A panel at Mobilize ’09 is discussing what factors govern context in mobile. Online, of course, we have a (somewhat) well-defined set of factors to approximate context -- keywords, page content, IP address, etc. In mobile, the rules are changing…
The next big vertical is ... parking? Parking Data Ventures has been created to tackle all things parking. The five-person, Baltimore-based service has created a database of 10,000 parking locations. It has partnered with six of the largest parking lot…
At GigaOm's Mobilize conference, a panel is currently discussing the ongoing challenge of deciding what platform on which to develop mobile products. Of course, the answer is, "it depends." As we explored in a recent report, this will most often…
Om Malik kicked off today's Mobilize event with a few data points and a nostalgic look at the day when a colleague stepped into his office with a Palm 5, the first smartphone. Even though it wasn't that long ago,…
Venerable mobile news source Fierce Mobile has just released one of its signature top 10 lists. This time the theme is "Top Mobile Applications of 2009," including mobile apps across different platforms. Of the 10, I count six that are…
Clever Commute, which aggregates info from commuters on tardy schedules, is now in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C., per an article in USA Today. The service was launched three years ago by Joshua Crandall, a New…
MerchantCircle is seeking to transform itself from a source of search engine leads for SMBs into more of a destination site that consumers and businesses will use over and over again. The company reports 20 million unique visitors, which if…
AT&T Interactive has launched a new version of its popular YPMobile iPhone app. The new version will allow users to watch video, and will support pay per call advertising. The video capability will tap into AT&T's growing library of SMB…
Today’s New York Times ran a story about how both The NYT and The Wall Street Journal plan to launch full-fledged regional editions, beginning first in the Bay Area. According to the story, Bay Area residents could see regional editions…
In addition to Living Social, which has just launched a local coupon effort, we’ve learned of three other group coupon sites: Groupon, whose tagline is “collective buying power”; Boston-based BuyWithMe, whose tag is "Let's Get it, Together"; and What’s the…
I recently had the chance to talk to ReelSEO's Mark Robertson about some trends in mobile media and the growth of the mobile Web and mobile video. He captured part of the discussion on video, which can be viewed over…
Superpages today announced its Twitter account @SP411 ("soft launched" earlier this week) which lets users tap into Superpages listings directly from Twitter. In other words, it's not a third-party app or Twitter client -- simply a clever use of a…
In a takeoff of “Sex in the City,” AT&T has taken out the back page of The New Yorker with an iPhone ad titled “Apps in the city.” The ad, part of a series of iPhone ads using different themes…
Centro, the media planner that tries to “simplify the entire local online media buying process for agencies and media partners,” took a hit from auto advertising last year. But it has continued to grow overall, thanks to gains in regional…
The Wall Street Journal earlier this week took the contrarian view that the iPhone has not really been that great for AT&T after all. The carrier has seen improvements in some important areas such as churn rates (compared with previous…
TMP Directional Marketing has announced that industry vet Gregg Stewart will run 15miles, a new full service interactive division that "connects consumers to national brands found in local markets." Stewart, a leading change agent in the Yellow Pages industry for…
The New York Times juxtaposes conflicting views on the outlook for media spending and the recovery of the ad industry in “The Outlook is Murky for Media Advertising." On one side of the debate are analysts like UBS' Matthieu Coppet,…
Yellowbook announced today it has acquired the Louisiana and Texas directories of ypOne, not long after ypOne sold its Canadian properties to Canpages. This deal is yet another suggestion that many U.S. independent publishers are struggling in the current tough…
Quality guarantees are the name of the game in 2009. On the consumer side, ServiceMagic and Idearc Yellow Pages have guaranteed the quality of work for their advertisers. Now, on the advertiser side, Cobalt’s Dealix is guaranteeing the quality of…
Google and Spot Mixer announced today that they will extend their partnership to include in-stream video ads. This follows the January partnership that brought SpotMixer's DIY video production suite into Google's TV Ads product. The main difference is that today's…