. Google has begun to allow users to upload video directly into the Local Business Center. Companies such as TurnHere and eLocalListing were already uploading this content for their SMB clients via direct partnership, but this essentially makes it possible for more firms to do it with less friction. (read more…)

LAT49: Reading Maps for Local Context (and Ad Placement)
More and more, people are looking at what Google can’t (or won’t) do. One thing Google isn’t doing is selling a lot of ads on a hyperlocal basis. If you look for a plumber in Tribeca, you are likely to get ads for all of Manhattan. That might simply be an issue of making sure it has enough ads to fill the inventory. (read more…)

Local Matters Launches Local Guide Platform
Local Matters has announced a new publisher platform called Guidespot. The company works with a global who’s-who list of publishers to power their IYPs and online sites. This move extends its capability include community and UGC-driven local guides. This comes at an opportune time when many IYPs and newspaper sites are integrating social media in various ways (mostly user-generated ratings and reviews). (read more…)

Talking Local at SES New York
SES New York is winding down and there has been a lot of attention paid to local — much more so than in past SES shows. Specifically there was a track on day 1 that John Kelsey and I ran, and then another track on day 2 including an insightful session led by Urban Mapping CEO Ian White and others well versed in local such as Localeze’s Gib Olander. (read more…)

Planet Discover CEO: ‘Our Role in Local Search’
Is there still a role in local search for a “niche” provider like Gannett’s Planet Discover? The question comes up after Boston.com VP of Product Bob Kempf said there really is no substitute for a major search engine tie, and that alternative solutions would be “second rate.” Planet Discover CEO David Lenzen certainly thinks there is a role for his company. In a note written in response to the Boston.com post, Lenzen articulates several reasons why the company is still relevant. (read more…)

More Yellow Bashing
When I read the article in The Boston Globe today that yet again chronicles the woes of big city Yellow Pages directories (full disclosure alert: I was interviewed for the Boston Globe article but not quoted), several thoughts came to mind. The first thought is that directory publishers need to gain more control over this issue, which seems to have taken on a life of its own. I realize this isn’t an easy task, but I do not know how many more dust-gathering-on-the-uncollected-phone-books-in-the-apartment-building-foyer stories this industry can take. (read more…)

Cox, Yellow Book Join Forces
U.S. independent publisher Yellow Book announced a distribution and co-branding deal with Cox Communications in which Yellow Book directories in key Cox markets will carry Cox branding and information on Cox products and services in the front of book. The deal currently involves Yellow Book directories in Providence, R.I., Pensacola, Fla., and Oklahoma City, Okla., but may be extended to other Cox markets in the future. Cox has 6.2 million residential and commercial customers. (read more…)

WebVisible Lands $12 Million; Emphasizes Integrated SMB Solutions
The small-business advertising arms race has gotten hotter in recent weeks, as companies eye a chance to add Google and Yahoo! search solutions, and other services to small-business marketing budgets once totally contained by Yellow Pages. First we had ReachLocal’s $305 million valuation based on a $55 million round of financing, sparking the whole marketplace. In early March, Spot Runner entered the game, acquiring Weblistic in an all-stock buy to power its 30 local sales offices with solutions that go beyond its core strength in video. (read more…)

Yellowpages.com, Microsoft Ink Multiyear Distribution Deal
Today Yellowpages.com, a subsidiary of AT&T, announced a multiyear distribution deal with Microsoft. In April, Yellowpages.com’s local listings and advertisers will begin appearing across Microsoft properties, including, MSN Yellowpages, MSN Search, Live Search and Maps. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Typically, however, these distribution deals involve a minimum guaranteed payment in exchange for traffic guarantees. The top payment on traffic referrals is usually capped. (read more…)