
Does it make any sense to build a national chain of city sites by hiring local editors, one by one? The answer is a resolute “no” according to Examiner.com CEO Rick Blair, who said he’d been there and done that when he was a top [...]

Does it make any sense to build a national chain of city sites by hiring local editors, one by one? The answer is a resolute “no” according to Examiner.com CEO Rick Blair, who said he’d been there and done that when he was a top [...]

Newspapers haven’t done too well with local search, despite efforts to leverage their potential mix of human editors and algorithms. But Boston.com made more of an effort than many others, launching a local search effort in 2006. As chronicled by Nieman Lab, that effort started [...]
Seven Philadelphia CBS-TV and radio stations have combined their news resources to create a new Digital Out of Home (DOOH) News Network utilizing 39 CBS Always On “Digital Newsstands.” The Newsstands include HDTVs and a 24 hour news ticker.
The Digital Newsstands have been created in partnership [...]

Local.com has reorganized around three business units: “Owned & Operated,” “Sales & Advertiser Services,” and “Network.” The latter unit will consist of over 700 regional media sites, formerly associated with PremierGuide and its successor, and the new Local Distribution Network. Former Autobytel SVP of Advertising [...]

Small businesses that buy search spent $1,658 on average in Q3 2009, a figure that was up 91 percent from 3Q 2008, according to a new report issued by WebVisible, a company that manages online marketing campaigns for SMBs.
Thirty-three percent of the SMB [...]

The ILM:09 conference Dec. 9-11 in LA is now just around the corner. We’ve handpicked 60 cutting-edge speakers, and we think we are onto something that is really important. I can tell you that signups have been great, too.
Recent adds to the speaker roster include [...]

National Public Radio has been recently getting more aggressive in promoting sponsorship packages in advertising industry trades. Indeed, NPR has positioned itself as an advertising alternative to other news outlets – positioning that hyperlocal sites such as Sacramento Press are also assuming.
How far can [...]

Following in the footsteps of ESPN Local and CBS, Comcast will develop local sports sites on the back of its existing TV properties. Comcast has already launched Comcast SportsNet News England, which it calls “the most comprehensive and dedicated online local sports [...]

Yahoo News is bolstering its local efforts and building “a staff of editors around the US who will improve the local news experience on the frontpage,” according to a Tweet from Anthony Moor, who was recruited from Dallasnews.com, per Lost Remote. The [...]

Outgoing CBS Interactive head Quincy Smith, in a New Teevee Live interview conducted by Om Malik, said he continues to have confidence in the future of TV, which is unlikely to suffer the same disruptive fate that many people are assuming for the music and [...]

A “hypercamp” dedicated to New Business Models for News was held yesterday in New York City by The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, lead by Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine. We weren’t there – wrong coast- and nothing is on the site yet. But the [...]

Hyperlocal models continue experimenting with ways to make it work on a standalone basis. Networks, ecommerce and other revenue streams have all been tried out. BackFence vet Mark Potts has even set up GrowthSpur as a consulting firm and national network specifically to leverage the [...]
HelpHive, the new Seattle-based leads provider for service SMBs, had made some changes after running into real PR problems last week from Evan Conkllin, an angry (and persistent) plumber. He was irate that the company was taking SMB phone numbers and trademark info, and [...]
Its not just about advertising anymore. Social media is important too. Accordingly, a number of vendors and network providers have developed tools to help them see where there best placements are; how their reputations are unfolding online; and to simplify and automate their processes for listings and [...]
Following the success of eBay Motors with special classic and custom car restoration verticals, other sites have pitched their own tents to get a piece of the $2 billion annual business, including AutoTrader and The New York Times. Now comes Angie’s List.
Angie’s List, [...]
Village Voice Media, the large media company that includes 14 alternative weeklies, is rebranding its national network that includes 50 alt weeklies, as the name shifts from Ruxton Media to Voice Media Group. As part of the rebranding, It is also refocusing national advertisers [...]

A flurry of business lead services have cropped up, each a variation on the model that has been successfully developed by ServiceMagic and others. They basically provide a directory, information, leads and marketing services.

Self-serve ad solutions aren’t a major part of the ad universe today. A recent BIA Kelsey survey found few companies selling more than 10 percent of their SMB advertising via online. But self-serve meets of the needs of certain online-oriented categories. And for economic reasons, of [...]
In what may be the first of many media deals, AutoTrader has taken over Adicio Motors slot on SignonSanDiego, the newly-revised online site for The San Diego Union Tribune. AutoTrader, a Cox Enterprises property and the leading third party auto site, has been the [...]