Free directory assistance services, funded by pay-per-call ads, have been rolled out by a number of entrepreneurial companies, telcos and Yellow Pages publishers. But now comes The Florida Times-Union, which quietly rolled out a local version of Say Hello Inc. (formerly America Says Hello) four weeks ago. The FTU, which has a daily circulation of …

Hyper-local neighborhood search site StreetAdvisor launched a series of features today that aim to make it more social. The Australian start-up launched in March as a place to share and comment on all things to do with your neighborhood.
Today’s new features offer insider views and a “local experts” program that lets locals comment on everything …

Yesterday, The Kelsey Group announced a partnership with conference series host Search Engine Strategies (SES). The two companies will work together to program upcoming conferences, the first being November’s Interactive Local Media Conference.
SES is part of the marketing division of Incisive Media, a fast growing specialist business information provider operating in four principal markets: …

With the probable exception of Yelp, standalone review sites haven’t figured out a way to make money. In the past year, Insider Pages was sold off to Citysearch, and Judy’s Book, famously, changed its model to coupons.
So why would Josh Walker, Forrester’s former head of consumer research, dive into the game with both feet? Walker’s …

InfoSpace’s flagship mobile local search product, FindIt, is now available on the iPhone. I knew this would be coming soon, and it is a natural fit for the ease of use of the new device and its mobile local search possibilities.

Other mobile local search applications have been made available for the iPhone, such as Earthcomber, …

In case you missed any posts last week, here are a few highlights.
It’s About the Money, Remember
Last week, Local.com announced that it will acquire PremierGuide, a white-label local search solution, for US$2 million. I’ve read a handful of reviews about this acquisition and most seem to be missing the most important part of this deal: …

Last week, Local.com announced that it will acquire PremierGuide, a white-label local search solution, for US$2 million. I’ve read a handful of reviews about this acquisition and most seem to be missing the most important part of this deal: It’s about the money.
Specifically, it looks to me like this deal has a pay-back for Local.com …

On today’s second-quarter earnings call, R.H. Donnelley executives revealed that the ripple effect of the housing slump has affected growth in its Embarq markets, which have been among the most stable in recent years. Fortunately for RHD, improvements in Chicago (AT&T) and the Dex markets has somewhat blunted the impact of a softening Embarq business.
Ad …

OK. Here is the truth. As an analyst, you become quite the connoisseur of hockey stick graphs. “I do like the way the chartreuse in the bar chart plays off the light and complements your logo.” I heard that in a meeting once, seriously. Anyway, the sad fact is that the vast majority of these …

This just in. Directory publisher R.H. Donnelley has acquired Business.com, a B2B-oriented search engine and ad network that was acquired by Earthlink founder Sky Dayton for US$7.5 million in 1999. The acquisition was announced today, just before RHD’s second-quarter earnings report. Here is a copy of the release.
Here is an article out this morning that …

Paul Levine has resigned his position as GM of Yahoo! Local to take the VP of marketing slot at AdBright, a Sequoia Capital backed ad marketplace. Jennifer Dulski will be taking over local responsibilities as group vice president and general manager, Marketplace. The position will also include responsibility for Shopping, Travel, Autos and Real Estate.
Given the …

We’re always looking to identify TV station groups that really get it and are going to push hard to compete for local traffic and advertisers online. Is Fisher Communications the one?
Last week, Fisher – a publicly traded, Seattle-based owner of 12 full power TV stations, seven low power stations and eight radio stations – purchased …

Yellow Book has paired up with cable company Charter Communications in a distribution and marketing deal. The announcement is a little vague on details, but as far as we can tell, Yellow Book and Charter will distribute co-branded directories with Charter to the cable provider’s voice customers in its footprint, which closely matches Yellow Book …

Summary
LicketyShip will announce a partnership with the Los Angeles Times-owned Recycler.com today to provide a same-day local delivery option for classified customers. This sounds ominously like bubble era companies that went bust, for example, Kozmo.com, which burned through more than $200 million in venture funding. Or who could forget the wonderful Wired articles of Webvan drivers …

AOL reportedly beat out Microsoft and is paying $275 million for Tacoda, the behavioral targeting company that serves ads to 125 million people across 4,000 Web sites. Tacoda will likely be operated as a separate unit, complementing Advertising.com, AOL’s highly successful direct response company.
Chairman Dave Morgan, who previously founded Real Media, launched the company in 2001 …

I had a great time playing with a friend’s iPhone this weekend. The thing is really nice – even more beautiful in person than in pictures and sturdy beyond expectations. And fun, too.
But maybe I won’t buy one for a couple of years. It isn’t so much the 4 or 8 GB of storage (we’ve …

Social networking has become and will continue to be one of the hottest trends on the Internet. The goal of social networks is to connect like-minded people based on their interests and often on their needs. In some cases social networks are used to identify the best brands and to root out possible companies to …

Idearc’s Superpages has launched a beta version of a video advertising product, the company announced today. Here is a copy of the announcement. Video has quickly emerged as an essential element for a fully functional local online product, even if uptake among SMEs is small at this stage.
From the press release:
“There is a clear trend …

Yell Group’s U.S. division, Yellow Book, has named Pat Marshall to the newly created post of “chief new media officer.” Marshall’s job in a nutshell will be to bring Yellow Book and its IYP, www.yellowbook.com, into a leadership position online. Marshall will report directly to Yellow Book CEO Joe Walsh.
Marshall’s appointment lightens the load of …

The National Hockey League and its 30 teams, unable to score exposure on major media networks, are going local and on demand, with extensive game, team and community programming being launched next season. The service, produced by NeuLion, a technology integrator that works with a variety of local programming, was tested last season by the New …