Zillow has landed $30 million in new financing, which comes on top of the $57 million already raised. The new round values the 155-employee “Zestimate” provider at $350 million, according to reporting by Rebecca Buckman at The Wall Street Journal.…
The churn rates for low-end local businesses are incredibly high. Why is that? WebVisible CEO Kirsten Mangers told Directory Driven Commerce attendees the reason we don’t see high conversion rates for low-end advertisers is their Web sites “really suck.” It…
The churn rates for low-end local businesses are incredibly high. Why is that? WebVisible CEO Kirsten Mangers told Directory Driven Commerce attendees the reason we don’t see high conversion rates for low-end advertisers is their Web sites “really suck.” It…
Trader Pubs, the Canadian shopper publisher of AutoTrader.ca and assorted other titles acquired by YPG last year, is seeking synergies between the companies that add usage and extend advertiser relationships in both directions, according to Geneviève LeBrun, a longtime YPG…
What’s fun about attending a DDC conference is that at some point a challenge is laid down calling for a radical change. Yesterday afternoon, Neal Polachek and Charles Laughlin outlined the challenges major metropolitan markets face around the world including: …
While I am in Reston, VA, attending Kelsey's Directory Driven Commerce conference, I thought it would be a good time to start talking about our next show, which I am co-producing: Interactive Local Media 2007. The show is being done…
The big picture we’ve all been looking at is that online ad spending for search and lead generation is beginning to plateau. ComScore pegs search's share at around 40 percent. Google certainly sees it, hence its recent effort to entrench…
Planet Discover, the pioneering local search and Internet Yellow Pages vendor, won’t sign new contracts with local media outlets that compete with Gannett newspaper and TV properties, according to sources. Gannett purchased Planet Discover in May 2006, but up to…
White Directory Publishers, a division of Hearst Holdings, announced a marketing partnership with Jingle’s 1-800-FREE411 making it the first independent publisher to resell sponsorship products on the 1-800-FREE411 media channel. The deal with White Directory comes on the heels of…
We have been discussing the issue of the potential for Internet Yellow Pages offered by print publishers. The question is whether IYPs can be sufficiently significant to merit the necessary investment. At our recent Drilling Down on Local conference, one of…
We have been discussing the issue of the potential for Internet Yellow Pages offered by print publishers. The question is whether IYPs can be sufficiently significant to merit the necessary investment. At our recent Drilling Down on Local conference, one of…
I am in the middle of researching an Advisory on major metro markets, why they are such a challenge for Yellow Pages publishers and what, if anything, they can do to reverse the slide. In the course of doing research…
Gannett’s “Information Center” project to overhaul its newspapers with user-generated content and data-driven services is making some progress, per this month’s Wired magazine piece by Jeff Howe. Since I first reported on the initiative in November 2006, the company has…
Summary My column for Search Engine Watch this month, Pimp My Vertical Search, takes a look at some of the directions being taken in vertical search, particularly in autos. Autobytel has begun to do some interesting things with its recently…
Coupon giant Valpak has overhauled its Web site using Ajax and other features to make its online coupons download faster and searchable by distance, maps and category. The overhaul is the 15-person division’s sixth since 1998. Valpak, "the blue envelope…
Following up on Michael Taylor's excellent post this morning on Google's new quasi-sales force, I've been thinking more about what it could mean and how it fits into similar Google initiatives. First, it seems that it would tie together nicely…
The Utility Belt blog reported that Google recently announced a plan to pay a commission to people who are willing to photograph local businesses and gather information about the company to post on Google Maps. The idea is that self-appointed…
Speaking at Inman’s Real Estate Connect last week in San Francisco, Craigslist namesake Craig Newmark says the service is now getting 8 billion page views a month from 450 cities in 50 countries. He also noted that the service is up…
When Zillow originally launched, it was seen in some circles as a liberator for consumers who had relied on the judgment of Realtors for too long. But CEO Rich Barton, speaking at Inman’s Real Estate Connect conference, said its mission…
Free directory assistance services, funded by pay-per-call ads, have been rolled out by a number of entrepreneurial companies, telcos and Yellow Pages publishers. But now comes The Florida Times-Union, which quietly rolled out a local version of Say Hello Inc.…
