Digital media is more cannibalistic than complementary and is seriously eating into the demand for traditional news sources such as newspapers, TV and news magazines, according to the third annual survey of news users done by Outsell Inc. The survey…
Lots of talk today about a BusinessWeek article that reports Apple is in talks with Microsoft to replace Google as the default search provider on the iPhone. This results from the growing turf battle between the two mobile heavyweights. What…
A legal battle over which law firm gets access to the outside back cover ad of the Baltimore SuperMedia Yellow Pages directory underscores that print Yellow Pages ads can still produce a return on investment worth fighting over. According to…
Norwegian browser maker Opera Software today announced it will acquire mobile ad exchange AdMarvel for what TechCrunch is reporting to be $8 million in cash plus a $15 million earnout. As an ad exchange, AdMarvel has transparency across many ad…
G5 Search Marketing has broadened its vertical focus beyond self storage and now also serves senior housing, multi-family and student housing with its search services. All are aimed at “mid-market” players. The company reports that its client base has grown…
Serial Web entrepreneur Mark H. Goldstein has been the founder of such sites as Kmart’s BlueLight and Impulse Buy. More recently, he invested in green ecology-based ventures, but he grew bored and came back to ecommerce with Loyalty Lab and …
In what is an ongoing humanitarian and mobile story, mobile donations made to Haiti earthquake aftermath relief have exceeded $22 million. This has been a quickly accelerating total, as news reports mid-last week were boasting $7 million. More importantly, the $22 million…
Germany’s Kennst Du Einen, an SEO site that helps local businesses get top search rankings and collect recommendations in the mode of Yelp and ReachLocal, says its run rate reached the 1 million euro mark level in 4Q 2009. That…
MerchantCircle has registered its millionth SMB, Nassau Avenue Nails of Islip, NY. Owner Danielle Biegler found out about MerchantCircle after searching for other local businesses nearby, and will receive a lifetime MerchantCircle tools, cool MerchantCircle gear and a new sign.…
Rumors have been flying that Google is poised to buy Trulia, “the real estate search engine” that competes with, among others, Zillow (which just said it is aiming to IPO in 2011). But according to reports by attendees, no information…
Sears is loath to invest in its physical stores but has built a collection of “shop your way” online and mobile services as a high margin substitute, according to an article on WSJ.com. The article notes that Sears’ e-commerce division…
Three years ago, BIA/Kelsey created the Marketplaces research program and conference because we saw that local advertising was quickly "verticalizing." Indeed, money and talent have poured in for the new breed of vertical products that would take their place among…
We're hearing a lot about Google's Nexus One, failed expectations and enraged customers. Complaints have reverberated throughout the blogosphere that Google's direct-to-consumer approach leaves many Nexus One owners without the ability to see and handle the device before purchasing. Worse…
Yell.com has decided to forgo partnering on maps with Google, Microsoft or other potential competitors in favor of building its own propriety map product. The U.K.'s largest directory publisher unveiled a beta version of the Yell Maps product this week.…
There's been lots of talk about how the newly minted SuperMedia (formerly Idearc) is repositioning itself as it emerges from bankruptcy. Some of this is about branding but a great deal of it also involves the longstanding evolution of how…
As we enter the smartphone generation, directory listings may only be a starting point for consumer information needs. In terms of revenue opportunities, they may only be scratching the surface. CallSpark, which calls itself the “call experience company,” seeks to…
By Tom Buono, CEO, BIA/Kelsey John Kelsey, having sold The Kelsey Group a year ago to BIA, has stepped down from the company after helping us all with the transition. John has been a remarkable force of innovation in the…
MSNBC.com’s EveryBlock is moving beyond its roots as a hard-core aggregator of hyperlocal data with its first social feature: “Notify Your Neighbors.” The feature, which has been tested for over a month, is similar to other sites, such as Rottenneighbor.com,…
Here is a recap of posts from last week, in case you missed any. Click below to read each post in full. CitySquares Acquires Yokel, a Site for Local Retailers CitySquares, an online city guide and directory company based in Boston,…
CitySquares, an online city guide and directory company based in Boston, has acquired the assets of Yokel, which provides online retail services and maintains a database of 2 million retailers. Terms weren’t disclosed. The combination should work well with CitySquares'…