The future of city guides has been morphing beyond events and features. This was driven home today by the launch of Metromix Deals, a JV between Metromix, the 50+ site city guide chain co-owned by Gannett and Tribune, and Local…
The program for Interactive Local Media 2010 is already one of the best we have ever put together. And it keeps getting better and better. We'd already announced the keynotes from Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, Microsoft Advertising VP Randy Wootton,…
Show biz marketing accounts are huge, and their agencies are always looking for more ways to localize them. They've now inspired efforts by ValPak, the promotions giant, and Eventful, the local events site that boasts an audience of nearly 20…
We’re excited to announce our initial round of speakers for Interactive Local Media 2010, which takes place Dec. 7-9 in Santa Clara, California -- the heart of Silicon Valley. For sure, the industry has seen some dynamic shifts this year…
The deal-a-day marketplace is shaping up as a couple of leading brands in each market, some local media using white-label solutions and a healthy dose of aggregators repeating most or all the deals. Seeing to cut across much of the…
Sorting content by neighborhoods and ZIP codes can boost usage considerably, as HelloMetro recently discovered. The 10-year-old city guide gets more than 6 million monthly unique visitors and has 1,500 local sites. In a case study published today, it said…
The concept of a local affinity club for like-minded members looking for deals is always out there, although it's never really been mastered. Now, in the wake of Groupon’s success, the club concept looks like a vertical take on group-buying…
The market for SMB Web site building basically divides into do-it-yourself with a vendor that you select, or Web sites that are bundled with other marketing services. Pushing on the latter is Websplanet, a fast-growing 50-person company that is specifically…
The Las Vegas Sun is focusing on hyperlocal “Home News” neighborhood information that positions it for Yellow Pages-like sales, according to Sun President Brian Greenspun, who was speaking at a recent conference at the University of Las Vegas Nevada. Greenspun,…
The small-business market is always attractive to vendors in terms of volume, but many give up in frustration because of its fragmentation, low margins and high-service needs (and churn). Many of these vendors typically seek to move up the value…
Scheduling is seen as the next wave of online marketplace services for SMBs, encouraging sticky usage, premium features and, in some cases, highly contextual advertising. Scheduling vendors such as Agendize, Full Slate, MaxiPage and X Time are actively syndicating solutions.…
Angie’s List, the premium ratings and review service for home and medical services, has announced that it has raised $22.5 Million from institutional investors as it prepares for an IPO within 18 months. Investors in this round include some public…
The Groupon deal-a-day model -- “no money upfront, but we’ll take up to 50 percent of the coupon value” -- has been met with high satisfaction. Groupon’s internal data show that 97 percent of participating SMBs want to do it…
Microsoft will work more closely with small businesses and interactive agencies, offering itself up as “the local operating system,” according to Randy Wootton, Microsoft Advertising VP of global search and online marketplace, who addressed BIA/Kelsey’s DMS ’10 conference today in…
Yext CEO Howard Lerman, in the first of several keynotes at BIA/Kelsey's DMS 2010 in Dallas, says that “dozens of winners” will emerge in the local marketplace. Noting how fast technology has swarmed around local marketing, “it is basically the Jetsons…
Zillow, after five years and $87 million raised, says it is now in the black for the first time, after focusing more on revenues. It also announced that Spencer Rascoff has been appointed CEO, replacing Expedia Founder Rich Barton, who…
Groups have been using the Web since the mid-1980s for a wide range of activities, such as scheduling, discussions, photo sharing, referrals etc. Groups have been a special strength for Yahoo. BigTent, a group software company based in San Francisco,…
The deal-a-day model thrives on the power of its e-mail list, sales channels, promotion, clever copywriting and vendor selection. Newspapers and TV stations should be especially well positioned to leverage these strengths, right? Many, in fact, are diving in to…
MerchantCircle is joining the ranks of companies creating local and vertical content, including Demand Media, Associated Content, Examiner.com, AOL’s Seed and Patch, Perfect Market, Helium, Brafton Media and others. MerchantCircle’s new Local Content Studio is being led by Andy Halliday,…
Appointments are seen as the next frontier of e-commerce and advertising, as online and mobile-centric consumers increasingly look for the immediacy of booking electronically. The appointment space is a competitive one, however, as several companies jump on the opportunity --…
