Summary Video search engine Blinkx has taken a considerable step toward monetization by developing an ad serving technology that contextually matches advertising with video clips. Known as Blinkx AdHoc, this will offer a few different ad formats including insertion of…
Answering the question posed yesterday ("Where do we go from here?"), Yahoo's first move out of the gate in the post Terry Semel era was to acquire high school and collegiate sporting site Rivals.com for a rumored $100 million. This…
R.H. Donnelley's DexOnline got a face-lift, rebranding and a few functional enhancements yesterday. The new site, known as DexKnows.com was launched throughout Dex's 14-state region and includes new personalization features (MyDex) and enhanced maps. These provide a noticeably improved site…
The New York Times reports today on the many directions possible for Yahoo! in the wake of Terry Semel's resignation as chief executive. Among this range of options is everything from giving up on paid search (outsourcing Google to place…
Summary Google has shown a clear interest in beefing up the content that is available to users in Google Local and Google Maps. A few months ago, it announced new features to its Local Business Center to allow businesses to…
Today’s news is that Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel is stepping down from his position, which will be filled by founder Jerry Yang. Meanwhile, CFO Sue Decker will become president. It should be anticipated that Yahoo!'s executive change, which isn’t particularly…
In the San Diego edition of AT&T’s White Pages, a minor alphabetical error has some business owners seeing red. According to SignOnSanDiego.com, the latest edition of the San Diego business White Pages ran into trouble with listings beginning with the…
After being one of the first directory companies to enter the classified market, Telstra’s Sensis has put its Trading Post property up for sale. According to a report in The Age, “Sensis paid $636 million for the fading publication three years…
A challenge that every marketing person faces is to determine the unique selling proposition (USP) for a product or service and then convey it in an interesting manner that will encourage the target market to buy. Today, after six months…
ComScore recently released its March Video Metrix rankings showing the phenomenal growth and acceptance of video content on the Web. According to the release: Five out of every seven U.S. Internet users (71.4 percent) streamed video online. Three out of…
Comcast this week announced that it will open up its own island within the virtual world of Second Life. Second Life is increasingly becoming a marketing venue for companies that wish to reach the young and tech-savvy set that play…
Some interesting details about LiveDeal's operations have been released as the result of its $11.8 million sale to YP.com, which had previously been written about by my colleague Mike Boland. During a June 7 investor call announcing the sale, LiveDeal,…
Summary Paul Jahn at Search Engine Guide writes today about how fraudulent user reviews can be particularly damning to local search sites. Users are smart, he contends, and can sniff out a fake message from a business owner or constituent.…
Summary The New York Times today continues the ongoing discussion of the iPhone's potential as a game changer and its possible shortcomings. It brings up the challenge that could arise in getting consumers accustomed to a radically different interface that…
Business 2.0's Erick Shoenfeld reports on a movement today to see if you can get by without the five major search engines, consisting of Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, (including MSN and Live Search), Ask and AOL. Search Engine Land reports there…
Summary Comcast has begun to serve coverage of local events on its on-demand programming menu. This includes things such as high school sports, local parades and local interest news stories. This is an interesting move for Comcast, and one that…
A new report, written by me and called “The Newspaper Online Shopping Report: Online Relationships with Retailers,” is out today. It is a fairly comprehensive work that gives readers a 360-degree view of what newspapers are doing (and should be…
Consumers increasingly use the Web to search for services. But it is tough to complete the loop and actually order service. In many cases, businesses are either unresponsive to phone calls and e-mails, or their information is inaccurate. All this…
After Hellman & Friedman's well-publicized return on DoubleClick when it sold its stake in the company to Google in April, there seems to be an uptick in the interest among private equity firms in online investments. The latest is NexTag,…
Summary Research just released from Hitwise and WebCollage shows that shoppers are more likely to shop in stores and visit Web sites of retailers that provide comprehensive product information, including inventory data. This is a growing trend in the local…
