TKG Data and Analysis: A Weekly Recap
Here is a recap of posts from last week, in case you missed any. Click below to read each post in full.
More Evidence of Online Video Effectiveness
We’ve heard a few (admittedly anecdotal) claims of SMB video’s effectiveness in raising clickthrough rates and engagement levels from those that have begun to offer it. The numbers we’ve heard from the likes of eLocalListing, Weblocal.ca and Brownbook are that listings with video are seeing anywhere between 2x and 12x CTRs over listings that don’t have video. (read more…)
Targeting Wi-Fi Users: A Conversation With JiWire
Today I had the chance to talk with David Staas, newly appointed SVP of marketing at JiWire. The Panorama Capital-backed company has a network of 25,000 Wi-Fi hotspots through which it reaches 15 million monthly uniques. It serves targeted ads based on location and audience. (read more…)
AOL Acquires Armstrong’s Patch, Plus Going.com (Updated)
AOL reaffirmed its strong interest in local today, announcing that it is purchasing Patch.com, a 25-person hyperlocal service invested in by new CEO Tim Armstrong when he was still at Google, and Going.com, an events-driven social network and self-serve ticketing platform aimed at 20-somethings. (read more…)
Bid4Spots’ Reverse Auctions Add Cable Systems
Bid4Spots, which has successfully played David vs. Google’s Goliath in working with radio stations to reverse auction off unsold airtime, is extending its service to local cable TV. The auctioneer will work with advertisers to let cable operators bid to place ads on networks. Cable systems generally have two minutes of inventory an hour. (read more…)
Diller: Local Still in Its Infancy; Citysearch Is ‘Just 20% There’
IAC Chair Barry Diller, in an interview with paidContent, noted that organizing local information remains a series of “impossible tasks.” Diller also said he envisions that all the directory businesses are moving online, and he sees a landgrab ahead. “Citysearch and ServiceMagic are so important to us, because nobody has really colonized it yet completely,” he says. (read more…)
Potts: Yelp Squeezing Newspapers Like Craigslist Eating Classifieds
Local media consultant Mark Potts writes in his blog that “Yelp is doing the kind of fundamental damage to newspapers’ traditional local entertainment listing and reviewing role that Craigslist did to classifieds.” For Potts, that means more bad news for newspapers. (read more…)
The Psychology of Smartphones
We often take a look at smartphone penetration in economic and technological terms — i.e., what will smartphone capability do for the growth of the mobile Web audience and for mobile local search?The New York Times today examines smartphones from a psychological perspective. (read more…)
ComScore Reports Mobile Local Audience Growth
ComScore reported today that the number of people who access local content on the mobile device is 32.5 million, an increase of 51 percent over a year ago. This isn’t surprising: It’s in line with the premise made continually on this blog that smartphone penetration and the resulting growth of the mobile Web will result in local search volume increases. (read more…)
A Bigger, Better Mobile Web Comes Into Focus
Apple’s app count continues to rise. The company mentioned yesterday as part of the new iPhone announcement, that it now has more than 50,000 apps in the App Store. As we’ve mentioned, it’s the apps (in addition to device features) that will drive sales in the increasingly competitive mobile device market. (read more…)
Swanson, Retif, Jules to Headline DMS ’09
Three CEOs who together represent almost 30 percent of global directional media revenues will give featured presentations at The Kelsey Group’s Directional Media Strategies, Sept. 22-24, in Orlando, Florida. (read more…)
