Groupon’s purchase of Pelago, the parent company of Whrrl, offers an interesting glimpse into what the local daily deals powerhouse might be up to next. With the acquisition, which was for an undisclosed amount, Groupon gets a team that’s been focused on consumer check-ins at local businesses and offering relevant suggestions — similar to the […]
For those who follow search it was initially one of those “WTF moments”: Walmart acquiring erstwhile Google challenger Kosmix. However AllThingsD reports that the price was $300 million-plus vs. $55 million raised. So the founders and investors get a seemingly nice exit. Kosmix will now become part of the newly established “@WalmartLabs.” When it launched […]
Google has been planning its ThinkMobile event for three months. Google’s Jason Spero (former AdMob VP) is on stage first and says he’s been anticipating an “event like this” for “about four years.” He says it reflects the fact that mobile is ready. Google’s Dennis Woodside reports that Google has seen a “400 percent increase […]
Google’s Shopper mobile app is being introduced for iPhone. It already exists for Android devices. Shopper allows users to search for products by voice, with the camera, via barcode scan or by text entry. Users can also share products on Facebook, Twitter, SMS or email. Google Shopper shows prices, product reviews and local inventory availability […]
Google has its eyes on a mobile payment service that would allow users to pay for common goods and services by waving or tapping their mobile phones. That’s according to a BusinessWeek report that cites “two people familiar with the plans.” BusinessWeek’s sources say the payment service could debut this year. It would be based […]
Ladies and gentlemen open your wallets — and start your smartphones. The holiday shopping season is upon is. This year more than ever there are scores of sites, apps and online tools to direct you to the right product at the best price. It can all be a bit overwhelming in fact. Below I’ve tried […]
In time for the holidays Google is making it possible for online (and mobile) shoppers to discover real-time product inventory in local stores. Google certainly isn’t the first company to make a run at this; there are multiple startups that have been working on bringing local product inventory online for a number of years. But […]
Search engines are the number one way that consumers find out about new products, according to a new study commissioned by commerce software developer ATG. The survey was conducted online and polled 1,002 U.S. adult consumers in July 2010. One question asked respondents to list up to five ways they discover new products. 53% of […]
Over the weekend there were two much-discussed mobile-related rumors, both coming out of TechCrunch. The first — still a very hot topic on Techmeme this morning — is that Facebook is building a branded phone or mobile operating system. The original rumor yesterday was that Facebook was working on a mobile OS with a hardware […]
If you’re using Foursquare to search for local offers and deals, you may soon find a lot more of them — especially if you live outside of major cities. Foursquare announced yesterday that it’s going to expand the reach of deals/offers in rural areas: The current location range for offers “nearby” is approximately 200 yards, […]
In the range of thigs discussed at Google’s Search Evolution event in December Engineering VP Vic Gundotra demonstrated mobile shopping with real-time inventory information. Now Google has announced that product is live. Google is working with a limited number of retailers for the time being but is inviting others to apply to become part of […]
Google has offered local coupons for a couple years now, but the response has never matched the promise. Neither business owners nor local searchers have embraced coupons as much as many thought they would. Maybe this will change things? Google has announced the availability of mobile coupons. All new coupons created in the Local Business […]
If Bing can brand itself “decision engine” as a strategy to differentiate from the leading “search engine” so can shopping comparison site TheFind. The latter is now calling itself a “buying engine” as a way to emerge from the anonymous sea of shopping search sites out there. This morning a redesigned TheFind went live with […]
Google has announced they have expanded Google Product Search for mobile to both Palm Pre and any mobile device with an internet connection based in the US, UK, Germany and South Korea. To access Google Product Search on your mobile device, just visit google.com and click on shopping or go directly to www.google.com/m/products. Google also […]
Google has upgraded product search for mobile, on Android and iPhone devices, to allow users to get price, product specs and reviews information on their handsets. Google posted about it here. Users can either navigate directly to Google Shopping on their smartphone handsets (under the “more” pull-down) and enter a query or do the same […]
For some time I’ve tried to argue that product search is part of “local search,” because 90 percent or more of all products searched for online are purchased in physical stores. This is a neglected part of the local search story, which has heretofore largely been about “plumbers and pizza.” But the internet is fundamentally […]
Only weeks ago, InfoSpace sold Switchboard and its local/directory business to Idearc/Superpages for a reported $225 million. Today, Motricity announced that it had acquired the company’s mobile services business for $135 million. Motricity wants the business for the revenues and carrier relationships and to tell a better story to the market as it moves toward […]
The Wall Street Journal (subscription req’d) writes about a partnership between mobile carrier Spint and GPShopper to provide information about local shopping inventory on mobile phones. The consumer application offered by GPShopper is called Slifter, which used to require entry of a Zip code. The partnership with Sprint removes that requirement because of the phone’s […]
The Google Checkout Blog announced that they now support Google Checkout over mobile devices and mobile enabled sites. The only difference, for a buyer, is when checking out over Google Checkout mobile is that they verify themselves with a PIN as opposed to their Google account login (i.e. email and password).
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).
Bob Tedeschi’s NY Times e-commerce column today discusses a number of companies, NearbyNow, GPShopper, Krillion, ShopLocal and StepUp seeking to make the online-offline shopping connection. The article’s hook is wireless shopping tools from NearbyNow and GPShopper.
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 […]