Verizon‘s announcement today that it will buy AOL for $4.4 billion is a bid to get beyond dumb pipes and airwaves to get deeply into mobile and video. By doing so, Verizon, a $200 Billion company, hopes to play on more of a level playing field with other major telecom players combining access to content and personalization services, especially Comcast (with NBC U) and AT&T (with Direct TV.)

The all-cash deal provides a 150 percent return for shareholders in AOL from when CEO Tim Armstrong came on board in 2009. The price is 17 percent above the current stock price. And at the lower price — which may ultimately be even lower if some of the content properties are sold — a lot less is riding on it.

Have you seen this movie before in 2000, when AOL was disastrously sold to Time Warner for $165 Billion? A lot of the same synergies are being discussed: video on demand, personalized content and subscription revenue.

But this time, it is really all about mobile; video on mobile; and the prospect of converting (or selling) 2.1 million dial-up subscribers that continue to be AOL’s biggest moneymaker. Indeed, AOL has built or bought a powerful arsenal of mobile ad serving and video tech, especially LTE Multicast, which uses its cellular network to broadcast live video.

In our view, content is not likely to be an important factor here. It would have been more important if AOL had merged with Yahoo, or with Microsoft. The biggest “what if” probably involves MapQuest, which has technically lagged behind mapping leaders but retains a powerful, verb-like brand in that space. Given Uber’s $3 Billion bid to buy Nokia?s HERE, it may ultimately emerge as an important factor in the deal — much more so than Huffington Post.  AOL’s sizable effort to make Huffington Post into a super content portal, including a major local dimension, failed dramatically last year. Similarly, Armstrong’s huge, multi-hundred million dollar effort with hyperlocal site Patch amounted to very little.

To some degree, we also see Verizon’s acquisition of AOL as an acqui-hire. Verizon has stumbled around advertising for several years but not had an impact. It also has made some small investments in content and classified properties, but hasn’t been confident enough to really spend. Its biggest effort was a promotional program with the NFL to broadcast games for free.

We like the statement issued in the name of Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam, who we note, has long had his eye on geo-targeted advertising. “Verizon’s vision is to provide customers with a premium digital experience based on a global multi-screen network platform. This acquisition supports our strategy to provide a cross-screen connection for consumers, creators and advertisers to deliver that premium customer experience.”

The post AOL's Sale to Verizon: All Eyes on Mobile and Video appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Uber’s low fixed costs are a key to its on-demand car services. Why then is the company seeking to acquire Nokia’s HERE Mapping business for $3 billion instead of simply partnering or cutting a deal to use the mapping service? Concurrently, Uber is raising another round of cash, reportedly between $1.5 and $2 billion, that will value the company North of $50 billion.

Uber is beginning to build out its defensive position in the market, particularly in opposition to Google’s aspirations to provide local services. Nokia’s HERE maps are included in a variety of vehicles, from Jaguar and Land Rover to Honda and Mitsubishi. Those hundreds of thousands of vehicles are a nice-to-have benefit of owning a map business, however Uber’s defensive move is to own the data, metadata and APIs for accessing maps displayed in its applications for drivers and riders, as well as to support other services that may be tied into Uber. These include delivery services and local on-demand listings tied to an Uber-aware mapping capability, which places Uber at the center of the local delivery market.

Maps are the most natural visualization tool for local services, as mobile phone applications have proven. Mobile overtook desktop search in 2014. Both mobile and web mapping are the design starting points for local search, and Uber wants to control a mapping service that can provide alternatives to Google-groomed results, which may ignore or demote non-Google results.

HERE Maps, however, is not a profitable business. In Q1 2015, HERE reported a EUR 3 million loss despite a 25 percent year-over-year increase in revenue and 29 percent increase in the number of vehicles with embedded HERE map licenses. It’s not clear that Uber is in an advantaged position when negotiating with automakers, who may favor a map provider that does not offer an alternative to personal vehicles. Google or Apple Maps may simply appear to automakers as more benign vehicle mapping licensors. But the fight is also for all the non-driving listings that may be tied to a particular mapping service, too, and it is there that Uber’s independence from Google may be a selling point for on-demand providers seeking to leverage mapping advantages over Google-listed services.

But ultimately, service providers will write applications that talk to all mapping services, so the HERE business, if acquired by Uber, could become a permanent loss-leader offered to the on-demand market in order to keep Uber driving and delivery services at the forefront of location-based search results.

While the new Uber fund-raising would cover the cost of acquiring HERE Maps, the business once acquired will become a capital-intensive operation within Uber. As Nokia points out, the maps are living documents being updated millions of times a day. This requires coders to build and enhance, people to own and operate the product, and compute capacity. It does not fit cleanly into the Uber model, in which on-demand workers fulfill demand and are off-the-books when not producing revenue. HERE Maps will represent a constant cost center as well as a revenue center that is not Uber-centric (because of the licensing and services revenue HERE Maps represent going forward), consequently, the business will put pressure on Uber’s margins.

The acquisition, if Uber wins the bidding for HERE Maps, represents a new phase in Uber’s development, and a step toward a more ordinary software-as-a-service model that also provides a pivot opportunity to move to an on-demand market services model. Perhaps Uber has decided vehicles were just one of the many commodities they can deliver on-demand.

Join us at BIA/Kelsey NOW: Rise of the Local On-Demand Economy to discuss this and many more LODE strategies.

The post Uber's $3 Billion Bid for Nokia HERE: A LODE Take-over? appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Groupon is apparently thinking hard about dismantling its ambitious SMB platform, and refocusing on its core strengths in prepaid deals, goods and travel. Reports have come out saying that Groupon is offering to sell its Breadcrumb POS platform, which had been rebranded as Gnome; and also sell its interest in Serviz, a Local On Demand Economy home services company that has been developed as ClubLocal by former ReachLocal CEO Zorik Gordon. Groupon has also been in talks to cash in on T-Mon, the South Korean e-commerce service that it bought last year from Living Social for $260 Million, but could now been seen as a cash cow that could allow Groupon to invest in other areas.

According to Bloomberg Business Week, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster thinks that the Breadcrumb part of Gnome could fetch $100 million, and that Groupon’s stake in Serviz could be worth $30 million. T-Mon, which is seen as an e-commerce winner in Asia, could ultimately get as much as $800 million. Groupon’s apparent decision to explore the sale of Gnome is the most interesting to us. A report in Re-Code said that executives casually offered to sell at least a portion of it to Square.

In developing Gnome, which has been built on top of its June 2012 purchase of Breadcrumb, Groupon assessed its widespread, international merchant base and concluded it could reinforce and upsell that base and position itself as a global e-commerce giant. It would do so via a compelling package of highly discounted point of sales devices, payment services merchant analytics and strategically targeted offers to customers.

The investment in Serviz — which gave the greenlight to Gordon’s team to continue developing a service that was not going to go further at ReachLocal — was also seen as strategic as Groupon looked for more and more ways to connect and broaden the local marketplaces. Coincidentallly, it looks like Groupon is giving up on having a piece of the home services market just as Amazon and Google are diving in.

Is Groupon giving up too early? We’ve been impressed with the capabilities of the Gnome platform and the strategic vision behind it. The Serviz product is also impressive, although perhaps too rarified for Groupon, as it aims for higher ticket repairs and services. And separately, T-Mon is going to require enormous investments to grow and maintain its market share in a business that has come to not only include deals but also ecommerce, fashion and services.

The bottom line here, however, is that Groupon may have concluded that its merchant base sees it as a 3rd, 4th or 5th choice for this kind of activity — rather than as a substitute for blue chip and diverse players such as American Express, VeriFone, First Data and Salesforce. While Groupon can always work to keep repositioning itself, it currently seems most secure as a provider of discounted goods and deals that it continues to mold into an always on marketplace.

The post Groupon Re-thinks Its Ambitious SMB Platform appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Marking an end of an era, CallSource has sold its media and publishing division to LogMyCalls (formerly ContactPoint.) The sale reflects several things about the evolution of the call management space — which remains absolutely vital to the local and SMB business communities.

First, it suggests that CallSource’s customer list, which includes many key Yellow Pages and vertical companies, remains deeply engaged in call tracking and is highly valued. It also suggests that CallSource’s principal business of tracking calls has begun to shift to conversation analytics and targeted leads.

This is where LogMy Calls comes in. The combination of the two companies is expected to reach new customers for LogMyCalls, and provide a lot of additional value for customers of both.

CallSource VP Geoffry Infeld, in a call with BIA/Kelsey, discussed the changing dynamics of the industry. “CallSource is all people power and crowd sourcing,” noted Infeld. The company, in its 25 year history, has come a long way from its roots as a performance training company which then focused on call tracking and finally all the things provided by a modern call center.

The key to the industry’s future success, however, is tied around being a solution provider to enterprise companies, said Infeld. “The data from voice calls must run parallel to the data that Google can capture and analyze on the Web.”

LogMyCalls President and Founder Jeremiah Wilson elaborated further. “This space needs to get as much information from phone calls as it gets from emails and websites,” Wilson told us. “The industry needs to focus on data, not call tracking.”

Wilson noted that the data around phone calls “keeps getting bigger.” And it is about much more than pay per call — although PPC does illustrate that phone calls drive a lot of value. “It is really about big data,” said Wilson. With advanced calling analytics, companies can invest in call quality and strategy, rather than just calls” he said.

The post LogMyCalls Acquires CallSource’s Media and Publishing Division appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Marking an end of an era, CallSource has sold its media and publishing division to LogMyCalls (formerly ContactPoint.) The sale reflects several things about the evolution of the call management space — which remains absolutely vital to the local and SMB business communities.

First, it suggests that CallSource’s customer list, which includes many key Yellow Pages and vertical companies, remains deeply engaged in call tracking and is highly valued. It also suggests that CallSource’s principal business of tracking calls has begun to shift to conversation analytics and targeted leads.

This is where LogMy Calls comes in. The combination of the two companies is expected to reach new customers for LogMyCalls, and provide a lot of additional value for customers of both.

CallSource VP Geoffry Infeld, in a call with BIA/Kelsey, discussed the changing dynamics of the industry. “CallSource is all people power and crowd sourcing,” noted Infeld. The company, in its 25 year history, has come a long way from its roots as a performance training company which then focused on call tracking and finally all the things provided by a modern call center.

The key to the industry’s future success, however, is tied around being a solution provider to enterprise companies, said Infeld. “The data from voice calls must run parallel to the data that Google can capture and analyze on the Web.”

LogMyCalls President and Founder Jeremiah Wilson elaborated further. “This space needs to get as much information from phone calls as it gets from emails and websites,” Wilson told us. “The industry needs to focus on data, not call tracking.”

Wilson noted that the data around phone calls “keeps getting bigger.” And it is about much more than pay per call — although PPC does illustrate that phone calls drive a lot of value. “It is really about big data,” said Wilson. With advanced calling analytics, companies can invest in call quality and strategy, rather than just calls” he said.

The post LogMyCalls Acquires CallSource's Media and Publishing Division appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

If that headline is foreign language to you, don’t feel bad. Two apps — Meerkat and Periscope — have taken over tech-world chatter on insider networks such as Product Hunt. Twitter just validated them further by buying Periscope for $100 million.

So you will hear about them soon. And I’m predicting they’ll be an app category that represents a next wave in mobile. In short, they allow users to live broadcast the world around them, tied to social graphs. Think Vine, but live.

Why now? Multimedia social sharing (Instagram, Vine, et al) is already a fast growing and opportune area. It’s trajectory leads right to live multimedia sharing: Everything from citizen journalism to childbirth, to a BIA/Kelsey conference.

The timing is also right because of the point we now exist in mobile’s evolution:

— Mobile connectivity has reached levels where quality livestreaming is tenable.
— Smartphone camera quality has reached levels that rival DSLRs, enabling high-quality capture.
— The smartphone-toting public has been acclimated to social sharing — everything from place check-ins to tweets.
— Piggybacking on existing social graphs enables quick growth via built-in network effect (when they let you).

So what’s the local angle? This is similar to the things we predicted over the past few years for Instagram and Vine’s use at the local level, but with more dimension. Think: capturing a night out on the town, a home renovation project, or a wedding.

These are all natural fits for native local advertising with the services or places involved. And like Vine, there will be ability to facilitate creators and influencers that do cool native integrations around certain brands in the live streaming format.

Like most emerging technology, it will start at that brand level then move down market to SMBs. Whether it’s brand or SMB, location relevance will be tied closely to the live streaming and sharing experience, so there are lots of directions it could go.

This is just an introduction to the concept. We’ll be watching it closely and examining its possible directions and implications for local media. I know I’ll be discussing it on and off stage during BIA/Kelsey’s NATIONAL, coming up in just two weeks.

The post Meerkat, Periscope and Live Broadcasting: Watch Closely appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

UBL will provide stock and cash in consideration of the merger. While both companies initially keep their own identities, they intend to work towards an integration of operations and a single brand. Both companies earned approximately $8 million apiece in 2014. Charlotte-based UBL has 38 employees while Advice Interactive has 85 employees in Dallas and Newport Beach.

Billed as a “combination of equals,” UBL CEO Doyal Bryant will be the new entity’s CEO, while Advice CEO Bernadette Coleman will run marketing, tech and operations. Bryant notes that the deal allows UBL to focus on a growing global market in syndicated business profiles; an area that has gone beyond search engines to also include mobile apps, GPS search and online maps, video platforms, marketing platforms and social networks. UBL currently has operations in Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand and says it will soon add four more countries.

Advice, meanwhile, is set to leverage UBL’s listings/video and mobile-rich database, and provide a one stop for a wide range of activities for its business and enterprise customers. These include local search, PPC & SEM, reputation management, SEO, Web design, content marketing and social media. The majority of Advice’s customers come from local channel partners; its strength and technology platform are expected to enhance UBL’s current efforts in the space, which are not a main emphasis.

The merger gives Advice “a major edge over everyone in the (SEO) space,” says Coleman. As marketing moves to hyperlocal capabilities, it isn’t just about search anymore, she emphasizes. “Clients need to have data syndication; optimized profiles; and customized linking and meta data — all in one place.”

Advice Interactive Group CEO Bernadette Coleman is speaking at BIA/Kelsey NATIONAL, which takes place March 25-27 in Dallas.

The post UBL, Advice Interactive Group Will Merge; SEO + Syndicated Listings appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

UBL will provide stock and cash in consideration of the merger. While both companies initially keep their own identities, they intend to work towards an integration of operations and a single brand. Both companies earned approximately $8 million apiece in 2014. Charlotte-based UBL has 38 employees while Advice Interactive has 85 employees in Dallas and Newport Beach.

Billed as a “combination of equals,” UBL CEO Doyal Bryant will be the new entity’s CEO, while Advice CEO Bernadette Coleman will run marketing, tech and operations. Bryant notes that the deal allows UBL to focus on a growing global market in syndicated business profiles; an area that has gone beyond search engines to also include mobile apps, GPS search and online maps, video platforms, marketing platforms and social networks. UBL currently has operations in Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand and says it will soon add four more countries.

Advice, meanwhile, is set to leverage UBL’s listings/video and mobile-rich database, and provide a one stop for a wide range of activities for its business and enterprise customers. These include local search, PPC & SEM, reputation management, SEO, Web design, content marketing and social media. The majority of Advice’s customers come from local channel partners; its strength and technology platform are expected to enhance UBL’s current efforts in the space, which are not a main emphasis.

The merger gives Advice “a major edge over everyone in the (SEO) space,” says Coleman. As marketing moves to hyperlocal capabilities, it isn’t just about search anymore, she emphasizes. “Clients need to have data syndication; optimized profiles; and customized linking and meta data — all in one place.”

Advice Interactive Group CEO Bernadette Coleman is speaking at BIA/Kelsey NATIONAL, which takes place March 25-27 in Dallas.

The post UBL, Advice Interactive Group Will Merge; SEO + Syndicated Listings appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Yelp is acquiring Eat24, the online delivery and pickup service that competes with GrubHub, Delivery.com and other national and regional players for order-taking, food search and discovery. The service is being acquired for the equivalent of $134 million ($75 million in cash and 1.4 million Class A shares).

Eat24 currently provides menus, order-taking and tracking services for more than 20,000 restaurants in 1,500 cities — 10,000 fewer than GrubHub. Like GrubHub, its revenue model is based on commissions (industry standards are typically 10-12 percent per order.) The service is free to the consumer, although restaurants can charge their own delivery fees.

The service is largely dependent on customer pick up at restaurant locations, but delivery is becoming a larger factor. In several California cities, for instance, Eat24 will soon be providing delivery via SideCar, the shared-car service.

Founded in 2008, Eat24 has been integrated with Yelp’s mobile app since 2013. By bringing Eat24 in-house, Yelp can strengthen its platform of services, which have grown beyond advertising and now includes scheduling, reservations/booking and offers. Yelp reports that it has over 93,000 active local accounts.

While Eat24 currently lags behind GrubHub, online delivery is still a nascent category. Moreover, it is ripe for cross-over activity with other food-related segments, including rating/reviews (i.e Yelp and Zomato, which just acquired IAC’s UrbanSpoon); online reservations (i.e. Priceline’s OpenTable); and eventually even grocery delivery (i.e. Amazon, WalMart and Google.)

The post Yelp Buys Eat24, Taking Online Delivery In House appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

The big announcement this morning at Leading in Local: SMB Digital Marketing — The Berry Company has acquired LocalVox for an undisclosed amount. Berry was already an investor in LocalVox and has been one of the leading resellers of the marketing automation firm’s LocalCast product.

Laura Cole, Berry’s VP of Marketing, told us the acquisition was important for Berry, which wanted to own its own marketing automation platform. She said the success Berry has been having in the field selling LocalCast (and its next level product, SearchCast) and LocalVox’s strong team were also determining factors. LocalVox founders Trevor Sumner and David Pachter have agreed to stay on.

LocalVox offers a platform for creating and distributing content for SMBs using a do it with me model. They are at the owned and earned vs. paid end of the media spectrum. They offer a platform that allows SMBs to efficiency distribute content across multiple platforms — websites, social media, directories, email marketing and so on.

“We have been trialing it for the past 18 months in a number of markets,” Cole said. “It’s been very successful. It is among our best performing products retention wise. To own the technology is an important step for us. We are not just sitting still.”

We also spoke with Sumner yesterday and he told us the acquisition will give LocalVox resources move the business forward.

“Berry has been very supportive,” he said. “They will invest to get us to scale.”

The Berry-LocalVox partnership dates back to late 2012, when the two companies announced a deal to offer LocalVox products through the Berry sales organization. Berry was also an investor in LocalVox before making the full acquisition, which closed last week.

Cole said Berry would not prevent LocalVox from seeking new partners and resellers under its ownership. She also said that Berry is open to addition acquisitions if they make sense.

The post This Just In: Berry Aquires LocalVox appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.