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…
Selling advertising on customized Google Maps is becoming increasingly common, with agencies such as LAT49 showing the way. Ads have been sold on maps for hiking, jogging trails, local transit and other categories. Now Wedding Mapper is taking the same…
Under the new leadership of CEO Carol Bartz, everything is up for review at Yahoo, and that probably includes HotJobs, its recruitment site. But recent press reports suggesting that HotJobs has already been designated for sale are off base. The…
The News Hour with Jim Lehrer followed The New York Times' lead today with a segment on “news alternatives” (audio download here). Featured on the program were Joel Kramer of MinnPost, John Brod from Patch.com and Esther Thorson from The…
It would be a pity if The New York Times Co.’s Boston Globe were shut down, because its Boston.com site continues to innovate with local online advertising capabilities. Today, the company’s YourTown hyperlocal sites launched Flyerboards: a virtual bulletin board…
We’re always looking for what’s up and down in the economy. One likely contender: garage sales. According to coverage in the L.A. Times, garage sale postings on Craigslist are up 80 percent nationwide (and 50 percent in the L.A. area).
The New York Times weighs in today on whether hyperlocal sites will fill the local coverage gap left by shrunken or collapsed newspapers -- never mind that newspapers themselves have only recently rediscovered neighborhood-level news themselves. Almost of their attention…
A new study by AOL's Platform-A and Information Resources, Inc. reports that nearly 40 percent of shoppers would be very likely to use coupons accessed online. Additional findings from this survey indicate that, not surprisingly, newspaper coupons are most popular…
MapQuest launched a feature that lets those celebrating Easter find the closest Easter egg hunts. These include formal hunts for the general public (search technology hasn't reached the point of indexing private backyard events). It's an interesting integration of local…
The folks at Canpages have been very busy lately. In addition to producing competitive print and online directories throughout Canada (where they go head to head with the formidable Yellow Pages Group), the Canadian independent directory publisher operates Immersifind, an…
The San Diego News Network seemed like a model for local news development but now its future is less clear. Launched last week after nearly a year of development, the network was built to provide compelling local content to the…
The folks at Mixpo have posted some of the performance metrics they're seeing from their online video ad product. Just yesterday, we heard from Brownbook that listings containing video were showing 5x to 9x response rates (CTRs) over those that…
Following up on last week's post about utilizing Twitter for local advertising, Local Search News' Steve Espinosa argues that Twitter itself should provide better tools to do this. The gist of his argument is that local (or location) is inherent…
In February, Charles Laughlin and I toured western Europe to meet with interesting mobile and local search companies. One of the more memorable meetings was with Brownbook, the U.K.-based site that is lowering the barriers for SMBs to establish a…
McKinsey & Co. consultant Ali Keshavarz, speaking at the NAA Annual Convention in San Diego, said he believes newspapers can add 20 percent to their online revenues by pushing harder on small-business accounts. McKinsey has been working on an SMB…
Speaking at the NAA Annual Convention in San Diego, McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt says his company is now operating the leading local Internet business in each of its daily newspaper markets. Among the company's top markets are Miami, where it…
In an under-reported story, Valpak has begun to experiment with mobile distribution of its signature coupons. So far this has included an iPhone optimized Web site and next up could be a native iPhone app. This could come at the…
Google CEO Eric Schmidt addressed newspaper publishers this morning at the NAA Annual Convention in San Diego, giving a high-level, thought-provoking talk (without apparent notes) about the future of information and the role that newspapers, search and consumers will play…
While retailers are reducing their brand advertising, along with store inventory and head count at their headquarters and stores, promotions, local events and direct marketing efforts are getting a big boost, says TNS Retail Forward Executive VP Dan Stenik, who…
The Las Vegas Review-Journal has launched an ambitious local mobile video site using the The AP Mobile News Network, said AP President Tom Curley, speaking at the NAA Annual Convention in San Diego. The site extends The Review-Journal’s leadership onto…
