New Yellow Pages Group (Canada) CMO Stephane Marceau, on the job since June, is beginning to make his mark, with two big online announcements this week. The combined moves suggest YPG is stepping up its efforts to generate more traffic…
For those who doubt social media can play an effective role in local business marketing, check out Kuni BMW, which is based in Beaverton, OR. The dealership has a headstart with its nameplate -- BMW owners are well known for…
AOL CEO Tim Armstong, interviewed by John Battelle at Web 2.0 in San Francisco, gave a thumbs up to the future of the Yellow Pages – at least, the Internet Yellow Pages. Noting that the Internet YP business is largely…
Speakers at last week’s Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco mused about the future of journalism with moderator John Battelle. “We’re living in an era of great change all over the place,” noted New York Times Digital Head Martin Niesenholtz.…
As more and more attention is devoted to mobile usage, mobile advertising is getting awareness as an attractive ad platform. Favorable ad performance metrics (i.e., CTRs) over online equivalents have caused many advertisers to begin to look at mobile marketing…
Consumers are likely to be more motivated to try out a local business if the offer is linked to a charity. That’s been the thinking behind charity based programs by Oodle and Insider Pages. And it is also the thinking…
Marketing Week is reporting that Yell is launching 18 vertical microsites offering deep content on a particular area, including the law, gardening, automotive, plumbing and others. The content is from a mix of Web-based sources, including how-to articles from expert…
Here is a recap of posts from last week, in case you missed any. Click below to read each post in full. JD Power Roundtable: Social Media Key for Ford All accounts from last week’s JD Power's Automotive Roundtable in Las…
All accounts from last week’s JD Power's Automotive Roundtable in Las Vegas suggest that Ford Group VP Jim Farley laid out a really compelling picture of how a major manufacturer looks at its opportunities in digital and especially social media.…
In the previous post, I promised to address the local angle of yesterday's blitz of search engine/social media deals. Many of the concepts apply to local: We've looked at a few examples in the past such as the efforts of…
Unless you've been hiding under a rock today, you've heard about the deal between Google and Twitter and that between Bing and Twitter and Facebook (I know, it's confusing). Essentially these deals boil down to Google and Bing getting access…
Local news blogs may have trouble making their economics work. But what if their content can be picked up and paid for by major media outlets? That’s the model behind the Chicago News Cooperative (CNC), a new organization of former…
The long-awaited merger agreement between the Yellow Pages Association (representing publishers) and the Association of Directory Marketing (representing Yellow Pages ad agencies, or CMRs) has been approved by the groups' respective boards. Now the deal faces membership approval, which appears…
Cablevision has made good on its threat to put the online version of Newsday behind a firewall, accessible only by print subscribers or online-only users willing to pay $5 per week. Classifieds will remain free. Newsday, purchased last May from…
Today I had the chance to talk to Multiplied Media, the company behind the fast moving Poynt mobile search product. In the past year, it has planted its stakes as the most popular mobile local search app for BlackBerries. Earlier…
Morgan Stanley Managing Director Mary Meeker gave her annual brain dump to the Web 2.0 Summit yesterday, painting a picture of a mobile-centric media world on the horizon. At the heart of her argument was the contention that location (mobile…
A BIA/Kelsey press release today reveals data from Local Commerce Monitor, indicating that 9 percent of small businesses use Twitter to market themselves. Thirty-two percent of SMBs meanwhile intend to use social media in their marketing in the next 12…
Smelling blood at the presumed decline of Yellow Pages, a number of sites have launched that provide leads to local service SMBs. You've got Angie’s List on the membership side. And ServiceMagic, Tree.com's DoneRight, Sears’ ServiceLive and a number of…
Apple announced fourth-quarter earnings today with profits of $1.67 billion ($1.82 per diluted share). This is up 47 percent year over year from $1.14 billion ($1.26 per share), beating analyst expectations of $1.60 per share. Much of this growth was…
JD Power, at its annual Automotive Internet Roundtable in Las Vegas last week, laid out a convincing case that Internet and mobile marketing has made major headway among local auto dealers. While digital media comprised just 7 percent of all…
