FreshGuide.com, which includes the BookFresh.com scheduling service, has been acquired by Sugar Inc., a diversified media company that includes a TV network and programming aimed at women, as well as ShopStyle, a “social shopping service.” FreshGuide.com founder Ryan Donahue says…
As my colleague Mike Boland has reported, OpenTable has opened its network a bit, allowing registered Yelp users to directly make reservations from Yelp -- whether they have registered with OpenTable or not. Users who have registered with both services…
As my colleague Mike Boland has reported, OpenTable has opened its network a bit, allowing registered Yelp users to directly make reservations from Yelp -- whether they have registered with OpenTable or not. Users who have registered with both services…
EBay’s newly branded “eBay Classifieds" -- formerly known as Kijiji -- is being repositioned to better leverage eBay’s capabilities, according to U.S. GM Martin Herbst, who spoke to us for a new report that we’ve just issued in BIA/Kelsey's Marketplaces…
EveryCarListed, SuperMedia's auto vertical, will feature its dealer listings on the Oodle Network, which includes marketplaces on social media sites (Facebook, MySpace) as well as sites ranging from Walmart.com to Military.com. EveryCarListed advertisers will receive priority placements on the Oodle…
Cox Enterprises has sold 25 percent of AutoTrader.com to Providence Equity Partners, a company that manages $22 billion in its portfolio and whose Web site says it likes to take equity shares “between $250 million and $2.5 billion.” Terms were…
Real estate and rental agents get into big trouble if they mouth off about a neighborhood’s quality-of-life issues. The most they can do is point to Web sites that provide some general stats (i.e., school info, crime stats and market…
Cox Enterprises reports that AutoTrader.com's revenue declined three percent from 2008 to 2009,but increased its total revenue by one percent to $629 million, largely due to the addition of print operations formerly managed by AutoTrader Publishing. The company considers its…
Craigslist has always been murky about revenues, and remains a free site for most categories. It only charges a commercial rate for recruitment, with listings costing just $25 in 17 markets and $75 in San Francisco. Fees for apartment listings…
One of the recommendations we have been supporting and talking about over the past year is the need to look at the print directory differently. For the past 100-plus years, the directory has been viewed as a distribution media vehicle…
Today brings two meaningful announcements in the answers space from SuperMedia and MerchantCircle. Answers is an area that seems to be getting more attention as a way for local merchants to differentiate themselves online and for local online media sites…
Trulia, which is ranked a Top 7 real estate site by comScore, has followed the lead of Realtor.com and Zillow and added rentals to its site. The rentals section features all Trulia’s functionality, such as neighborhood information, mapping and ratings…
AT&T has unveiled a new version of its Yellowpages.com online directory, complete with a new name (YP.com); a new algorithmic approach to search; updated maps; and a set of vertical integrations with leading partners in cars, hotels, events and movies.…
BIA/Kelsey’s Marketplaces 2010 conference has just ended after two-and-a-half days of fantastic presentations from 49 speakers; top-level research from our BIA/Kelsey team; and really great evening events from MojoPages and Acxiom/Moon Valley (we’re talking fire eaters and San Diego Bay…
ServiceMagic CEO Craig Smith started off his keynote address this morning stating that the current recession has been a good thing for the industry. His controversial point was that prior recessions have spawned innovation. "I think we'll see more innovation…
Avvo, the free legal ratings and review site that has taken on the giant legal publishers that have long dominated the business, announced that it has raised $10 million in Series C funding. The new round adds to $13 million…
Online scheduling appears to be one of the break-out features in the marketplaces space this year. Nineteen percent of respondents to BIA/Kelsey’s most recent User View say they made a non-restaurant online appointment in the past six months. Major appointment…
CBS Local has launched an auto shopping guide on the Web site of WCCO-TV Minneapolis, using vertical content and services from High Gear Media, a Palo Alto, California-based auto specialist publisher launched two years ago by Daily Shopper founder Hesky…
Events are a vertical that cuts across many segments: travel, retail, sports, entertainment, education, dining, culture and others. Major players include specialists such as Zvents, Eventful, Americantowns.com and Center’d. City sites such as Citysearch and Yelp are active in the…
Redbeacon, one of the new breed of social/local leads providers for SMBs, said it is now available throughout the entire Bay Area and teaming up with BigTent, a mega-moms network in the Bay Area with more than 100 local cells.…
