Here is a recap of posts from last week, in case you missed any. Click below to read each post in full.

OpenTable Files for $40 Million Public Offering

OpenTable, the online restaurant reservation service, has filed an S1 with the SEC to raise $40 million. The company, founded in 1998 by former Citysearch President Thomas Layton, was launched as Easyseats.com. It currently has contracts with 10,000 restaurants in all 50 states, or approximately one-third of U.S. reservation restaurants. It seats roughly 2.8 million diners per month. (read more…)

Back to the Future of Newspapers

It’s always fun to look back to past decades’ visions of the future — especially when we’re currently living out the realities of those same times. We didn’t end up with the levitating cars dreamed up in the 1950s, the imperialistic government of Orwell’s 1984 (kind of), nor the bizarre spacecapades of Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001. Earlier today, a friend sent me a great YouTube clip that someone dug up, which shows a 1981 local news segment that was a bit more prescient than the above examples. (read more…)

Pay-per-Call Vet Campbell Leverages Experience in New Venture

Gary Campbell is among the directory publishing executives with the most experience in building a performance-based ad model in the print product. He is now hoping to leverage that experience in a new venture called Cost Per Call Solutions. The new company was founded with colleagues from the recently disbanded Canwest Directories operation. (read more…)

SMS: The Gateway Drug for Mobile Search

Expanding on the bit about text messaging in my previous post, a panel discussion at i2G likewise expanded on the topic. The idea is that despite its lack of sex appeal (compared to other things happening in the mobile world), SMS is where the action is today. Less than 20 percent of mobile users have smart phones, according to TKG data, meaning the vast majority of mobile users are primarily talking and texting. (read more…)

Zillow Rides the Bad Tides of Real Estate

The bad market for real estate has put a crimp in a lot of real estate marketing (except perhaps for foreclosure sites like Zetabids). The New York Times, on Sunday, found that many real estate sites were flat at best, with some laying off staff. In The Times’ article, Curbed founder Lockhart Steele referenced “the 401K effect,” with people losing interest as the value of their holdings declined. (read more…)

Tying Mobile to Traditional Media: Report From I2G

I’m at Opus Research’s one-day Internet2Go show in San Francisco where there have been lots of good case studies and concrete talk about mobile marketing. Lots of it is local, but there is a fair mix of agency and brand representation. Even in those cases, key components of the mobile campaign often come down to the lower points in the purchase funnel, which are most often local (i.e., auto dealer locator). (read more…)

IAC’s ServiceMagic Buys Market Hardware

IAC’s ServiceMagic,  a leader in delivering leads to services, has purchased Bethesda,MD- based Market Hardware, which provides websites and search engine optimization for 2,500 SMBs. Market Hardware, which has 30 people, targets “high online spend verticals” that closely mirror ServiceMagic’s base of 56,000 pre-screened professionals. (read more…)

Now on the iPhone Top 10: RepairPal

The iPhone app store now has 15,000 apps available. So what’s No. 8 (among the free utilities)? RepairPal, an auto site that uses the GPS capabilities of the iPhone to deliver repair auto estimates, a comprehensive repair shop directory and a roadside assistance feature. RepairPal ranks behind such iPhone apps as Sound Grenade, WiFi Checker, myLite Flashlight and iStethoscope. (read more…)

Mixpo Signs More Channel Partners

Video creation platform provider Mixpo today announced partnerships with five local media organizations: NBC Local Media, Tribune, Freedom Communications, TownNews.com and Fisher Communications.The deal will equip each new partner with Mixpo’s VideoAd platform, which will let advertisers create and distribute video ads into the publishers’ existing online advertising systems. (read more…)

Talking Mobile and Local at OMMA Social

I’m at the OMMA Social conference put on by MediaPost. It’s mostly attended by ad agencies looking to learn more about engaging users through social networking and blogging — something they’ve probably achieved a C+ for as an industry. (read more…)