Local is the niche thing that has gone mainstream. All the evidence is clear with our ILM 2010 conference, which is taking place in Santa Clara, California, Dec. 7-9. In fact, ILM:10 is shaping up to be one of the…
Small businesses seeking to pick, choose and install Web applications for their Facebook Pages and Places can now easily do so with Appbistro, a new site that provides app makers an iTunes Store-like model (right down to the 70/30 revenue…
Google today announced a rather significant change to its local search results and ranking algorithms. Dubbed Place Search, this provides more detailed information about places that match your search query and location (inferred or explicit). This means a few things. First, it's the official…
AutoTrader.com is paying a reported $500 million to acquire the assets of Kelley Blue Book. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2010. On the surface, the acquisition of KBB is fairly straightforward. While AutoTrader provides its…
It's Yellow Pages earnings season again. AT&T is usually among the first out with its results, and the latest numbers show a worsening picture for its Advertising Solutions business, which includes print Yellow Pages and yp.com. The results are compounded by very…
The rollout of Facebook Places was supposed to spell certain doom for check-in companies such as Foursquare and GoWalla, and the whole check-in and location-based services infrastructure, right? But it hasn’t exactly happened that way, says DoubleDutch CEO Lawrence Coburn,…
I sat in on a breakout session this morning at SES Chicago entitled "Local 2.0: The Evolution of Local Search." Gregg Stewart from TMP division 15miles moderated, with two local SEO experts presenting, David Rodecker or Relevant Ads and Curtis R.…
A theme has emerged from many companies we've talked to lately; building tools to drive and influence consumer decisions at (or nearer to) the point of purchase. This isn't terribly new and of course is a function of the portability…
With more than 150 brands offering daily deals, and traditional media companies now building out their own deals platforms, the need for differentiation is apparent. LivingSocial, which according to compete.com boasts as many monthly unique visitors as Groupon, has acquired social adventure company…
I am planning to attend an event next month in London called IYP Search Meet 2010, which is aimed at giving those in the Yellow Pages world in charge of making online directory products better an opportunity to share best…
With more than half of its 65 million users listening from portable devices, Internet streaming leader Pandora sees massive opportunity in mobile. In its latest move to tap that potential, the company is partnering with AdReady to introduce geo- and demo-targeted…
People question the future of ad agencies, given the evolution away from "Mad Men" big ideas to a multi-device, multi-access-type environment where they need more technology and idea implementation. At Bolo 2010 in Scottsdale today, Forrester analyst Shar VanBoskirk called…
Tomorrow I will participate in a webinar sponsored by Search Marketing Now on the topic of "call mining" along with John Busby, VP of advertising platforms at Marchex Call Analytics. The whole idea is to take the content of calls…
Online "ad versioning" has taken on heightened significance as national and regional brands vie for their own piece of the sizable local advertising pie. However, as SEM becomes more sophisticated and consumers expect smart targeting from commercial messages, basic…
The future of city guides has been morphing beyond events and features. This was driven home today by the launch of Metromix Deals, a JV between Metromix, the 50+ site city guide chain co-owned by Gannett and Tribune, and Local…
For iPromote CEO Michael Barr, "a picture is worth a thousand words." Now he's trying to convince third-party publishers, and the local clients they represent, that it's a no-brainer to serve keyword and location-based display ads alongside the text-based search ads…
In the ongoing developments of mobile bar code readers, Google recently launched a QR code generator for any Web site, based on its link shortener tool Goo.gl. Link shortening incumbent bit.ly has now responded to Google's entrance to its space…
As local businesses increasingly transition their advertising dollars online, they expect agencies and publishers to furnish them with simple, consolidated solutions supported by tangible, trackable ROI. MerchEngines built its white-label "relationship generation" system to enable online marketing providers to do just that for their SMB clients. In…
This just in (via Bloomberg), Marissa Mayer, Google VP of search products, will switch roles and now head up all local and location products. These are increasingly important areas of development for Google as evidenced by its public moves and…
Media General is the latest traditional media franchise to partner with a deal-a-day provider, launching a partnership with Groupon to open a new revenue stream in the much-hyped group buying space. Media General owns both local television stations (18 total)…
