We’ve just announced the lineup for our Marketplaces 2009 conference, which is March 16-18 at the historic (and excellent) Century Plaza in L.A. We hope you find it as compelling as we do. It is probably a “must attend” event by any…
If any company had the local and regional footprints to build a local editorial network, it would probably be Gannett, with its 85 newspapers. If Gannett were to go that route, I always thought the conduit would be USA Today.…
We’re out with our predictions for 2009. But what’s the final word for 2008? Truly, it was a very stimulating and thoughtful year for our local media and commerce industry. But speaking for myself, it’s hard to say whether it…
Local mobile portals make a lot of sense since most phones (even the iPhone 3G) don’t really lend themselves to much surfing. Another social/viral dimension is added through social networking enhancements via profile pages, Twitter and especially GPS. Two services seem…
Hyperlocal sites aspire to grab headlines from everywhere and be a one-stop for the neighborhood. That’s been accepted practice, providing the site links back to the origination site, and too much copy isn’t exposed. It tends to build traffic for everyone.…
The local media industry is so fragmented that it seems increasingly essential to aggregate local classifieds from a number of sources. Google Base and Oodle go a long way in this regard -- the latter having recently signed Facebook and MySpace…
The impact of mobile access on media is still being sorted out, but some preliminary data suggests it extends consumer research to the weekends and at night -- and that news is a real driver. The first data we saw…
Much of the discussion on this morning's ILM:08 panel titled "Localizing the Ad Nets: Display Channels" revolved around discussion of what was to become of the display ad network environment in 2009. Panelists Shawn Riegsecker (CEO of Centro) and Russ…
The phone is quickly advancing as a means of pushing out ad-sponsored content that mimics some of the popular mobile advertising features. Greg Webster of VoodooVox, at ILM:08, debuted some of the new features of the company's In-Call Media group, demonstrating…
IAC Vice President Kara Nortman, speaking at Interactive Local Media 2008, provided both a dose of reality and a glimmer of hope about where media companies in the local marketplace are headed. Nortman’s view of what is working well included sites…
AT&T Advertising Solutions has announced a partnership with Hispanic publisher Seccion Amarilla to sell Hispanic advertising into select Seccion Amarilla directories. "AT&T is always focused on enhancing our directories to best serve our business and residential customers in the diverse…
Marchex, during its 3Q earnings call today, reaffirmed its focus on providing ad solutions for the local and vertical search space, noting that it currently works with 80,000 local advertisers via 110 local partner relationships, including AT&T and Idearc. The…
Spot Runner announced that it is laying off 115 people, or less than 30 percent of its staff. It confirmed that a big chunk of the layoffs are coming from its local sales division, formerly known as Weblistic. Company officials say…
Press releases are rich in content -- richer than most ads. Many local events, businesses and services routinely write them. But they often don’t get past the “about us” sections on their own Web sites. The releases aren’t easily found,…
We’re just about ready to go with Interactive Local Media 2008, which is Nov. 19-21 in Santa Clara, in the heart of Silicon Valley. It should be a very important, game-defining event -- and the first one for The Kelsey…
The news hit the wires this week that Autobytel, one of the original third party auto sites, had hired RBC Capital Markets to explore its options, and was laying off 75 of its 225 workers. This was on top of…
With the real estate market in an indefinite doldrums, Zillow is transforming itself from an information provider about home sales to a full-service provider of information for home owners. The ad-supported service announced today that it is launching a Professional…
Zvents, which is seeking to transform the events category to a broader “what, when and where” category that encompasses local entertainment, organizations and businesses, has announced $24 million in new funding from AT&T (i.e., wireless and Yellow Pages), Nokia Growth…
Fox Interactive Media’s MySpace is seeking to jump-start local and small-business advertising by launching a homegrown Self-Serve Ad Service. Initial advertisers are likely to be rock bands -- the first major segment to have adopted MySpace itself -- but the…
OK, we’ve got the format(s) and “best and brightest” speaker roster set for Interactive Local Media: Extending Local Channels, which is Nov. 19-21 in Santa Clara, California, next to San Jose. At the top of the list is Angie Hicks,…
