I had the opportunity to speak with Michael Pastko, CEO of Coupious a Boulder, Colorado-based mobile coupon platform. Coupious got its start when Pastko and his partner leveraged their experience at Purdue University to launch a Coupious iPhone application in…
Citysearch announced today that it has shifted its ad model for small businesses, moving from the cost-per-click model that it pioneered several years ago to a new model that will drive consumers directly to their own Web sites. The new…
Vermont’s Front Porch Forum is a hyperlocal network that has thrived, usage-wise, without relying on much of anything other than its authentic community voice. As recounted in an article in this month’s Yankee magazine by enviro-writer Bill McKibben, the hyperlocal…
AT&T Interactive has put up a beta version of its new Buzz.com site dedicated to eliciting positive social recommendations and answers to questions from friends, friends of friends and throughout the Buzz site (which, unfortunately, may get confused with Google…
AT&T Interactive has put up a beta version of its new Buzz.com site dedicated to eliciting positive social recommendations and answers to questions from friends, friends of friends and throughout the Buzz site (which, unfortunately, may get confused with Google…
On Thursday's earnings call, DexOne (ex-R.H. Donnelley) leaders cautiously projected that the rate of decline in ad sales would improve in 2010, from being down 20 percent in 2009 to down between 12 percent and 15 percent this year. The…
Philadelphia-based 7Mainstreet cofounder Andy Leff got the idea for his company about four years ago while driving to the grocery store. "I was listening to something on the radio about the success MySpace was having with helping rock bands promote…
Merchant data sent in by fans of merchants and from merchants themselves is becoming increasingly important. Can it be relied on as a main source, or should it only complement listing data from the big three providers -- InfoGroup, Acxiom…
Multiplied Media has announced that its flagship Poynt mobile search application is available now for the iPhone. The app so far has planted its stake on the BlackBerry with 2 million users -- indeed the top mobile local app for…
Demand Media, Associated Content and Examiner.com are each building up an arsenal of highly searchable “long tail” content. Now add Perfect Market to their ranks, a new company that seeks to provide the same “long tail” search optimized earnings capabilities…
Self-serve ads will bring the SMB masses to the Web. But they haven’t made much of a dent in SMB advertising at this point. That hasn’t stopped a rush of new self-serve products coming out, several married to social media…
In less than three weeks, we’ll be holding the third (and best) edition of Marketplaces, the only event dedicated to the great opportunities caused by rapid verticalization of local media and services. Marketplaces 2010 takes places March 22-24 in my…
In late January, Google launched a new pay-per-call program for mobile advertisers. It emphasized the opportunity for local advertisers that are more interested in driving phone calls than clicks (or those equally interested in both). Today it expands the program…
A couple of stories caught my attention today. First, Reach Media Group (RMG), a digital out-of-home company that we’ve previously written about, signed a deal to push New York Times content to its network of 800 coffee shops, cafes and…
Centro, the local and regional media service company, has branched off into Web-based support for ad management. The company today announced the launch of Transis, a new division dedicated to automating the “other 80 percent” of the display industry not…
As it readies its expected public offering, ReachLocal is branching out beyond its roots as a third-party SMB reseller for Google and others. First, it started selling display. Now it is set to offer improved search optimization, digital presence and…
We've been listening to earnings webcasts for the major global directory publishers over the past days, trying to pick up any clues for how publishers see 2010 developing. Most publishers have shortened their guidance horizon or have stopped giving it…
Reply.com this week announced plans to raise $60 million in an IPO. ReachLocal had earlier announced similar plans to go public. The success of one or both companies' efforts will have a major impact on other local-themed companies’ efforts to…
In all the excitement around geolocation, Google's latest move to discern local intent is a search tool that enables "nearby" filtering. This is useful during the times when a geographic modifier, like a ZIP code, is not used in a…
