Yellow Media's longtime CEO Marc Tellier is stepping down and the company is seeking a replacement who can lead it through a full transformation to digital. Tellier has been at Yellow Media's helm since October 2001. He has agreed to stay…
This afternoon at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local BIA/Kelsey launched its version of the Shark Tank start up competition, the LOCAL Liftoff Awards, where three finalist companies gave a short pitch, followed by a brief grilling by celebrity judges Randy Parker, the…
This afternoon at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local, David Kidder, serial entrepreneur, angel investor and author of the "Start-up Playbook" offered some tips that separate the truly great entrepreneurs from the also-rans. Some of his advice includes: * Don't do things you…
Today at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local Conference, John Busby, VP, Marchex Institute, shared some compelling data about mobile calls and conversion rates. Busby kicked off the "Mobile Superforum" that capped off a busy morning here in Boston. Busby shared that, somewhat…
This afternoon at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local, Neal Polachek, board advisor for vSplash, offered an analysis suggesting local independent pizza owners must get more sophisticated online or the rest of us will be stuck with a choice between Dominos and…
Today's BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local Conference began with a pre-conference workshop on "Valuation and Funding in Local Digital Media." The workshop began with a rundown of BIA/Kelsey's new M&A database, which includes an analysis of 598 deals, including 438 deals with…
Dex One and SuperMedia have each entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of a pre-packaged deal as the two companies moved toward merging by mid 2013. The prepackaged route was necessary because the companies were not able to convince all…
The London Evening Standard is reporting that an attempt to engineer a buyout of Hibu's U.S. operation (Yellowbook) is behind the recent dismissal of two senior Hibu U.S. executives. In an internal memo last week, Hibu CEO Mike Pocock announced…
The French search and directory company PagesJaunes Groupe has launched a new corporate brand along with its 2012 earnings announcement. The company is now called Solocal Group, an obvious play on SoLoMo (social, local, mobile). The new corporate brand coincides…
Two global directory companies at different stages of transformation reported their 2012 earnings this week. Eniro and Yellow Media both reported deep print declines, as well as progress in repairing balance sheets burdened by debt. Mobile development was a high…
Seat Pagine Gialle, Italy's leading directory publisher, has announced it is insolvent and unable to meet its debt obligations. Specifically, the company was not able to meet its 2013 debt obligations totaling 200 million euros. Seat will now seek protections…
In keeping with tradition, BIA/Kelsey released its annual "Picks and Predictions" report this week, offering a collective view on the events that will drive the 2013 agenda in our local media coverage areas -- directional, interactive, mobile, social, vertical and video.…
The French search and directories firm PagesJaunes has expanded its presence in the dining vertical by acquiring Chronoresto, a site that allows consumers to order takeout food online. The acquisition follows the company's strategy of building deep content and transaction capability in…
BIA/Kelsey's Matt Booth invited two exceptionally frank local advertising buyers to dish the dirt on what makes them sign the contract and what makes them ask a local media sales person to leave their office --- immediately. No words were…
BIA/Kelsey Research Director Steve Marshall capped Day 2 with consecutive interviews with two Digital Hollywood insiders. Doug Neil, SVP digital marketing for Universal Pictures; and Jordan Glazer, CEO Eventful. First up was Neil, who runs online and mobile strategies for…
Online retail has become more robust and predominate over the past year. Some of the underlying trends and drivers were examined this morning on the panel, "Search for it! Local Online Retail Innovation. One of the most compelling recent developments…
This morning at ILM West in Los Angeles, Google's head of Global SMB Sales Todd Rowe offered "Five Trends that Will Affect you in 2013." Rowe is leading the charge at Google to build a global re-seller network to offer…
x Today at ILM West in Los Angeles, digital media investor and ex-Ticketmaster CEO Sean Moriarty talked to his former Citysearch colleague Matt Booth about what gets an investo/VC excited in today's environment. Moriarty offered some fundamentals. As an investor,…
For many of us, the Marchex story has been a difficult one to understand. But now the fog is lifting. Today, Marchex announced it is pursuing a split into two companies. The move spins off the company's domains and clicksbusiness…
On today's Q3 earnings call, DexOne CEO Alfred Mockett made it clear that bundles are central to Dex's hopes of arresting its revenue declines. The company grew its digital bookings by 26 percent in Q3 and expects to end 2012…
