Online/Interactive

What do you get when you ask a YPA staff vice president to ask six board members questions in front of the membership? In short, not a lot of controversy. That's nobody's fault. It's just the environment. Stephanie Hobbs, who…

As Google became progressively more powerful, more and more people began trying to manipulate Google's "organic" search results. That aim has spawned a whole industry -- search engine optimization -- and in fact resulted in more manipulated links (some would…

First Google and Yell announced that the latter, the owner of the Yellow Pages brand in the U.K., would provide the content for Google Local U.K. Now Yell's rival in the directory publishing business, Thomson Directories, has announced that it…

According to the FCC (reported by CNET), broadband (BB) grew in all 50 U.S. states and was up overall by 34 percent in 2004. Here's why BB will continue to gain: Government initiatives (e.g., municipal free access) Price competition WiMax…

Yahoo! announced quarterly revenues of US$1.25 billion and net income of US$755 million. That represented a 51 percent increase from revenues of US$832.3 million last year during the same period. Yet the stock lost value in after-hours trading. I believe…

I€™ve made a big deal of late of user-generated content and its importance in local. But not all publishers and sites can effectively pull this off. Getting users engaged and creating a community atmosphere that will encourage this is no…

So I'm 20 years out of college this year (and 15 out of law school) and starting my mid-life crisis in earnest. That's why I glance wistfully at a host of applications and marketing initiatives directed at college students: LiveDeal's…

The NY Post reports that Microsoft wants to buy a piece (how big?) of AOL. (Perhaps it's time for some Scooby-Doo sound effects and other incredulous reactions.) Why? Maybe: TimeWarner wants some cash to pay down its billions in debt?…

According to a story yesterday in MediaPost, BURST! Media surveyed 6,400 online users (14 and older) and found that 62% were most interested in news when they went online. Entertainment was the second most popular category of information, sought by…

So if you€™re looking for a way to get people to write reviews about local businesses, what would you do? Insider Pages is offering a $10 Shell gas gift card to members when they review 10 local businesses. You are…

It would appear, as some have speculated, that Google is working on just about everything that its hundreds of engineers can sink their intellectual teeth into. Today, for example, Google launched blog search from both its Blogger site and from…

Idealab's Snap.com search engine has launched comparison shopping. The site was developed in partnership with Smarter.com and CouponMountain.com. Shopping search is one of the most furiously competitive market segments and Snap is fighting an uphill battle to gain traction (just…

Yahoo! intitated a beta test with a limited number of users (sadly I'm not among that select group) and is preparing to launch a much-improved Web based email product. Beyond putting pressure on rivals (especially Hotmail), it will seek to…

Just like Humpty Dumpty's great fall to pieces, media content and audiences are fragmenting -- or perhaps what might be called "nichifying" (read: long tail). And just like "all the king's horses and all the king's men," one of the…

The NY Times in an article this morning confirms the eBay-Skype rumor. The deal is worth US$2.6 billion in cash and stock. Much of it seems to be about competition and not wanting to get left behind on VoIP. From…

I can't believe I missed this lower-down in the release: The acquisition also enables eBay and Skype to pursue entirely new lines of business. For example, in addition to eBay's current transaction-based fees, ecommerce communications could be monetized on a…

At a time when former subscription services (e.g., CNN Video) are moving to free, ad-supported models, the NY Times is moving in the opposite direction. On Monday, the company is launching TimesSelect, a subscription service that will mean certain content…

Simplified search/local search enabler (my awkward term) SME Global Solutions has bagged some cash -- in other words, closed a Series A round with Redpoint Ventures -- and changed its name. The company is now being called "WebVisible." What WebVisible…

Having waited and waited to upgrade my cellphone technology and music listening experience, I read with considerable interest the hot rumors about the pending product launch of a new Motorola cellphone that comes loaded with iTunes software. With 2.5G and…

Recently, I have had the opportunity to speak to a number of publishers of all sizes to get a sense of their perspective on this important issue. My take is that Yellow Pages executives believe there will be a major…