Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Is Yahoo Trying To Sell Small Biz & HotJobs? Yesterday on the Yahoo Q2 earnings call, CEO Carol Bartz spent time talking about local and small business (SMB) advertising. She said […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
The US Federal Communications Commission approved a plan to allow unlicensed broadcast TV spectrum to be used by companies to create wireless broadband services that amount to “WiFi on steroids.” This was a hotly contested issue, with tech and electronics companies like Google, HP, Microsoft, Intel, Dell and Motorola, among a number of others, lining […]
Below are Search Engine Land’s 10 most popular stories from March 2008:
Verizon is formally launching an ad-supported free directory assistance/voice search product in the US called 1-800-THE-INFO. It joins an increasingly crowded field that already features Google, Microsoft, and AT&T, among others. As I said yesterday in my post about the launch of a new voice search offering from ChaCha, most consumers are still unaware of […]
Human-powered search engine ChaCha launched in late 2006 to somewhat mixed reviews. It sought to entice users to search with expert guides in real time via IM chat windows. It also offered algorithmic search but the human-guided search was the hook. The concept was great but the practical experience was often uneven. In January ChaCha […]
Now that the 700MHz auction is over and Verizon and AT&T are the winners of the largest spectrum blocks, Google is placing renewed emphasis on its shared bid for a piece of unlicensed TV “white spaces.” We’ve written about the so-called “white space coalition” previously.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
The US 700MHz auction is now over; the winners were announced yesterday. The spectrum is becoming available as television broadcasters make the mandated switch to digital signals in early 2009. The big winners (no surprises here) were US carriers Verizon and AT&T. Verizon bid more than $9 billion and won the coveted “C block,” as […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Last week, as you know, the EU gave approval to Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. However, the deal closed at $3.24 billion, a mere $140 million more. But Google doesn’t have to count its pennies during this recession, the company says, because its international growth, specifically in China-Asia, will help insulate the search […]
There are roughly 250 million cell phone users in the United States and more than ten times that figure around the globe. Approximately 42 million (or so) people use the “mobile Internet” in the US, with varying degrees of frequency. The number of people texting constitutes at least 100 million more on top of that. […]
The weekend rumor becomes reality. Yahoo has rejected Microsoft’s offer, saying it undervalues Yahoo. From the release:
Does Yahoo have any choice but to get purchased by Microsoft? Over the weekend, there’s been much analysis and discussion of other suitors. While Google isn’t seen as an outright buyer, there’s more talk that it could help Yahoo by taking over search ads in various counties, with reports on this out from the Wall Street Journal and Reuters.
I conducted a very informal, online Search Engine Land reader survey several weeks ago on a range of high-level topics pertaining to mobile search. The ultimate number of responses from SEL readers was a small sample of 77. Mike Blumethal, a contributor to SEL who writes the Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local blog, thought […]
Many people I speak to still ask the familiar question, “Is this going to be the breakout year for local?” while expressing frustration or disappointment that “local hasn’t yet lived up to expectations.” But local is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s also more complex than the general search market, which features an ecosystem built […]
Each month, I compile Search Month — a recap of all the stories that have happened relating to search, categorized by topic. I thought it would be fun to take all the Search Months over the past year and produce this edition of Search Year 2007. It was far more work than I imagined, but […]
Voice services provider CallGenie announced the acquisition of mobile content provider and ad exchange PhoneSpots. The mostly stock transaction was valued at $5.75 million and provides a range of new client relationships and capabilities to Canada-based CallGenie.
Several weeks ago, I asked readers to take a quick mobile user survey to get a snapshot of mobile search usage among Search Engine Land readers. It was a brief survey that sought only high-level information. We had 75 people respond to the survey, which I’ve presented in its entirety below. The results cannot be […]
Google finally makes it official. After saying it would “probably” bid on the 700 megahertz wireless spectrum, then pulling back on that statement, it is diving in after all into the auction.
AT&T has announced that it acquired pay-per-call (PPCall) vendor and ad network Ingenio for an undisclosed amount. The press release suggests that the company was acquired primarily as a technology platform and perhaps secondarily for its distribution network. That network includes AOL, Microsoft (mobile), Jingle Networks (1-800-Free411), Medio Systems and JumpTap (mobile), Switchboard and go2 […]
We’ve written here several times about Google’s probable bid on 700mhz wireless spectrum licenses that will be auctioned by the FCC in January, 2008. This morning the Wall Street Journal has a kind of free-ranging article that explores a variety of possibilities and scenarios that could come out of Google winning spectrum licenses or pursuing […]
Yellow pages publisher R.H. Donnelley (RHD), which recently acquired Business.com and owns search marketing firm LocalLaunch, is testing a new voice local mobile search product, 1-800-CallDex, in four U.S. markets: Denver, Phoenix, Spokane (WA) and Tucson. It offers a suite of services powered by speech and local mobile search enabler CallGenie, which is also behind […]
Next month, AT&T is killing its call for current time feature. One reason? There are too many other ways to get the correct time — and search engines are among those resources. Below, a look at how easy search engines make it to get the current time for anywhere in the world.
Expectations of mobile search and local mobile search in particular are rising. As mobile ad networks form, mobile M&A activity heats up and the search engines pour greater attention and resources into their mobile offerings one could say we’re on the cusp of a new mobile era. Indeed, as much as I’m reluctant to use […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Jingle Networks’ 1-800-Free411 and Idearc’s SuperPages have announced a distribution deal whereby SuperPages advertisers and will be accessible to Free411 callers. This is significant for both companies. It gives SuperPages strong mobile distribution for its advertisers, as part of a larger local search network. It also provides Jingle Networks with access to SuperPages’ pool of […]
Google’s free directory assistance/voice search offering 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) has added a “map it” feature. Users can say “map it” after receiving the desired listing and get a text message with a link to a map (which opens a WAP browser). I tested the feature a couple of times , and it worked very easily.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
AT&T’s YellowPages.com, which was recently named the fastest growing Internet yellow pages site by comScore, has been testing a beta site with a dramatically improved design and user experience. Here’s the new beta site.
USAToday writes about a recently awarded patent obtained by Jingle Networks, which operates the 1-800-Free411 ad-supported directory assistance service. After conducting several searches at the USPTO and elsewhere I was unable to find a copy of the patent itself. However, according to the article: Jingle’s patent, which it bought from inventor Scott Wolmuth, is for […]
AT&T, Verizon oppose Google airwave proposal from the Seattle Times reports that the two U.S. telecom giants, AT&T and Verizon, are opposing Google’s wireless airwave proposal. AT&T and Verizon told the Federal Communications Commission that Google has “no legitimate basis” in their proposal to have the government auction off the airwaves. The telecom companies believe […]
Directory assistance vendor PocketThis has rebranded as PhoneSpots and relaunched a new mobile ad “exchange.” The company has been around since 1999 and pioneered the “send to mobile” feature now in widespread use on local search sites. PocketThis originally offered enhanced results (additional content and links) from directory assistance queries when users opted to receive […]
Microsoft and AT&T, both of which have been subject to anti-trust actions in the past, are raising concerns that the combination of Google and DoubleClick might create a company that is too powerful. Google’s Rivals Fear DoubleClick Deal Concentrates Too Much Web-Ad Clout from the Wall Street Journal explains that joining Microsoft and AT&T are […]
You’ve heard the rumors. Now you can try the experimental service from Google Labs. Google Voice Local Search is now live and publicly claimed by Google. Greg Sterling will be along to say more either here or in a fresh post. In the meantime, you can call (1-800-GOOG-411) and get local information by talking to […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
This morning AT&T’s YellowPages.com announced the launch of text messaging through YP411 (97411). Business name or general yellow pages (category) lookups plus city or zip return up to three listings. This service helps round out YellowPages.com’s mobile offerings, which now include WAP, SMS and enhanced directory assistance through 1-800-YellowPages (still in limited markets).
Beyond the news of Yahoo’s new mobile content and ad networks and Google’s new mobile search upgrades, there’s a good deal of mobile search-related news coming out of CTIA today. Among the announcements, InfoSpace has launched a direct-to-consumer version of its mobile local-search application Find It! for Blackberry devices. Previously the company was working exclusively […]
In case you hadn’t noticed mobile marketing is generating lots of buzz these days. And with buzz usually comes revenue forecasts. Indeed, various research firms are throwing out numbers for mobile advertising, music and video that make online advertising look like a fly on the butt of an elephant by comparison. There’s a certain logic […]