Citysearch, one of the more venerable names in local search, has relaunched its site with an updated look and other “new and improved” features, including video. Video is currently available for New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles and has prominent placement at the top of the home page. It’s an ad unit for local […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
When Google launched its personalized mapping tool, My Maps, the company said it would soon be integrating user-generated content. It appears that is now happening on many Google Maps searches (hat tip to NLC Marketing Blog).
Ask.com is launching a new sponsored listings contextual product and will go live the week of May 21st. The Ask contextual product will initially launch within IAC’s own network of sites including Match.com, Ticketmaster, Evite and Citysearch and will then expand to trusted third party publishers. Individual publishers will most likely have to wait until […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Events are an important but historically neglected area of local search, previously the almost exclusive province of newspapers and printed weeklies. Now there are a range of startups and more established sites providing local events information. They include Socializr, Attendio, Eventful, Zvents, Citysearch, AOL Cityguide, Heyletsgo, Jambase, the various ticket sites and Yahoo’s Upcoming, among […]
Is local search a microcosm of general search or is it the ultimate vertical? I’ve had this debate with a number of people over the past couple of years. Ask’s CEO Jim Lanzone once told me that he felt local was part of almost every vertical, and therefore not a vertical. I agree with him […]
A few weeks ago Steven Aldrich, a VP of strategy for small business software (and now marketing) company Intuit, delivered a speech in which he presented an amazing statistic. According to Aldrich, roughly 6 million businesses are started annually in the U.S. but another approximately 5.6 million go under. Think about it. From the point […]
While some in the search marketing industry debate the linkability of even the most unsexy Web sites—and by “unsexy”, they often mean “small business”—there’s an important element missing from the discussion: return on investment. The Investment: No one debates that an investment is required; viral marketing through social media demands a big chunk of your […]
How many U.S. small businesses have websites? Is it 30%, 40%, 50%? Answering that question gets quickly into debates over the definition of a “website.” For example, is a “landing page” or a “profile page” a website? Do the small business data provided by InfoUSA, Axciom, Localeze, TruelLocal (and now iBegin Source) constitute being online? […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
VentureBeat is reporting that Citysearch/IAC is the mystery buyer of InsiderPages. A purchase price was not disclosed. The formal announcement will apparently come later today or early tomorrow [now confirmed, see below]. I would guess the purchase price wasn’t more than 2x what the investors put in (TechCrunch guesses $13 million), given that the company […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
This Google sticker (on Flickr) was spotted in London. While it’s in some ways unremarkable and like any number of similar stickers (Michelin, Mobile Travel Guides, Citysearch, Zagat, etc.), it represents something of a shift for Google and a bit of a traditional marketing push. To my knowledge nobody has spotted something like this in […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Peter Horan, who was the About.com CEO until its acquisition by the New York Times and then moved west to head up small business portal AllBusiness.com, has now been appointed CEO of IAC Media & Advertising. According to the company, “The CEOs of the Media & Advertising businesses will now report to Mr. Horan, including […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Joining Yahoo Local, Windows Live Local, Google Maps, and IAC-owned Citysearch and AskCity, YellowPages.com announced a new “send to mobile” feature. The listing and contact details are sent via text to the user’s mobile phone. Here’s a result for the search “Plumbers, New York.” (Send to mobile is on the upper right of each ad.)