This week, mobile location ad platform xAd put out yet another proof point of the legitimacy and growth of the mobile local opportunity -- and of course, their part in it. The company announced it more than doubled revenue in…
Is Apple getting into the mobile payments space? I don't mean for digital goods, such as songs and other virtual goods, which it already sells on mobile devices through iTunes, but rather for physical goods in the offline world. CEO…
On yesterday's Facebook Q4 earnings call, COO Sheryl Sandberg reiterated a point she's made repeatedly, "SMBs are the holy grail of online advertising and a segment that I've been particularly focused on throughout my career." She then noted that Facebook…
This year will be the beginning of the end for printed Yellow Pages and the end of the beginning for native advertising. This reflects just two of the "Analyst Picks & Predictions" that BIA/Kelsey published this week. Other 2014 analyst…
Like we do every January, BIA/Kelsey analysts huddle to formulate predictions for the coming year in respective areas of domain expertise. Earlier today, we released a report that highlights picks across local media coverage areas, and Thursday we'll do a…
Square's million share tender offer values the company at a whopping $5 billion and illustrates just how hot the mobile payments space has become. BIA/Kelsey's survey data certainly captures this momentum, showing that both consumers and small-businesses are embracing mobile…
One of the hottest topics in tech & media is the quickly evolving state of mobile advertising. Meanwhile, some of mobile's early promises include high intent users, and more trackable advertising. The latter is where things are really getting interesting.…
Call Based Marketing Automation provider Invoca announced today that it received $20 million in Series C funding led by Accel Partners. Following a recent rebranding (formerly RingRevenue), Invoca will use the funding to scale operations and tackle the enterprise opportunity,…
As briefly mentioned earlier today, voice based marketing automation provider Ifbyphone has secured a $9 million series D funding round. It was led by River Cities Capital, and it brings Ifbyphone's total funding to date to $30 million. This is…
Local search and advertising company,YP, has announced that it has acquired Sense Networks, a mobile ad company. Sense Networks was founded in 2003 and has evolved into a data aggregator and mobile ad targeting platform. It offers real-time bidding and inventory via mobile…
I'm working on a big white paper and forecast on call based monetization -- an update to the report we released last year. Phone calls as a lead source are getting more attention in the age of smart phones, and…
One of the hottest trends in local marketing is "National Local," which accounted for 32.1 percent or $42.5 billion of the $132.5 billion spent on local media advertising in 2012. BIA/Kelsey projects that national's share of local ad spending is…
According to BIA/Kelsey's Consumer Commerce Monitor™ (CCM) survey, usage of digital media by consumers for local shopping is close to 100%, demonstrating how consumers "want" and "intend" to shop. Usage of smartphones and tablets for local shopping is important and…
The shift from print to PC was disruptive. The shift from PC to mobile is also disruptive, but the implications are more complex as consumer behavior becomes increasingly multi-screen. Today, half of U.S. mobile searchers begin their purchase research…
Among the varying definitions of "Local" Demandforce CMO Patrick Barry boils it down to its root-level: SMBs. Though we're seeing lots of activity in location based ad targeting, and brand advertisers localizing campaigns, it's all about the SMB for Demandforce.…
While The Weather Company VP Denise Chudy and Wanderful Media CEO Ben Smith work in different verticals (weather and retail), they shared a common mobile message at BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local conference: that the experiences are inherently local, with users…
Businesses need to focus on three key strategies for optimizing their mobile presence for making the most of the rapid growth in local commercially relevant search. The ability to match the intent indicated by keywords with user location is a…
At BIA/Kelsey's Leading in Local conference, Facebook VP of Product Marketing Brian Boland amplified a local business theme we've been hearing from the social network for a while: simplicity, engagement and outcomes rule. The company has actually reduced the number…
What we hear from everyone is that SMBs can't figure out what marketing solutions they should employ, how to go mobile, or measure how well they're doing on the Web. That realization is driving the direction of a number of…
One of the hottest topics in tech & media is the quickly evolving state of mobile advertising. Meanwhile, some of mobile's early promises include high intent users, and more trackable advertising. The latter is where things are really getting interesting.…
