In the great tradition of ILM keynotes, we have landed one of the best yet: Bill Gross, CEO, IdeaLab. It is definitely fitting to have THE premier Los Angeles tech leader and visionary to start things off for us at…
The ILM West 2012 conference, the mega-event we are holding Dec.4-6 in LA, keeps building and building. We announced the keynotes early: YP CEO David Krantz; CityGrid CEO Jason Finger; Google Global Channel Partners GM Todd Rowe and Facebook Global…
Hurricane Sandy forced millions of North-easterners out of their travel routines, closing down regular transit routes and services. It also spurred a boomlet in online and mobile searches for alternative transit, as well as weather. HopStop, a 20 person, four-year-old…
Throw out the pyramid and the funnel. The pretzel is the new paradigm for mobile-driven retail, according to panelists at the OMMA Mobile M Commerce event Oct. 22 in Los Angeles. The age-old pyramid and funnel concepts have been driven…
Increasingly, a lot of the mobile discussion is oriented towards ecommerce. But what does a major vertical site do with mobile when it doesn’t sell anything online? AutoTrader, the leading auto site, doesn’t sell cars online. “We basically sell advertising,”…
American Express is seeking to move beyond its narrow image as a blue chip premium credit card company, and open the doors to new business opportunities, customers and revenues. Its ticket? The group of emerging payment products and services --…
Our ILM West conference, which is being held Dec.4-6 in LA, continues to build in a big way, with new speakers and sessions that reflect the dramatic changes in the Interactive Local Media marketplace (and the breadth of BIA/Kelsey research.)…
A few years ago, it became apparent that IAC's ServiceMagic had stalled. While the 1,200 person company has continued to show growth, and had expanded to several international markets, it was clearly vulnerable to new challengers, ranging from Angie's List…
Retailers own the local experience with customers. But the brands they sell have a stake in local targeting, too, typically supporting it via coop advertising. Other methods to get in front of local customers are less dependent on their retailers.…
When was the last time you got a manicure special in your in-box? If you are a man, it didn't do much for you. In fact, many deals, offers and other promotions aren't especially relevant to their recipients. Even when…
Our BIA/Kelsey events are intense things to develop and produce. We love to do them. The next one is ILM West, which is Dec. 4-6 in Los Angeles. The programming for these don't come out of thin air, of course.…
It has been a great year of networking and learning at BIA/Kelsey events – which focus on “what’s important and why” in local. Our biggest show of the year is ILM West, which has attracted 600-700 senior level execs in…
One of the most promising concepts in local are “Write Once, Publish Everywhere” platforms for SMBs. With local businesses needing to communicate more and more deals, new features and special events to their customers, it makes sense to get them…
The consortium of 12 major newspaper companies that last year purchased Travidia, a digital circular vendor, has relaunched as Wanderful Media. The consortium, previously known as ShopCo., has committed $22 Million to the venture. It has also introduced a new…
As the New York Times noted this morning, Apple’s initial iOS6 foray into mobile maps has been greeted with a thumbs down by iPhone 5 reviewers, who prefer the polished Google Maps experience that was the prior default. But maps…
Yodle CEO Court Cunningham, in a well received presentation at SMB Digital Marketing this week in Chicago, told attendees to constantly adapt to actual conditions in the marketplace, not what the “experts” tell us. The gist of Cunnigham’s comments were…
Facebook’s Fred Huang spoke about the SMB mission with Facebook at SMB Digital marketing today in Chicago. He noted that the SMB product roadmap is about helping them spend less time managing their page, make it easier to have their…
Google’s role in the SMB Digital Marketing community is huge, and at SMB Digital Marketing in Chicago today, two Google execs described some of the company’s activities that have impacted SMB marketing. Speaking on reseller side as an exec in…
DemandForce's CMO Patrick Barry suggested during his keynote address at SMB Digital Marketing in Chicago today that Intuits $434 Million acquisition of his company last year might be meant to connect every small business to any consumer via a single…
Newspapers have local brand credibility and content; agencies have media expertise; and neither of them do especially well selling SMBs on today's social-infused media options. That's the challenge being addressed by Speakeasy, a new local social service being owned in…
