Four-month-old, Cincinnati, Ohio-based SmartyTags has a decidedly different approach to the technology of QR codes. Rather than just focusing on the technology, its focus is on how best to use them as a marketing tool, track uses of each code…
The Internet services and online marketing solutions provider Web.com launched a new interface this week that may eliminate the need for SMBs to create two websites, one for Internet local search and another for mobile. Web.com's mobile website detects when…
The Deals space is so hot, yet there are many unanswered questions about it. We know it will be big, but who really knows what it is going to look like 18 months from now? With that in mind, we…
Just Dial, a local search engine company in India, raised approximately $10 million from SAP Ventures and Sequoia Capital Global Equities. The Mumbai-based firm was founded by VSS Mani in 1996 to connect potential buyers of products and services with small businesses.…
Yodle, a third-party SMB reseller, announced yesterday that it acquired ProfitFuel, a company that provides search engine optimization services to small businesses, for an undisclosed sum. David Rubin, previously CEO of Profitfuel, will now join Yodle as senior vice president…
Sebastien Provencher introduced the EADP audience in Mallorca, Spain, to the concept of conversational commerce. Praized Media's latest product, Needium, mines local Tweets to uncover intent whether it is intentional or unintentional. Provencher offered the example of a series of…
The EADP conference in Mallorca was treated to the insights and good humor of Yellow Pages Group Canada's Matthieu Houle and the company's very funny ad campaign. Mobile, Houle said, gives directories the appeal local advertisers are looking for. His…
ReachLocal announced Wednesday that it entered a strategic alliance with SureFire Search, a New Zealand marketing agency that works with small and medium-sized businesses. The move will expand ReachLocal's global presence, which includes online ad campaigns in the United Kingdom,…
SMB reseller WebVisible went through difficult changes last year, downsizing from 320 to 130 employees and retreating from an ambitious direct marketing program. But it has kept core partners intact; key members of the CEO's installed executive team have stayed…
What do you do to keep your customer after your deal of the day runs? That’s a big question for tens of thousands of SMBs -- many of which have used deal a day as a loss leader and have…
Angie's List, Kudzu and The Washington Post's new ServiceAlley are providing group buying promotions for home and trade services. But is group buying the right paradigm for home and trade services? Regional Help Wanted Cofounder Eric Straus says no. Instead,…
Today I am excited to announce that BIA/Kelsey has greatly enhanced its focus on social media to include dedicated coverage on our Local Media Watch blog and a new Continuous Advisory Service called Social Local Media. BIA/Kelsey Analyst Jed Williams…
In case you haven’t noticed, eBay has been ramping up a local strategy in the past few months via the integration of all its vertical properties with its home site, the $75 million purchase of Milo.com, and today, a $200…
Carter Maslan, Google product director for local search, took the stage during last week's ILM:10 conference to track and extrapolate the advancement of online local media. The aha moment for Maslan was when he was at Microsoft and his friend…
The ILM:10 conference in Santa Clara ended with what is arguably the most important topic of the conference. How can businesses take all of the incredible users experiences emerging in local and social media and convert them into SMB sales?…
Panelists on the Home and Trade Revolution panel this afternoon echoed the sentiments BIA/Kelsey CEO Neal Polachek expressed during his opening presentation yesterday about the importance of trust. Increasingly, this level of trust is achieved through the process of service…
Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, in his opening keynote at ILM:10, noted a general frustration with Google's apparent de-emphasis of Yelp's content, but said he sees major opportunity in mobile app access as a workaround of Google. Stoppelman showed an example…
SEO companies are a dime a dozen. How do you stand out? How about guaranteeing a front page rank on major search engines to SMBs? That’s what Relevant Ads’ Local Splash has done. The fast-growing SEO company cofounded in 2006…
Google is reportedly set to pay $5.3 billion for Groupon, a spectacular investment that would give The Big G a compelling way to get close to local businesses, leverage Gmail and really rev up a social media paradigm (as opposed…
American Express has recently been leveraging its powerful relationship with SMBs on the Web, including a tie to search engine marketing and lead generation via a deal between American Express Open and Clickable. Now Amex is going deep with social…