Quick Thoughts on Apple's Big Announcements
A lot of us were glued to our screens today to watch or catch the feeds on the Apple announcements re iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Pay and Apple Watch. (To me, the best coverage was on Re/code). What…
Quick Thoughts on Apple’s Big Announcements
A lot of us were glued to our screens today to watch or catch the feeds on the Apple announcements re iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Pay and Apple Watch. (To me, the best coverage was on Re/code). What…
Kilponen: SMB Retailers Need to Focus on Foot Traffic Drivers
What should SMB retailers do to level the playing field with larger regional and national retailers? There are no easy answers, but they should really focus on mobile and geo location targeting, says Wanderful Media COO Doug Kilponen. Search has…
Merchants Helping Neighboring Merchants: Ex Contact Contacter Launches 'Alignable'
One idea we've kicked around for a while is that merchants can generate business tips and customer referrals for neighboring merchants in a strip mall, or down the street. Why shouldn't the cooking store people refer customers to the gourmet…
Merchants Helping Neighboring Merchants: Ex Contact Contacter Launches ‘Alignable’
One idea we've kicked around for a while is that merchants can generate business tips and customer referrals for neighboring merchants in a strip mall, or down the street. Why shouldn't the cooking store people refer customers to the gourmet…
Future Stars Break-through: TalkLocal (SevaCall) Raises $2.6 Million
BIA/Kelsey launched Future Stars several years ago, with the idea of highlighting startup companies in the local space that needed a little boost to hit the big time. Future Stars get to participate in Future Stars Alley at our events;…
Eniro Suffers a Series of Unfortunate Events
The Nordics search and directory company Eniro has suffered a series of increasingly embarrassing developments in recent weeks. It began back in July with a "disappointing" second quarter earnings result, which led to a management shake-up. In mid-August the company…
Soleo Launches "Call Generation" Portal for Self-Serve PPC
Call-based advertising player Soleo Communications took an important step recently with the launch of its Call Generation Portal, a new service that allows small, medium and large merchants (or their agencies) to create an account with Soleo to purchase phone-based…
Soleo Launches “Call Generation” Portal for Self-Serve PPC
Call-based advertising player Soleo Communications took an important step recently with the launch of its Call Generation Portal, a new service that allows small, medium and large merchants (or their agencies) to create an account with Soleo to purchase phone-based…
Acxiom Launches Self Serve SMB Marketing Effort
Consumer data giant Acxiom is moving downstream with a self-serve leads products tailored to SMBs. The new SMB product, “MyAcxiomPartner,” allows SMBs to develop customer lists on a hyperlocal basis, using either addresses or polygon mapping. The effort is part…
xAd Lands $50 Million to Continue Location-Targeted Ad Disruption
xAd just announced that it has recieved a $50 million funding round led by Institutional Venture Partners. This joins the $24 million the company has received over three rounds to date. It continues to grow quickly, having reached profitability and…
HomeAdvisor's Chris Terrill: Poised for Growth, New Services
Almost two years ago, IAC was in a tough situation. It had a leading services referral business in ServiceMagic, whose main rival was Angie?s List, the paid subscription service. But the service wasn?t growing; had relatively low brand awareness; and…
HomeAdvisor’s Chris Terrill: Poised for Growth, New Services
Almost two years ago, IAC was in a tough situation. It had a leading services referral business in ServiceMagic, whose main rival was Angie’s List, the paid subscription service. But the service wasn’t growing; had relatively low brand awareness; and…
SMB Advertising: A Segment Not To Be Overlooked
With all of the new competition faced by traditional and new media companies, these companies are increasingly focused on developing new business anywhere they can. One potentially treasure trove of new business is with small and medium businesses (SMBs). As…
YP Boosts Data with Goodzer Deal
YP has made a deal to include Goodzer's enhanced local services data across 3,000 business categories on YP.com and YP's mobile app. The move is designed to improve the value of YP's owned and operated digital properties to merchants and…
Analyst Roundtable: Apple Rumors Galore
What will apple announce next week? All eyes are on the tech giant as we get closer to its 9/09 press event. As we wrote last week, we'll probably see an iPhone 6 in larger sizes. Other Rumors point to…
What Will Apple Unveil on 9/9?
Apple rumor season is in full swing. The tech and media worlds are abuzz over what it will announce at its fall press conference, just slated for September 9th. All signs point to an iPhone 6, given its existing product…
40th Speaker Added for SMB Digital Marketing, New Orleans, Sept. 22-24
The lineup for our SMB Digital Marketing event in rockin’ New Orleans has got to be considered one of our strongest ever. We’ve just confirmed our 40th hand picked speakers for the event, which takes place Sept. 22-24 in New…
BIA/Kelsey Video: Phone Calls are Sexy Again
Calls are the new click. That was one of the themes that emerged from the kickoff session I moderated at LeadsCon two weeks ago. As a lead form, calls were a common thread despite the range of formats being developed…
Watch out AAA: Urgent.ly Goes Uber, Takes on Roadside Assistance
"Uber-ification" has been extended to many local segments, including hotels, restaurant reservations and promotions. How about roadside assistance? Asserting that AAA and other roadside assistance services have outdated economic models and technology, local media and commerce vet Chris Spanos (AOL,…