Local.com is in a different “local” category. It aggregates a ton of local content and features, but it doesn’t necessarily vie with the local Yellow Pages or local search sites, for everyday local traffic.
I mean, it would if it could. It has added a lot of functionality. But mostly, with its easy-to-remember URL (which it paid $700k for), and helpful grab-bag of local features, the site gets its traffic from the type of occasional user who aren’t particularly adept at using Google, or too impatient to do so. It claims quite a few of those – 10 million every month.
A lot of Local.com’s users (and other IYP users) are travelers who are checking out travel destinations. Like me. I’ve been checking out a theater festival in Ashland, Ore.,next month, and don’t know anything about the place. Typing in “Ashland.com” – an amazing number of users gamble on “type in” URLs — gets me the name of an industrial firm. A local.com category search for Ashland (hotels, theater, etc.) pulls up all the sought-after information.
Today’s news is that Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel is stepping down from his position, which will be filled by founder Jerry Yang. Meanwhile, CFO Sue Decker will become president.
It should be anticipated that the executive change, which isn’t particularly surprising, will set in motion some big changes at Yahoo! The company has recently been demoralized by the widening gap with Google and a sense of drift. One of the reasons that Semel was initially brought in to Yahoo! was that he was supposed to bring in the big deals. He made some (i.e. FlickR), but many big deals, obviously were missed (i.e. Google, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook)
If big changes are going to happen now, however, it isn’t clear that the changes will come from the “local” side of Yahoo’s business. From our local-oriented point of view, Decker shouldn’t feel a need to change things since she was already overseeing things.
Some interesting details about LiveDeal’s operations have been released as the result of its $11.8 million sale to YP.com. During a June 7 investor call announcing the sale, LiveDeal, a local/college/vertical-oriented classifieds company that bills itself as “eBay without the auction,” revealed that it grossed $2.6 million last year (different than the “$5 million” figure that I thought I heard during the call). The company, usually close-lipped about results, also says it has experienced 300 percent growth during the past two years.
The Silicon Valley-based company also says it has reduced its burn rate to under $100,000 per month, with break-even expected later this year. It has roughly one million unique visitors.
YP.com and Live Deal execs on the call said they share a “mutual vision to be a leader in the local classifieds and Yellow Pages market,” which they see emerging as the local search marketplace. The deal allows YP.com to use LiveDeal’s more sophisticated platform to provide “hyper-local marketing solutions.” In addition to classifieds listings, LiveDeal has recently been bundling a broader set of offerings, including Yellow Pages.
Over the years, I’ve done a number of strategic reports for The Newspaper Association of America. The newest report, out today, is called “The Newspaper Online Shopping Report: Online Relationships with Retailers.”
It is a fairly comprehensive work that gives readers a 360 degree view of what newspapers are doing (and should be doing) […]
Zvents, the localized, personalized online events calendar, says it is driving a lot of page views and traffic to its newspaper partners. The growing list of partners now include The Orange County Register and other Freedom newspapers; several Media News Group properties, including The Denver Post, The San Jose Mercury News and The Detroit […]
