Last fall, a report from Sequoia Capital was widely circulated, strongly suggesting that companies sit on their capital and wait out what was sure to be a very slow and painful period. Now it’s gotten worse. For the past several…
Sears will try to leverage its identity with home improvement and repair with ServiceLive, a new leads provider for service pros that is being pitted against ServiceMagic, Angie’s List, DoneRight and others. The tagline for the service, which begins a…
Cazoodle, a new listings-based service, has launched from the incubator at The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (yes, Marc Andreeson’s former territory). The site currently crawls for apartment listings and shopping. Additional vertical categories such as events are anticipated, notes…
AOL Local has teamed with Oodle to launch AOL Classifieds in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, AOL is launching a U.K. classified site at the end of the week. Oodle aggregates listings from more than 250 partner sites (including…
ESPN, which is 80 percent owned by Disney and 20 percent owned by Hearst, has been a leader in verticalizing its brand and content, with dozens of properties covering everything from the core network to ESPN Desportes to the retail stores.…
Local.com has made its first substantive changes to the site in over a year. CEO Heath Clarke says the changes make it easier to find all the varied content on the local portal. It will also make it easier for…
The Los Angeles Times today debuted “Mapping L.A.,” an online effort to map 87 distinctive neighborhoods in the sprawling Southland. For the paper, the designation of neighborhoods goes beyond civic duties. Not only does it intend to base news stories…
One of the homespun stories of interactive local media is the rise of HelloMetro, a city guide company that started in 1999 as an entrepreneurial effort in Louisville, Kentucky, and has since grown to include 15 staffers, including five direct…
Clearly, SMB marketing is no longer just about local search and directory listings. While search remains an important piece of the pie, display is emerging in its own right. Marchex, AdReady, Cobalt’s Admission, MediaTraks, Mixpo and Jivox are among those…
TripAdvisor was one of those rare Web 2.0 breakthroughs where the power of the crowd created a viral energy all its own (and enough traffic to sell advertising). Now Stephen Kaufer, founder and CEO of TripAdvisor, along with Dan Saul,…
Operating on the assumption that most small businesses are either too impatient or don't have the expertise to understand usage reports, Jivox has launched “Video Engagement Scores.” The scores provide SMBs with feedback on a 0-100 basis, complete with red,…
One area that is thought to be doing comparatively well in the poor economy is coupons, both in print and online. Valpak, the blue envelope coupon company put on the market by Cox Enterprises last August, reinforced that mind-set today…
Zagat, which publishes consumer reviews and guides for restaurants, nightlife, hotels and attractions, has licensed out its name and reviewer system to WellPoint. The health-care insurer will publish Zagat-branded health reviews for its WellPoint and Anthem Blue Cross customers, reports…
BIA, which is Kelsey’s parent company, works closely with radio station groups and other traditional media players in finance, operations and strategy. Mark Fratrik has been watching Google's efforts in radio sales (“Google Audio Ads”) from the inside. In the aftermath of…
Yesterday, Trulia announced it was replacing Classified Ventures’ HomeFinder.com as the real estate search provider on WashingtonPost.com. Today, the paper seems to have reaffirmed its ties to CV via a new deal with CV’s HomeGain. The deal with HomeGain provides paid…
Hmmmm … Save money and schedule meetings with 10 or 100s of interactive local companies in one place ... meet a lot of new ones. Learn from the industry’s top speakers … get some cutting-edge research from Kelsey. “Go home…
The Washington Post is switching its local real estate search from Classified Ventures’ HomeFinder.com to Trulia. The switch takes place in April, and is being announced just after CV's introduction of the HomeFinder brand, which replaces the HomeScape brand. The…
Multiple Listing Services are generally seen as technologically backward sites restricted to Realtors. But this may change, if a new consumer-facing model takes off. Specifically, Local Matters, the social media vendor launched by MapQuest founder Perry Evans, has teamed with…
Oodle, the mega classified platform company, has raised an additional $5.6 million from its existing investors, which include Greylock Partners, Redpoint Ventures and JAFCO Ventures. The company has raised $24 million in total. Noting that Oodle has recently signed companies…
Interactive television once vied with the Internet (and dedicated online services) as the best conduit for interactive content. That fell by the wayside in the mid-1990s. Today, ITV solutions are largely limited to simpler Internet-like apps like photo collections, Yellow…
