Business and Marketing News
The leading evangelists for online TV station advertising – WorldNow, IBS, Broadcast Interactive Media, Media Span, the station groups themselves – have their work cut out for them. Some TV stations are now registering in the mid-six figures for online sales, but most, going into the NAB Show next week in Vegas, really haven’t done much. In … Read more
The Washington Post is switching its local real estate search from Classified Ventures’ HomeFinder.com to Trulia. The switch takes place in April, and is being announced just after Classified Ventures’ introduction of the Home Finder brand, which replaces the HomeScape brand. The move from a Classified Ventures, Inc. (CVI) product is somewhat surprising, in part because The Washington Post Co. is a … Read more
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 was a good year, especially with fresh layoffs that we are hearing about every day. In fact, … Read more
One big takeaway from The NAA Marketing show last week in Orlando was that newspapers are ready to build up a zillion niche products that allow them to leverage their editorial talents. But not much progress, or even attention, is being paid to local search. It makes you wonder If newspapers are really serious about reaching out … Read more
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 … Read more
It is no surprise, since Udi Manber, its original leader, left over a year ago. But Amazon has formally abandoned its effort to launch Yellow Pages (and Maps) as part of its A9 search engine. A9 received lots of publicity for the Yellow Pages and specifically, its BlockView feature, launched in January 2005. BlockView, originally “Find It On The … Read more
At opposite corners of the niche universe, you have Thrillist for men and Comcast-owned Daily Candy for women. Both lifestyle products, founded as email newsletters/shopping guides, have jumped aboard the deals bandwagon, working with Group Commerce Inc. as their tech provider. They also have a common association with former AOL Time Warner President (and current Clear Channel Entertainment Chairman) Bob … Read more