Three years ago, BIA/Kelsey created the Marketplaces research program and conference because we saw that local advertising was quickly “verticalizing.” Indeed, money and talent has poured in for the new breed of vertical products that would take their place among existing vertical success stories, such as AutoTrader, Cars.com, Realtor.com and ServiceMagic.
Marketplaces 2010, the conference, reveals just how fast the industry has evolved. This year’s event, now under construction, is set to highlight all the major trends in Marketplaces.
This includes AOL’s $50 million investment in Patch.com, and ongoing transformation of its Mediaglow vertical properties (and Mapquest); eBay’s renewed efforts to build up classifieds as entry level ecommerce via Kijiji, eBay Motors and other services; Examiner.com’s big bet on local/vertical content, and its network of 26,000 “examiners”.
It also includes Groupon’s “smart mob” theory of local commerce, backed by $32 million investment; RedBeacon, ALikeList and others’ efforts to remake ServiceMagic-like home and trade leads with social media;Adify and Pulse360′s bid to verticalize ad networks for local merchants and national brands; and OpenTable’s big bet on mobile to let diners make reservations wherever they are.
The 2 ½ day conference takes full advantage of its location in sunny San Diego. It includes rich research presentations, top flight demos of the latest services, and a pre-conference showcasing all the best tools of Marketplaces 2010. Come to San Diego March 22-24 to learn, enjoy the unbeatable networking, and participate. You can register at early-bird rates here.
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS (in Alpha)
* Ethan Anderson, CEO, RedBeacon
* Jeff Beard, CEO, Localeze
* Rick Blair, CEO, Examiner.com
* Jon Brod, EVP, AOL*
* Craig Donato, CEO, Oodle
* Jim Delli Santi, CEO, Alikelist
* Todd Dubner, SVP, NCI
* Russ Fradin, CEO, Adify
* Krista Glotzbach, VP, Vast.com
* Mark Goldstein, Chairman, Loyalty Labs
* Martin Herbst, GM, Kijiji U.S., eBay
* Scott Jampol, Sr. Director, Marketing, OpenTable
* Jaan Janes, CEO, Pulse 360
* David Kidder, CEO, Clickable
* Steve Larsen, CEO, CallSpark
* Andrew Mason, CEO, GroupOn*
* Colin Pape, CEO, ShopCity
* Ben Saren, CEO, CitySquares
* Craig Smith, President, ServiceMagic
* Mat Stover, CEO, Local Matters
* David Vazdauskas, President, Local Thunder