Quick Thoughts on Apple's Big Announcements
A lot of us were glued to our screens today to watch or catch the feeds on the Apple announcements re iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Pay and Apple Watch. (To me, the best coverage was on Re/code). What…
Quick Thoughts on Apple’s Big Announcements
A lot of us were glued to our screens today to watch or catch the feeds on the Apple announcements re iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Pay and Apple Watch. (To me, the best coverage was on Re/code). What…
Future Stars Break-through: TalkLocal (SevaCall) Raises $2.6 Million
BIA/Kelsey launched Future Stars several years ago, with the idea of highlighting startup companies in the local space that needed a little boost to hit the big time. Future Stars get to participate in Future Stars Alley at our events;…
Acxiom Launches Self Serve SMB Marketing Effort
Consumer data giant Acxiom is moving downstream with a self-serve leads products tailored to SMBs. The new SMB product, “MyAcxiomPartner,” allows SMBs to develop customer lists on a hyperlocal basis, using either addresses or polygon mapping. The effort is part…
xAd Lands $50 Million to Continue Location-Targeted Ad Disruption
xAd just announced that it has recieved a $50 million funding round led by Institutional Venture Partners. This joins the $24 million the company has received over three rounds to date. It continues to grow quickly, having reached profitability and…
Analyst Roundtable: Apple Rumors Galore
What will apple announce next week? All eyes are on the tech giant as we get closer to its 9/09 press event. As we wrote last week, we'll probably see an iPhone 6 in larger sizes. Other Rumors point to…
What Will Apple Unveil on 9/9?
Apple rumor season is in full swing. The tech and media worlds are abuzz over what it will announce at its fall press conference, just slated for September 9th. All signs point to an iPhone 6, given its existing product…
BIA/Kelsey Video: Phone Calls are Sexy Again
Calls are the new click. That was one of the themes that emerged from the kickoff session I moderated at LeadsCon two weeks ago. As a lead form, calls were a common thread despite the range of formats being developed…
Watch out AAA: Urgent.ly Goes Uber, Takes on Roadside Assistance
"Uber-ification" has been extended to many local segments, including hotels, restaurant reservations and promotions. How about roadside assistance? Asserting that AAA and other roadside assistance services have outdated economic models and technology, local media and commerce vet Chris Spanos (AOL,…
Free Webcast: Phone Calls: The True Business Marketing Lead
As part of our ongoing coverage of call monetization, we're holding a webcast next tuesday to further unpack some of our findings. We'll also hear from bandwidth, a company positioned at the center of…
Analyst Roundtable: App Unbundling, Local ad Sales and Big Data
To bundle or not to bundle; that is the question we ask to kick off this week's analyst roundtable. Charles Laughlin, Abid Chaudhry and I discussed that and a few other topics from our respective coverage areas. The video is embedded…
BIA/Kelsey Podcast: Yelp and YP Make Big Moves
The latest edition of BIA/Kelsey's podcast series is brought to you by the letter Y. Yelp and YP both made notable moves this week, including earnings, product announcements and even some personnel news we uncovered. The streaming audio is embedded…
YP’s Reveals Big Mobile Dollars
The U.S. search and directories company YP announced it generated nearly $400 million in mobile advertising revenue in 2013, placing it behind Google and Twitter as the third largest mobile advertising company. YP also reported it has total digital ad…
YP's Reveals Big Mobile Dollars
The U.S. search and directories company YP announced it generated nearly $400 million in mobile advertising revenue in 2013, placing it behind Google and Twitter as the third largest mobile advertising company. YP also reported it has total digital ad…
Scoring Location: A Conversation with Thinknear, Part II
After Thinknear's Q2 Location Score Index, it recently followed up with the Location Score Tags it promised. We discussed the principles and drivers behind Location Scoring in a podcast last month (embedded below). The quick background on Location Scoring is…
First Data Bets on Virtual Gift Cards to Drive Local Commerce
Gift cards have been growing astronomically and now make up an industry nearing $100 billion in revenues. You’ll see racks of cards for national brands and retailers everywhere, from Safeway to Bed, Bath & Beyond. But can local merchants get…
Yelp Adds Vine-Style Videos to Mobile (as We Predicted)
Yelp has just announced it's adding video to its mobile app. In line with our prediction last year, this will involve short Vine-like videos for users to see and share local venue "ambiance" in richer ways than the previously-offered photos.…
Webcast Next Week: The Playbook For Selling Mobile Local Ads
In all the excitement around mobile and location targeted ads, there's rarely public discussion to actually define ad strategies and formulate tactics. The blogosphere and generalist tech media instead speak in tired jargon about how mobile is changing the world.…
Eniro Shakes Things Up After "Disappointing" Q2
The Swedish search company Eniro has replaced the management of its Swedish online property following a "disappointing" second quarter, in the words of CEO Johan Lindgren, who addressed the issue head on during today's earnings call. The biggest outcome of…
Eniro Shakes Things Up After “Disappointing” Q2
The Swedish search company Eniro has replaced the management of its Swedish online property following a "disappointing" second quarter, in the words of CEO Johan Lindgren, who addressed the issue head on during today's earnings call. The biggest outcome of…