The Missing Network

How do we solve the vexing problem of online advertiser and audience fragmentation? Why, the network, of course. Aside from a few big names, very few sites today have the quality and reach that advertisers want. (In many cases they…

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Paid Search Already at $7B?

Most of the paid search forecasts for 2005 have already been surpassed by actual revenues at Google + Yahoo! (combined approximately $7 billion through Q3, not counting anyone else): Merrill Lynch: $5.1 billion Goldman Sachs: $12.3 billion (online total, search…

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VoIP: Price vs. Privacy?

The ever inquisitive U.S. government is seeking authority to tap more VoIP calls at its discretion. VoIP calling is typically cheaper than traditional PSTN calling. In the third quarter, according to research firm TeleGeography, VoIP subscriptions had reached 3.6 million…

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Google Base Is Live

Here it is and it is in fact a separate area of the site. While one can search for anything, results are organized in content-specific areas on Google Base (e.g., Cars, Jobs, Real Estate, Recipes, etc.). But depending on what…

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The Best of Times and the Worst

According to Nielsen, (via MediaPost), traffic is growing very briskly at the major newspaper publishers' sites. The top 5 are: NYTimes.com USAToday.com WashingtonPost.com LATimes.com (Tribune Co.) SFGate.com (Hearst, SF Chronicle) Meanwhile, Knight Ridder has put itself up for sale, the…

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The Return of Metrobot

Before all the mashups and nouveau mapping, a tiny company called Metrobot, run by Geoff Campbell, was doing some very different things with maps. The tool provided something like a graphical version of what A9 has done with its block…

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Online Inventory Problems

Thanks to John Battelle for pointing to a PaidContent write-up of a WSJ story about the rising cost and scarcity of quality online inventory. Here's a post from earlier this year about the inventory conundrum. For multiple reasons (inventory is…

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Enter the 'Shoposphere'

Building on its "social search" template, Yahoo! has revamped shopping and added a range of new personalization and community features. There's a heavy emphasis here on community reviews as a way to "filter" information. There are also degrees of trust…

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TrueLocal Goes Live

TrueLocal is a consumer-facing local search engine that has been operating "under the radar" (except for appearances at SES) for a while. Run by search engine veteran Jake Baillie, the company is owned by database provider Geosign, which delivers local…

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ContactAtOnce! and IM Marketing

Atlanta-based ContactAtOnce! has been running trials with automotive verticals adding IM and presence management to dealer Web sites. The results of the trial, according to the company, were quite successful. Local dealers saw a "20% lift" in the number of…

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ILM:05 Update

If you're anything like me, you wait until the last minute to register for conferences. And I always get shut out of the discounted rate for the conference hotel. I wind up paying $$ to be down the block. In…

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