The Los Angeles Times Online will roll out two new e-commerce-oriented verticals in the midst of a ripping internal report that says its online strategy is nowhere near where it needs to be for the paper to have a future,…
Gary Arlen, the longtime media pundit (and my former business partner), says in a new article for TV Technology that he is expecting newspapers to use the Web to shove their way into the television industry and "become significant online…
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday (sub required) about a dilemma that is starting to face many newspapers amidst falling revenues and readership; the need to divert finite editorial resources on local rather than global coverage. The article examines The…
Gannett, via its Planet Discover subsidiary, says it will start providing its newspapers and TV stations with search marketing help. The newly formed "Market Development Group" will be run by Stanley Gauss, the former online general manager of The Press…
U.K. publisher Yell's online directory operation, Yell.com, has expanded the capability of its mobile directory platform with a new service being offered both in application- and browser-based modes through a deal with the Danish mobile search firm mobilePeople. Here is…
I'm a bit late to this item (again, I'll blame being out last week), but The Wall Street Journal (sub. required) reported over the weekend that Google is in talks with in-game ad placement firm Adscape Media. Here is Red…
Recently I had the chance to catch up with Mark Sigal, CEO of online video distribution platform provider vSocial. The company provides a platform for advertisers and video publishers to publish and brand videos on existing Web sites, social networks…
One big trend we've noticed for both Yellow Pages and newspapers is a renewed emphasis on the dynamics of cities served. We used to worry all the time about local dynamics as city guides and others tried to figure out…
As Peter Krasilovsky reported last week, Citysearch will establish new Atlanta-based sales digs. Kevin Newcomb over at Search Engine Watch points to a ClickZ article today about the expansion. The company hopes to have 180 sales (inside, outside and national)…
I missed this late last week because I was out, but AT&T has fired the latest shot in the bundled services (or "quad play") battle by offering free wireless calling to landline phones. In other words, it's free when Cingular…
Pushing hard on "multimedia" capabilities to sell national ads on 1,200 local radio, TV and newspaper Web sites, Media Span and Broadcast Interactive Media mostly known as Web enablers and sales consultants are teaming up to provide a…
The Observer has an interesting story about Hyper-Localism. This idea has several manifestations. In one version a newspaper creates Web content around niche groups like high school football teams or cats in trees and the brave city workers who save…
IAC's Citysearch has opened an inside sales center in Atlanta as part of a major sales push that also includes the development of a national sales team. There are currently 60 inside sellers in the center, and more than 150…
The European Interactive Advertising Association released portions of a study showing increases for online conversion rates across several categories. The chart below, part of the release, shows the product categories with the fastest growing "conversion rates" from 2005 to 2006.…
There are a lot of reasons why Yellow Pages will continue to be the dominant local advertising vehicle. Certainly a major benefit Yellow Pages publishers have is that advertisers and people looking to buy products and services both know a…
Oodle, the listing aggregator service, is completing its transition from a Google dependent site with the rollout today of a comparison feature for autos. Real estate and rentals will be rolled out next. In October, Oodle made its first move…
Local.com continues to expand into related local search verticals announcing a partnership with Oodle.com. Strategically, the addition of classified verticals to local search platforms has driven incremental consumer usage as users navigate across the two offerings. According to Heath Clarke,…
Gannett, McClatchy and Tribune (aka "The Troika") have now weighed in on the controversy generated by the revelation that they are working on a national ad network that will compete with a national ad network being created by Yahoo! and…
There's been more industry feedback on the "Open Network" for national advertising that Gannett, McClatchy and Tribune (GMT) have proposed to launch for the newspaper industry. The first question is: Who leaked it to reporter Julia Angwin and why? There…
An executive at AT&T has informed me that an internal communication went out saying that BellSouth Advertising & Publishing President Ike Harris is leaving the corporation. Denny Payne, who has been president of SBC Directory Operations/AT&T Yellow Pages for the…
