When Insider Pages was sold to IAC's Citysearch, it seemed like it was probably a distress sale. Many of the Yellow Pages/ratings and review sites of 2004-2006 were falling apart at the same time. Since then, however, Insider Pages appears…
LiveDeal, which has been aggressively pushing a joint classified and directory platform since its merger with YP.com last year, is moving in new directions with the arrival of new president and CEO Mike Edelhart. He replaced former YP.com head Dan…
Since launching self-service EZ Ads in April 2007, Zillow.com has set a new standard for simple-to-buy, one-price ads, and 13,000 (mostly) local advertisers responded. Typical ad spends were about $50. Now as Zillow begins to have its inventory sold to…
Local.com announced today that it has reached a milestone of 5,000 businesses that have directly signed up for online advertising through its Local Promote subscription advertising service. Local Promote includes a landing page, call tracking, and premium placements within search…
TMP Directional Marketing, an interactive and print advertising agency specializing in local services and franchises like HoneyBaked Ham and The Men’s Wearhouse, is seeing a slight rise in verticalization, more performance-based solutions and ever increasing use of online promotions to…
The Wall Street Journal today wrote about the challenges that newspapers have in trying to sell to small local businesses. Beth Lawton at the Newspaper Association of America kindly asked us to add some context to the article (subscription required). Here…
The economy isn’t doing too well, but that hasn’t hurt the hiring picture for Yellow Pages and local search sales pros, according to YP veteran Ken Clark, who put out an interesting promo for his recruitment firm, Hawthorne Executive Search.…
New CEO Scott Klein presented Idearc Media's first-half results and previewed his plans for reorganizing and reenergizing the company. The main theme of the presentation was a “Journey of Transformation,” which is truly what Idearc needs based on the results of…
One of the most challenging aspects of speaking to the geodomain industry was the diverse backgrounds of the people in the industry. They come from media companies, technology firms, the music industry and the real estate business. What they have in…
Over the past two months, we have been talking with sales reps in a variety of local media outlets who are selling search engine marketing. While we feel like some sales organizations are making headway in selling a significant volume…
In this economic downturn, I’ve heard so much talk about one medium or another making claims that it is delivering all the leads and traffic a company needs. Online selling against Yellow Pages, Yellow Pages selling against newspapers, newspapers selling…
Having been through the post 9/11 advertising downturn with a Yellow Pages sales agency, I can attest that 2001 and 2002 saw a dramatic increase in bad debt and slow-paying customers. Some publishers in the U.S. went from 2 percent…
A recently released research paper from Integrated Media Measurement Inc., based on data from 3,000 panelists in six major markets, finds that multi-platform advertisers see increases in the number of consumers they reach while also significantly improving conversion rates. According…
Pegasus News is launching an iPhone App on July 11 to coincide with the launch of iPhone 3G. The app for the Dallas city guide will feature events, restaurants, drinks, Wi-Fi and garage sales, all searchable by the hour and…
Over the past several months, The Kelsey Group has been talking with a number of sales managers and directors of companies in the directory, newspaper and online space to understand the challenges of recruiting, hiring and training online reps. The…
MerchantCircle, which is partially owned by IAC, is apparently beginning to make some headway in selling search oriented services to small businesses. It reports that it has achieved a base of 5,000 paying customers, who buy services costing $30, $60,…
Reuters is reporting a rumor that Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer has set his sights on Yell Group as his next acquisition target, which has led to a bump in Yell's share price. We don't know if this is true. It is,…
More detail has come out on Seat Pagine Gialle’s proposed sale of its foreign properties. The goal, according to an interview with Reuters, is “to shift its attention back to Italy to mine a boom in Internet use in the…
Google and Office Depot announced a partnership where Office Depot will offer advice and teach small businesses how to use Google AdWords. Any small business that registers and makes an AdWords purchase on the Office Depot site will receive a…
Elizabeth Gage of PCM International posted a well thought out blog on the challenges small and medium-sized businesses face when purchasing search engine marketing campaigns, either on their own or through Yellow Page publishers. After reading her thoughts on the…
