Peter Krasilovsky's

Local Onliner

Nov 21
2006

OJR’s Poor Report Card for Community Nets

Community networks, or “we networks,” are so poorly used that they tend to really be “me networks.” That’s the gist of a new article in Annenberg’s Online Journalism Review by Tom Grubisch, who revisits the subject a little more than a year after first looking into it.

The review of sites is a little scattershot. It doesn’t mention some of the brighter projects (i.e. BuffaloRising). It doesn’t get into some of the new models for community nets, such as the place blog movement. (What is a community net, circa 4Q 2006 anyway?) But Grubisch still provides valuable usage and ad data on several sites, and he has some important critiques.

While the community nets aren’t eclipsing incumbent media, they’ve proved to be invaluable laboratories. And in my view, “community” – in whatever form it ultimately takes –has got to be part of the equation.

Categories: HyperLocal, Newspapers, Research

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Nov 20
2006

Details on Yahoo Deal with Newspapers

The newspaper recruitment deal with Yahoo first disclosed here in an Oct. 24 post has finally been confirmed, with some interesting twists. The deal puts in place a recruitment network of seven companies with 176 newspapers in 13 of the Top 15 markets. Additional activities that go beyond the scope of recruitment are to be “filled in later.”

As many as 12 newspaper companies had participated in the talks, but some held off joining, apparently tied in to existing vendors, or taking a wait-and-see approach. The participating companies include Media News Group, which is the ringleader; Cox Enterprises, Hearst, Belo, Lee Enterprises, E.W. Scripps and The Journal Register Company. The deal expands upon the affiliation agreements that Media News Group and Belo already have in place with HotJobs.

Designed to rival CareerBuilder and Monster.com, the network was put in place after CareerBuilder’s owners –Gannett, Tribune and McClatchy –refused to consider expanding the ownership roles to others. None of the companies had wanted to be left out in the cold vis a vis recruitment, and its profit potential.

Categories: Classifieds, Google, HyperLocal, Local Search, Misc, Newspapers, Sales Channels, Technology, Yahoo, Yellow Pages

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Nov 20
2006

Exec Changes at Insider Pages, Merchant Circle

A favorite hobby of mine is reading the industry’s tea leaves via the comings and goings of execs at different local companies. Today I am mulling over the departure of InsiderPages VP of Business Development Andrew Shotland, and Merchant Circle Chairman and CEO Ben Smith’s assumption of the top job at Borland’s Code Gear – although Smith is keeping his title at Merchant Circle. Last week, I noted the departure of VP Richard Rosen from Jambo and VP Mark Potts from BackFence.

First, let’s talk about InsiderPages, whose ranks have fallen from roughly 30 employees to 10 since the departure of founder and CEO Stu McFarlane. Shotland’s departure, and others down the line, suggests a dramatic overhaul/downsizing is in the works under new CEO Mitch Galbraith.

With more than 600,000 reviews in its database, InsiderPages has been a real contender among the new breed of hybrid Yellow Pages/review sites, which also includes Judy’s Book, Yelp and maybe CitySearch and BackFence too. Based on usage and ads, Yelp appears to be doing the best, perhaps due to its narrow focus on restaurants and entertainment, and its initial emphasis on hometown San Francisco. In fact, it appears to have some momentum.

Categories: HyperLocal, Local Search, Yellow Pages

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Nov 16
2006

CitySearch Pays Google $100 Million a Year?

A dirty secret in the search wars is that you can basically “buy” enough traffic via Google AdWords and other sources to jump to the top of the usage charts. In a recent ZDNet column, Donna Bogatin implied that CitySearch has done exactly that. “Industry estimates of the cost to Citysearch for its ‘partnership’ with …continue reading »

Categories: Google, Local Search

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Nov 16
2006

Richard Rosen’s Primer on Call Measurement

ROI for advertising is generally measured by local businesses in terms of phone calls generated, call duration and/or store visits. That isn’t changing soon. But for local ad sellers and their advertisers, it remains a challenge to figure out where calls are coming from; the conversion rate of calls; and the viability of Web-related tie-ins such as click to call and pay per call.

Few executives, if any, have more first-hand experience in these matters than Richard Rosen, who led development efforts at CallSource and more recently, at Jambo. Rosen, who just launched Calling Strategies, a consulting firm, says it is “inevitable” that there will be converging interests among the vested parties. These include local ad channels, like Yellow Pages and Newspapers; enhanced phone service providers, like Jambo, Ingenio, EStara, VoiceStar and MediaTraks; and the telecom providers that lease the lines.

Call tracking is highly desirable to both advertisers and publishers, says Rosen. But the economics of the issue will determine how it is done. Basically, “you have call measurement or pay-per-call,” he says. Call measurement requires an investment in dedicated phone numbers and some type of usage charge in order to prove ROI to an advertiser. Pay per call requires an entrepreneurial investment by providers in the phone lines in hopes of generating a premium “per call” fee to recoup those costs.

Categories: Local Search, Sales Channels, Shopping/Transactions, Technology, Yellow Pages

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Nov 14
2006

Modern Mom, Baskin Robbins in Local Launch

Modern Mom, a Los Angeles-based pioneer in the increasingly crowded “online moms” space, is launching 12 city guides on Wedensday (Nov. 15). Previews of LA, San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City and Washington D.C. are already up. These cities will be joined by Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Seattle, Minneapolis and Dallas (if my reading of the pinpoints on a 50 state map is correct).

“Founding Mom” Lolita Carrico says that the city guides will each have a local editor, but won’t initially be accompanied by local sales – although the site might eventually get local sales partners. For now, the site will be relying on national sites such as Shutterfly, TIVO and isaBooties, and by companies like Roche, which features a link to its localized Flufactor site (“find out about flu conditions in your area”).

Another localized advertiser is Baskin Robbins 31. In fact, I found the site because I am on Baskin Robbins birthday list and received an email promo giving me $3 off its new Fudge Crunch Cake. At the bottom of the online flyer is info for Modern Mom, urging ice cream lovers to “be the first to check out their San Diego City Guide for the latest scoop on hot products, must attend events and fantastic services for you and your family!” As my friend Jim Bonfield says, “This stuff really works.”

Categories: HyperLocal, Shopping/Transactions

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Nov 13
2006

OutSideIn Head Talks ‘Place Blogs’ (and More)

First we had Topix aggregating local news and events from thousands of sites. Now we have OutsideIn trying to pull off the same idea using hyper-local blogs as a primary source. Steven Johnson co-created the site with John Geraci. He talked with us last week, via email, about the company’s ambitions, and where he sees “place blogging” today.

Johnson noted there are “tons of sites” that write with a hyper-local theme. Some sites, like The Gothamist and Curbed, even cover a slew of neighborhoods. But the smaller, neighborhood-focused sites have relatively modest traffic. Without aggregation, it is “certainly a long tail proposition.”

“What we’re trying to do is different” than a news-oriented site like Topix, he says. “Our imagined user is saying: ‘I’m sitting right here at this address — what are the conversations and events and controversies happening around me right now?’ Or: ‘I’m thinking about this public school in this new neighborhood: show me all the posts and threads about that school that the local residents have had over the past two years.’”

Categories: Google, HyperLocal, Local Search, Mapping

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