A9, which recently launched Yellow Pages, has now created a very interesting RSS-based "open search" platform that allows users (once they're signed in) to customize and add "columns" to their A9 interface. A9 and MyYahoo, as well as some of…
This morning, following in Yahoo!'s footsteps (Local Listings) to a degree, Google announced the "Google Local Business Center." It's a free tool for businesses to add or update their business listings that appear in Google Local. Though the new site,…
The California-based Kaiser Family Foundation last week released research on American youth and media use: "Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-Olds." The study consisted of a nationally representative sample of 2,032 kids (3rd through 12th grade). The…
One of the interesting discussions that I find myself having quite a bit lately is the quality vs. quantity of leads discussion. It's a pretty well-known fact that IYP leads are much more qualified than general Web search clicks. There…
So it's about 3:15 a.m. here in NY, as I eagerly await the start of SES (more like the coffee I'm going to need tomorrow morning). But I just wanted to get another blog out before I attempt to sleep.…
The Pew Internet & American Life Project, as part of its ongoing telephone survey, polled roughly 2,200 U.S. residents on their sources of political information and news during the past election cycle. The results are a window into the larger…
In Jerry Yang's relatively brief on-stage interview with SES host Danny Sullivan this a.m., Yang gave a high-level overview of where Yahoo is going with search and other features of the portal. He spoke about more tightly integrating services across…
According to a news release, Interchange, which recently acquired Swedish Local Search technology platform Inspire AB, announced that it had secured the domain "Local.com" for US$700,000. It will use the Inspire technology, as well as its own, to support the…
DMNews reports on infoUSA data showing the number of small businesses in the U.S. declined by about 300,000 from 11.6 million at the end of 2003 to 11.3 million at the end of last year. This prompts me to think…
Newspapers have long thrown up registration pages in front of users coming from newsletters or news aggregation sites in order to capture demographic and personal information for later marketing purposes. The point is to make newspaper sites more valuable to…
Google has launched a personalization capability for Google News, allowing manipulation of the existing news categories and the creation of specialized categories (e.g., "Local Search"). Search Engine Watch has the full rundown. The new functionality is very useful and it…
Here's a USAToday piece that shows the potential direct line from consumer usage/behavior to advertising spend allocation. The article's about SMEs and search-engine marketing (anecdotal but instructive). Where the consumers are found the advertisers will follow--eventually. This is why IYP…
There wasn't much mainstream press fanfare (just a couple of pieces) about the launch of self-described next-generation shopping search engine Become.com (you have to register to use the beta). Behind it are the folks that started MySimon, which has been…
How about: Firefox is the new Google? (Say that like you're from the "old country.") In other words (and nevermind that full page ad in the NY Times), is Firefox demonstrating the kind of grass roots traction that made Google…
AOL's new and improved feature set for local will be on display starting today. AOL has revamped local in much the same way it stripped down and souped up its general Web search. There's lots of interesting new stuff to…
USAToday has an overview of cable companies working on delivering more targeted local advertising. Is it going to be a reality or simply more hype? We're going to explore this, as well as Internet TV and video search, on April…
Missed this one when it came out. But the NextSearchSurvey folks found that when they asked online respondents "If you were to choose one search engine out of the four major ones, which one would it be?" Eighty-seven percent of…
The Interactive TV revolution€"long on hype, short on execution€"may not be "televised." It will be online instead. Yahoo!'s announcement that it will stream the full Showtime-produced "Fat Actress" is a milestone and ups the ante for Web companies doing video.…
Very interesting story in the NYTimes today re Philadelphia becoming one big wireless hot spot. Many implications . . . There are implications for ISPs (although the regulators seem prepared to protect the economic interests of corporations vs. the public),…
Google is offering more people the chance to open gmail accounts. Formerly this was a viral affair (which was very very smart marketing). Now, Google appears to be seeking to leverage gmail as the basis for an expanding relationship between…
