Jun 10, 2013 at 10:48am ET by Greg Sterling

Early yesterday, Israeli business website Globes.co.il said that Google will acquire social mapping app Waze for $1.3 billion. That report has subsequently been all-but-confirmed by others, including the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which said the announcement could come this week. The WSJ said that by size Waze would constitute Google's fourth largest acquisition, assuming it comes to pass. I argued yesterday on my personal blog Screenwerk that among the range of parties interested in Waze Google needed it least. (Facebook and Apple would benefit far more from it.) Part of Google's mot [...]

Report: Google To Bid For Waze — To Shut It Down?

May 23, 2013 at 9:20pm ET by Greg Sterling

According to a just-published Bloomberg report, Google is preparing a bid for Waze. Earlier this month, rumors indicating Facebook was in late-stage acquisition talks with Waze for roughly $1 billion appeared online. Other parties (Apple, Microsoft) may now also be interested in the social mapping service. According to the Bloomberg report: Waze is fielding expressions of interest from multiple parties and is seeking more than $1 billion, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The Palo Alto, California-based startup might also remain independ [...]

Report: Mobile Traffic To Local Sites Growing Faster Than To Total Internet, Now At 27 Percent

May 3, 2013 at 12:29pm ET by Greg Sterling

The Local Search Association has released a new Local Mobile Search report, which affirms many of the big themes and trends in the market now: PC traffic is flat, mobile is gaining rapidly and mobile is heavily used for local search. The Q4 2012 data in the report are from comScore. And because the data are from Q4, the trends and traffic figures in the report are probably slightly higher now. The data argue that there has been zero-percent growth in PC Internet traffic since 2011. The PC Internet has plateaued (see our Marketing Land story: PC Free: 46% Used Only Mobile Devices In Purchase [...]

Search Takes On Even Greater Role In Foursquare 6.0

Apr 10, 2013 at 11:30am ET by Greg Sterling

This morning, Foursquare is rolling out version 6.0 of its app. It puts a new search box "front and center" at the top of the screen to emphasize the local search capabilities of the app. It also adds or enhances other features to make it easier to find places and things to do. The company is using all its social and check-in data to generate greater utility, as well as create a discovery or recommendations edge over Yelp and Facebook's relatively new Nearby/Local Search. Below is the previous version of the app, which featured tabs at the bottom. Search was available under Explore and v [...]

Apple Hiring ‘Ground Truth’ Managers To Improve Maps

Mar 28, 2013 at 5:32pm ET by Matt McGee

If job listings are any indication, Apple remains committed to improving its iOS Maps app. As the iDownload Blog spotted, Apple currently has seven job listings for what's called a "Maps Ground Truth Manager." The positions are based around the world -- U.S., Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia-Pacific, the Americas and Middle East/Africa. The job description explains that these Ground Truth Managers will be responsible for improving and ensuring the accuracy of Apple Maps. The Maps team is searching for a manager for the team responsible for regional map quality and ground trut [...]

Search On Smartphones Up 26 Percent, On Tablets Up 19 Percent In 2012 [Study]

Mar 27, 2013 at 3:12pm ET by Matt McGee

Search continues to shift away from the desktop toward mobile devices. That's one of the conclusions of the just-released Neustar Localeze/15miles/comScore Local Search Study, which is now in its sixth year. This year's study involves a sample of more than 3,000 U.S. adults that say they use the Internet to search for local businesses. Results aren't available online yet, but we'll add a link here when they are. The total number of U.S. searchers using mobile phones grew 26 percent between March 2012 and December 2012, from 90.1 million to 113.1 million searchers. Search on tablets was u [...]

Apple Buys Indoor Location Company, What’s It Up To?

Mar 25, 2013 at 10:06am ET by Greg Sterling

This weekend the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple had paid roughly $20 million for a company called WifiSLAM. The company was an early stage startup that had raised roughly $1 million in angel investment. It appears to have had some ambitious plans, according to a company description on AngelList: We are building the next generation of location-based mobile apps that, for the first time, engage with users at the scale that personal interaction actually takes place. Applications range from step-by-step indoor navigation, to product-level retail customer engagement, to proximity-based [...]

Blind Study Finds YP Local Results Beat Google, Bing, Yahoo

Mar 7, 2013 at 11:19am ET by Greg Sterling

A "blind" study commissioned by directory publisher and local ad network YP, performed by Crowdflower, found that YP's local search results were better overall than those of search engines. This was measured as a function of user satisfaction rating. Thousands of queries were compared over a year-long period. I can hear the skepticism: "It's sponsored study" and "How can they be better than Google's local results?" Here's what the study says about the methodology: YP contracted CrowdFlower, an independent third-party, to employ an innovative and impartial methodology for the relevance meas [...]

YP: Our Mobile Ad Network Second Only To Google

Feb 25, 2013 at 9:34am ET by Greg Sterling

When the dust settles US mobile ad revenue will probably come in somewhere between $3 and $3.5 billion for 2012. Google is the clear market leader. But which company is number two? Facebook? Millennial Media? Twitter? Not according to a statement released this morning by YP (the former AT&T Interactive). YP said that it had "over $350 million in advertising revenue [in 2012] attributable to mobile, making it the number two company in the US mobile advertising industry." Analyst firm IDC is cited as support for the assertion. Facebook probably would dispute the claim, with over $ [...]

Foursquare Improves Android App, Makes Search More Prominent

Feb 12, 2013 at 6:35pm ET by Greg Sterling

Foursquare has introduced a new version of its Android app. As the company says in its blog post there are three primary changes: More prominent "Explore" search box at the top of the screen A map at the top of the screen displays your network's most recent check-ins (which opens a larger map). A left panel ("left-hand drawer") provides access to your profile/history, to-do list and other lists ("all lists") In addition, the check-in button has been moved to the lower left of the screen. In its blog post, Foursquare promises more changes and improvements to come: "[W]e we have [...]

Survey: Half Of Small Businesses Never Update Their Listings Online

Feb 5, 2013 at 9:43am ET by Greg Sterling

ConstantContact's SinglePlatform division has released the results of a new survey of small businesses (SMBs). The "headline" finding is that nearly half (49 percent) say they've never updated their listings online. The survey polled "more than 350" SMBs. Most small businesses are overwhelmed and confused by even basic online marketing. This is reflected in some of the seemingly contradictory findings of the survey: 50 percent of SMBs have seen listings for their business that are not accurate 70 percent of SMBs say they don’t have the time to manage listings on all of the sites t [...]

Yext “Reinvents The Local Business Listing” With New Rich Content Options

Jan 15, 2013 at 11:24am ET by Greg Sterling

Location data platform and provider Yext has introduced a range of new data types and rich content into its PowerListing local data syndication product. The new offering is called PowerListings+ (Like Google+). Enhanced local data categories enable the inclusion of employee/staff bios, event calendars, product inventory and services (including prices). Yext said that the new content types would be available at the same fee structure (no additional charge) under its PowerListings product. Yext syndicates data to 45 local search sites, including Yelp, Yahoo Local, Foursquare, WhitePages [...]

Foursquare Responds To Facebook Nearby By Tapping Facebook’s Friend Graph

Dec 19, 2012 at 7:55pm ET by Matt McGee

Foursquare has made a quick response to Monday's announcement of Facebook Nearby, with its own announcement today that Foursquare Explore is cranking up its personalization. The irony? It's going to use Foursquare activity from a user's Facebook friends to improve the recommendations in Explore. Think of it as Foursquare judo: It's using Facebook data to battle against Facebook itself. Touché! Here's Foursquare's explanation of how it's using Facebook to turn up the personalization dial: When your Facebook friends do public things on Foursquare, like write a tip, like a place, or ta [...]

YP: 30 Percent Of Search Queries Now Coming From Mobile

Dec 16, 2012 at 11:26am ET by Greg Sterling

Local search provider and online ad network YP has released its end of the year review report (.pdf). The data are drawn from a huge volume of queries on its PC destination site, its mobile site and apps, as well as its broader advertising network. YP says that 30 percent of its overall query volume and lookups now come from mobile devices. However 100 percent of queries on the YP network are going to be local in nature given the property and the brand. While the data are not necessarily entirely representative of market-wide local search activity on the PC and in mobile they're a pretty go [...]

Amazon Opens Up Maps API To Kindle Developers, Google Street View Covers The Frozen North

Nov 28, 2012 at 12:44pm ET by Greg Sterling

After a several year lull the mapping segment is really hot again. Google, Apple, Microsoft, Nokia and Amazon are now competing fiercely in a newly reinvigorated mapping arena. Yesterday, Amazon announced that its Maps API is now generaly available to developers who want to integrate maps into their Kindle Fire apps. Google Maps isn't available for Kindle devices. Like the Google Play marketplace, which isn't on Kindle Fire, Amazon doesn't allow Google Maps on the popular devices (though you can get to it via the mobile web). The Amazon Maps API was first released in beta earlier this [...]

Nokia’s HERE Maps For iOS A Disappointment

Nov 21, 2012 at 12:55pm ET by Greg Sterling

Nokia has many fans around the world who believe that its mapping service is the best one out there. And in selected ways it might be. Nokia offered "offline" maps well before Google. The company is also the go-to mapping provider for third parties, such as Yahoo and Yandex. In addition, Nokia plays an increasingly important role on the back end for Bing Maps both on Windows Phone 8 devices and on the PC. Nokia subsidiary Navteq was once one of the primary data providers for Google Maps until Nokia acquired the company for roughly $8 billion in 2007. All this suggests that Nokia's spl [...]

Trying To Get There From Here: Nokia And Mapquest Launch New Maps Products

Nov 13, 2012 at 9:05pm ET by Greg Sterling

Globally there are arguably four main digital mapping competitors: Google, Apple, Microsoft and Nokia. Google is the clear leader. However Nokia is making a renewed bid to challenge Google's mapping supremacy with a rebranded platform "Here," new APIs, a Google Street View-like offering, augmented reality and new apps for third party smartphone operating systems. Apple is busy trying to fix its recently launched maps and seems to be making some progress. Bing, after aggressively investing in maps for several years, now seems to be outsourcing key parts of its mapping infrastructure to Nokia [...]

Study: Consumers Who Own Smartphones And Tablets Do Average Of 21 Local Searches Per Week

Oct 30, 2012 at 9:06am ET by Greg Sterling

We know from multiple data sources that more than 90 percent of smartphone owners use maps and local search. We also know from Google that up to 50 percent of mobile search carries a local intent. Now, a new local search study from YP and Street Fight takes a closer look at local search behavior and tries to segment the audience based on the intensity of local search frequency and usage. Got Mobile Devices? You're Likely An "Avid" Local Searcher Based on a survey of 1,100 US adults, the study found that 40 percent of survey respondents used local search daily and that 70 percent of smartphon [...]

After Sting Operation, Yelp Outs 8 Businesses That It Caught Trying To Buy Reviews

Oct 18, 2012 at 1:19am ET by Matt McGee

Yelp is now showing "Consumer Alert" warning messages on the profile pages of eight businesses that it says it caught in a sting operation trying to buy reviews. As the New York Times reports, Yelp conducted a sting operation in which one of its employees pretended to be an "Elite" reviewer and responded to review solicitations on Craigslist. As the article explains: A pest control company offered $5 to anyone who would post a review that the business itself had written. The moving company was willing to pay $50 but wanted original copy. An appliance repair shop provided a start: "I really [...]

Map Search On PCs “Eroding,” Shifting To Mobile — comScore

Oct 16, 2012 at 10:34am ET by Greg Sterling

It all makes sense. According to comScore, map-based search on the PC has now peaked and is starting to erode. By contrast mobile usage of mapping applications is growing and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Apple Maps' problems notwithstanding, smartphone mapping apps offer a better overall experience than online maps. Because they're in your pocket they're available when they're most needed: on the go. And they offer location-aware/search nearby capabilities that online maps do not. Here's what comScore recently said about the decline of PC mapping and the rise of sma [...]

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