Three years ago, BIA/Kelsey created the Marketplaces research program and conference because we saw that local advertising was quickly "verticalizing." Indeed, money and talent have poured in for the new breed of vertical products that would take their place among…
CitySquares, an online city guide and directory company based in Boston, has acquired the assets of Yokel, which provides online retail services and maintains a database of 2 million retailers. Terms weren’t disclosed. The combination should work well with CitySquares'…
Lately, we've been hearing more about shopping search start-up Spreezio, a kind of Priceline for merchandise (TechCrunch profiles it today). In other words, you name the price that represents the threshold at which you'd buy, and then see who bites.…
Verticals that can engage certain demographics on a socio/geo basis and drive loyalty and conversion are the basis of our Marketplaces research program. A new one that has caught our eye is WineTwits from HappyHours.com founder Steve Gilberg. Three years…
In a wide-ranging interview this afternoon at ILM:09, ILM Program Director and conference chair Matt Booth tried several times to pin the Yelp COO, Geoff Donaker to the mat. But the unflappable and diplomatic Donaker just wasn’t going to go…
Oodle CEO Craig Donato led off day three of Marketplaces 2009 describing how classified advertising has gone through an evolution over the past five years, progressing from simply importing them online, to making them searchable and finally today integrating classifieds…
Quite a few notable findings in TMP Directional Marketing second annual Local Search Usage Study, which it unveiled today, among them a slight shift in users' preferred medium for conducting a local business search. Last year's report had print Yellow…
At J.D. Power and Associates’ Automotive Internet Roundtable in Las Vegas this week, several speakers said they believe mobile search and services are an increasingly important part of auto marketing -- assertions backed up by J.D. Power research showing that…
Krillion announced today that it will productize its "find in store" functionality into a more succinct package for product search sites to use. This will include easier integration into Web sites; an interface that puts product pricing, availability and reviews…
Sensis has announced the offering of online auctions on its Trading Post Web site. According to an article in The Sydney Morning Herald: “some two million people already use the www.tradingpost.com.au site to buy and sell goods and services. The company…
"Extraordinary change means extraordinary opportunity," Merrill Brown, founder and principal of MMB Media, told the audience at last month's Drilling Down on Local conference. Few people are more knowledgeable about the impact of new technologies on society than Brown. Before…
Microsoft will announce a new Live Search product today at Advance08, which gives cash back to users who purchase products through the system. The aptly named Cashback feature will place dollar sign icons throughout paid search results wherever there are…
The final day of The Kelsey Group's Drilling Down on Local conference featured a keynote by Merrill Brown of MMB Media. Brown is an industry guru with a history of developing groundbreaking media strategies and operations. Among other things, he…
Local retailers are increasingly going beyond store locators to drive sales. The extensions to store locators include brand locators, coupons, menus, trip planners, and even guides to where Wi-Fi, nonsmoking and RV parking can be found. A leading vendor in…
The balance between merchants and brands is being shifted by the increasingly common use of enhanced “product locators,” which adds store locations, maps -- and frequently promotions such as coupons -- to the mix, says Lauren Freedman, president of The…
One big takeaway from the NAA Marketing show last week in Orlando was that newspapers are ready to build up a zillion niche products that allow them to leverage their editorial talents. But not much progress, or even attention, is…
When a local team headed by ad agency and PR veteran Brian Tierney bought The Philadelphia Inquirer and related holdings 18 months ago, it was seen as a possible model for how “new thinking” could transform the newspaper industry. Since then,…
When veteran newspaper design consultant Alan Jacobsen called last year to tout his new classified video site, Real People Real Stuff -- “the marriage of Craigslist and YouTube” -- I thought it was kind of fun but didn’t have very good…
I just got off the phone with Pasadena, California-based Interpolls. The company has a number of rich media ad products and national brand ad clients, including HP, Scion and T-Mobile (full list here). The company's newest ad format is a…
Executive Interview: The Leading Edge: Auto Advertising in Transition had very much the same ring to it as yesterday's session on real estate in transition. At The Kelsey Group's ILM:07 event, the final panel each day was on two of…
