SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 5, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Topic: Yellowpages.com
Why I’m Excited About SMX Local & Mobile
Next week we kick off our inaugural SMX Local & Mobile conference in Denver, and it promises to be a killer show. I’ve programmed dozens of search conferences over the years, and yet this one, which I co-organized with the able and expert help of Greg Sterling, is special. To be sure, I’ve got a […]
Local Search Finally Living Up To Its Promise
Nearly a decade ago, I believed in the power and promise of locally focused Web sites and applications. Back then, I was COO of About.com and in hindsight can say that I was a bit ahead of market adoption, to say the least! We ended up pretty successfully focusing on interest-based sites that became all […]
Superpages Now Offers Compare Merchants Feature
Today Superpages formally rolled out a compare merchants feature. In doing so it becomes the second major US yellow pages publisher to offer that feature in its online directory. DexKnows, owned by R.H. Donnelley and powered by Local Matters‘ “destination search” platform, has offered the feature for some time. This article is part of Local […]
CallGenie and R.H. Donnelley Launch Local Voice Search
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 […]
Segmenting Local Mobile Search: The Major Players & Mobile Search Types
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 […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 8, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Local Search Gaining, Driving Offline Transactions
Just two days after Yahoo released research that showed how the Internet is driving offline retail transactions in increasing numbers, ad agency TMP Directional Media conducted an online survey with comScore that showed a parallel phenomenon in the service sector. The survey, which had 3,000 respondents, sought to capture consumer attitudes and behavior toward traditional […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 26, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Yellow Pages Publisher Buys Business.com For $350 Million
RH Donnelley, which acquired SEM firm LocalLaunch in 2006 and owns the local search/online yellow pages site DexKnows, has announced the acquisition of Business.com and its related properties for $350 million.
Superpages Adds Video To Local Search Site
Superpages becomes the second major local search destination to add video advertising after Citysearch did so recently (in partnership with TurnHere). Other local search and yellow pages sites with video include DexKnows (published by RH Donnelley), Smalltown, SavoyNewYork and MojoPages. And there are an increasing number of travel sites that have video as well.
SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 17, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
SuperPages Taps 1-800-Free411 For Mobile Distribution
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 […]
History Of AOL Search
In preparation for those trying AOL tomorrow as part of our first Google-Free Friday, I thought it would be helpful to give some background on AOL in search. AOL has long offered search — and even owned several web crawling technologies — over the years. Don’t forget to read AOL: Tomorrow’s Google Free Friday Alternative […]
Google Voice Search Adds ‘Map It’ Feature
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.
YellowPages.com Testing Dramatically Improved Beta Site
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.
Marchex Simultaneously Launches 100K Local Search Sites
If you can believe it, Marchex has simultaneously launched more than 100,000 local and vertical search sites representing over a billion pages. The move is probably unprecedented outside of a search index. In May 2006, Marchex acquired local search site OpenList and has used its technology assets and methodology to enable this launch. Before this […]
Local Mobile Search Provider 1-800-Free411 Touts Patent Against Rivals
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 […]
comScore Reports New IYP/Local Search Numbers
In a release out today, comScore is reporting on traffic and its distribution to various local search and Internet yellow pages sites. Yahoo is pronounced the market leader, with a 22.4 percent share of all “IYP searches.” The company’s local search leadership, according to comScore has been consistent since comScore started tracking the category. However, […]
thinkingVOICE And Clear Channel Take PPCall Outdoors
Pay per phone call (PPCall) probably qualifies as something of a disappointment to date. While there has been adoption by advertisers and some good results, revenues have not kept pace with early expectations (which, admittedly, I helped create). In mobile it’s a natural business model and that may be the arena in which PPCall ultimately […]
SuperPages Cleans Up Its Act
SuperPages cleans up its act? What I mean by that is the new site design is a great deal cleaner and easier to navigate than the old site. Some awkward elements remain, such as old style “disambiguation” pages. But the new results pages are more user friendly and less cluttered. There are also more refinement […]
SEM for SMBs: A Critical Layer For Local
Just like the category of local search itself, the phrase “local search” has many different aspects and dimensions. It is generally used to refer to a cluster of consumer behaviors or destination sites whose ultimate goal is to help people find businesses offline, in their local communities. But as the readers of this site know […]
PhoneSpots Launches Mobile ‘Ad Exchange,’ Announces AT&T Deal
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 […]
Google Voice Local Search Launched
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 […]
YellowPages.com Launches YP411 Text Messaging Service
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).
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 27, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Mobile News From CTIA And Beyond: InfoSpace, V-Enable, ZenZui
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 […]
Get Listed At Local Search Engines, Yellow Pages and Local Social Sites
Guide On HowTo Get Your Business Listed On Major Local Search Engines, Yellow Pages Sites and Social Local Networks from LocalType.com is a very comprehensive rundown to almost 50 places where you can submit your business for local inclusion. It is broken into three categories: local search engines such as Yahoo Local, Google Maps and […]
1-800-Free411 To Launch Local Category Search
Jingle Networks’ free directory assistance (DA) service 1-800-FREE411 is slated this week to launch a new “category search” option, where you call to get matches of businesses in an area that relate to a category of interest (such as movie theaters in Los Angeles, or a dentist in San Francisco). To date Jingle has offered […]
How Much Is ‘Local Search’ Really Worth?
Journalists and financial analysts keep asking the question, “When will local search finally take off?” By that they mean ad spending. After all, locally targeted advertising in traditional media such as newspapers, yellow pages, radio, outdoor, direct mail, spot cable/TV and coupons easily exceeds $100 billion annually in the U.S. And consumers have already embraced […]
SuperPages Upgrades Mapping With Virtual Earth
Local search and directory site SuperPages.com has upgraded its mapping functionality, adding a range of sharing and personalization features built on top of the Microsoft Virtual Earth platform. SuperPages’ chief online yellow pages competitor, YellowPages.com also uses Virtual Earth.
SearchCap: The Day In Search, Feb. 28, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
MojoPages: Whole Lotta Yelp, A Little YouTube
Even as several local search competitors have been forced to rethink or exit the space, others still see it as a big opportunity. And in fact it is, just one that’s very hard to capture. The latest contestant to enter the race is San Diego, California-based MojoPages, which I wrote about briefly here but which […]
VSearch: Embedded Voice Mobile Local Search
Voice technology provider VoiceSignal and directory services company INFONXX are launching an “embedded” voice-driven local search product for mobile phones called “VSearch.” Available starting in March, the two companies described the service in their announcement this morning:
TellMe To Launch New Mobile Local Search Product
Spotted this morning via TechCrunch, speech and directory assistance automation provider TellMe is about to launch a beta product called TellMe by Mobile. It’s free, direct-to-consumer, voice-enabled directory assistance (DA) or “mobile local search” if you want to “sexify” the product.
comScore: Email Top Reason For Mobile Internet Access
Just released from comScore is a new wireless report that captures a range of metrics and attitudes from U.S. mobile users. Here’s the press release. Among the key findings were the following: 14% of users have given up their landlines 33% strongly agree they “feel lost” without their cell phone 17% subscribe to wireless Internet […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, Dec. 29, 2006
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
YellowPages.com Adds ‘Send to Mobile’
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.)
SearchCap: The Day In Search, Dec. 14, 2006
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
AT&T Tests Ad-Supported Directory Assistance (Mobile Local Search)
AT&T is launching an ad-supported directory assistance (DA) service through the phone number 1-800- YellowPages (1-800-935-5697). Right now it’s available in three markets: Bakersfield, CA.; Oklahoma City, OK; and Columbus, Ohio. Described as a “controlled trial,” it’s not clear yet if the service will roll out nationally. However, I would assume so eventually.