Google today announced a rather significant change to its local search results and ranking algorithms. Dubbed Place Search, this provides more detailed information about places that match your search query and location (inferred or explicit). This means a few things. First, it's the official…
In the ongoing developments of mobile bar code readers, Google recently launched a QR code generator for any Web site, based on its link shortener tool Goo.gl. Link shortening incumbent bit.ly has now responded to Google's entrance to its space…
This just in (via Bloomberg), Marissa Mayer, Google VP of search products, will switch roles and now head up all local and location products. These are increasingly important areas of development for Google as evidenced by its public moves and…
Google announced today on its official blog that it will pull the plug on the very cool but underused GOOG-411 free directory assistance. Underuse was not the cited reason though. As we've written many times since it launched in 2007, the…
We've been paying lots of attention to the emerging fields of voice and visual search. This comes down to the notion that the mobile device has eyes and ears. As mobile search, apps and games evolve, they'll better leverage these…
Surojit Chatterjee announced today on Google's Mobile Ads Blog that the company has launched a new format for hyperlocal mobile ads. After searching for a business, ads will now tell you how far the closest location is, indicated by both…
In addition to announcing 1 billion users per week, You may have heard about Google's new "Instant" search feature launched today at its Search event in San Francisco. The new search paradigm will serve results in real time as users…
Depending on what you read, Apple's iAd program is either a revelation for national marketers or an inconvenience. The platform, which Steve Jobs announced in early April and which officially debuted July 1, aims to improve mobile advertising for businesses, publishers and…
With Google TV Ads' announced partnership to auction inventory across 11 national networks carried by DirecTV, the search giant begins to try to rebut skepticism about its ability to achieve significant reach. Now it must demonstrate the ability to generate…
Google Android's second-quarter smartphone sales rose sharply enough to overtake Apple handsets among recent smartphone acquirers, 27 percent to 23 percent, according to a recent study released by The Nielsen Co. The results mark a first for Google, whose Android…
Blog king Robert Scoble, during a presentation at Inman Real Estate Connect today in San Francisco, said we've entered "the third movement of information" during the Internet era. All are necessary to boost appearances on Google, he told the real…
Blog king Robert Scoble, during a presentation at Inman Real Estate Connect today in San Francisco, said we've entered "the third movement of information" during the Internet era. All are necessary to boost appearances on Google, he told the real…
Local consumers are presumably in buying mode when they are researching where to have dinner, attend an event or go to the movies. How about when they are researching directions to get there? In fact, mass transit directions in themselves…
There was a time when it looked like eBay would replace garage sales -- or the Goodwill box. But putting things up for sale was probably too much work. In fact, garage sale postings in 2009 were up 80 percent…
There was a time when it looked like eBay would replace garage sales -- or the Goodwill box. But putting things up for sale was probably too much work. In fact, garage sale postings in 2009 were up 80 percent…
Events are a vertical that cuts across many segments: travel, retail, sports, entertainment, education, dining, culture and others. Major players include specialists such as Zvents, Eventful, Americantowns.com and Center’d. City sites such as Citysearch and Yelp are active in the…
Centro, the local and regional media service company, has branched off into Web-based support for ad management. The company today announced the launch of Transis, a new division dedicated to automating the “other 80 percent” of the display industry not…
Huffington Post CEO Eric Hippeau defended the role of the site in journalism and said it is helping to herald in “a golden age of journalism” that has more content and audience participation than ever before. Speaking at IAB’s Annual…
Yodle, the third-party SMB reseller, has now divided its business into “Yodle Sponsored” and “Yodle Organic.” The formation of the latter division, which has been live for a month with 150 clients, is a recognition that SMBs are increasingly relying…
What if consumers could personalize the ads and content they see when they open utility sites such as Google, or portal sites such as Yahoo? That’s the idea behind Optini, a new 12-person company based in Utah that has developed…
