Yellowbook has released the latest television spot in its new series of ads featuring "futuristic" local search scenarios. These have started rolling out since the company's new logo and general re-branding effort. The latest ad has an additional online twist:…
After I declared my intention last week to go on an all-Hulu diet, it seems like news about the video site has been popping up everywhere. Maybe it's just my selective filter looking for affirmation. Today Saul Hansell writes…
There is a whole new wave of new Facebook apps, many built around the new Facebook Connect feature that lets users pull relevant data from Facebook profiles. That will change things. Up to now, however, Facebook hasn’t really had much…
The iPhone is now the top selling cellphone in the U.S., according to a report released today by NPD Group. Though overall mobile phone sales dropped 15 percent to 32 million units, 6.9 million iPhones were sold. By doing so,…
Craigslist has added “erotic services” as its third paid section (in selected markets) in an effort to crack down on illegal activities, such as child exploitation. The site will now require a nominal $5 fee, paid via credit card, to…
Yellowbook announced today that it has formed a partnership with YouTube to use it as an auxiliary distribution source for the SMB videos it produces. This essentially gives it broader distribution beyond its own walls (Yellowbook.com). This is good for…
In April, we covered Yelp's launch of a suite of marketing tools that let small businesses manage their listings. This is essentially a back-end tool that allows any business with a Yelp listing to claim his or her profile, add…
Marchex, during its 3Q earnings call today, reaffirmed its focus on providing ad solutions for the local and vertical search space, noting that it currently works with 80,000 local advertisers via 110 local partner relationships, including AT&T and Idearc. The…
Google announced today that it has decided to walk away from its ad partnership with Yahoo, citing that legal battles with federal antitrust regulators won't make it worthwhile to pursue. The deal would have placed Google text ads throughout Yahoo's…
Spot Runner announced that it is laying off 115 people, or less than 30 percent of its staff. It confirmed that a big chunk of the layoffs are coming from its local sales division, formerly known as Weblistic. Company officials say…
Presidential elections always represent sea changes in the use of marketing tools (including local marketing tools). The Internet is an increasingly big part of it. Mostly, it is used for raising money. This time around, it has also been exciting…
Stuart McKelvey is no longer CEO of TMP Directional Marketing, a position he had held since 1998. He is leaving the Yellow Pages ad agency founded by his father, Andrew, in 1967 to join Health Diagnostic, also founded by the…
Press releases are rich in content -- richer than most ads. Many local events, businesses and services routinely write them. But they often don’t get past the “about us” sections on their own Web sites. The releases aren’t easily found,…
New Canadian local search destination Weblocal.ca has launched. The site is the product of a partnership between Canadian publisher Transcontinental and social/local pure play YellowBot (see profile). The site is one of Transcon's first moves into online local search. As…
Local publishers, seeing the boom in text messaging and the Web surfing capabilities of the iPhone, are taking mobile more seriously as a channel for their content and advertising. Clearly, the mobile opportunity for local publishers has now gone beyond…
TKG has a relatively new Twitter page. After going on a binge of following people this week, the ratio of following to followers is woefully out of whack. If I haven't been able to find and follow you yet, jump…
Today at the Canadian Marketing Association’s Digital Digital Marketing Conference, there was quite a bit of buzz around Blyk, a Finnish mobile phone company with an interesting hybrid model for distribution. Blyk is a free mobile operator targeting young people…
When we think of emerging local verticals, “green” is one of the most promising, as environmental concerns have pushed up the interest of consumers in having safe, healthy products that have minimal impact on the environment. MSN, Yahoo, Hearst and The Washington Post…
The Kelsey Group has learned that effective Nov. 1, AT&T Advertising & Publishing will become AT&T Advertising Solutions. But there is more to this than a cosmetic name change. AT&T has also reorganized the company and expanded its portfolio to…
Are classifieds fated, by definition, to be "dumb" all-you-can-eat listings? Or can certain categories be remade as performance-based listings a la Google that bring best matches to the top, offering higher revenue in return for a better match and conversion? That's…
