AT&T Interactive today launched a beta version of YP.com, a Web site that won’t be heavily promoted but will add cutting-edge features to searches, such as expandable local maps in results, aggregated SMB content, and videos, coupons and other promotions. AT&T bought the URL for $3.85 million from LiveDeal in January 2009.
A company blog post …

My colleague Michael Boland released a new Advisory today on The Kelsey Group forecast for Western Europe mobile search and display. The bottom line is that TKG analysts forecast mobile search ad revenues will grow at a compound annual growth rate of more than 125 percent with display ad revenues anticipated to increase by a CAGR exceeding 138 …

More than half (56 percent) of Americans are connected to the Internet by some wireless means, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. While this wireless access primarily is on a Wi-Fi network with a laptop (39 percent), about a third of Americans used a cellphone to IM, e-mail or search. Cellphone use …

Today we released our Western Europe Mobile Search and Display forecast. This follows the February release of the U.S. mobile forecast, but takes a look at the collective mobile activity in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K.
Specifically, it examines mobile search and display ad revenues in the region from 2008 to 2013. During this …

Yahoo is extending its local sales reach for its behavioral targeting-informed display ads, enlisting AT&T Interactive’s 5,000+ sales reps. They will begin selling the “APT” branded- display ads later this summer to local businesses in more than 300 categories, along with Yellowpages.com, search packages, online video and other products.
The announcement is something of a milestone …

Broadcasting and publishing outfit Meredith Corp. this week made a strategic investment in The Hyperfactory. The privately owned Hyperfactory provides mobile creative for a range of blue-chip clients like Coca-Cola, Disney and Kraft.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed but drivers include boosting integrated marketing capabilities within Meredith’s business-to-business unit, which currently offers custom print and …

EveryCarListed.com, a 25-person car portal quietly acquired by Idearc Media in February, has formally rolled out its new look and feel. It includes an unprecedented effort to provide videos of every car on the site.
The site currently has 2 million car listings, with 1 million already attached to videos. The site will be “all video” …

In today’s eMarketer, the first story is titled “Interactive Marketers Lean on Search.” The item reports that “digital advertising has been the bright spot in many ad spending forecasts, and that trend is slated to continue.” The basis for the report is an interactive marketing forecast by Forrester Research, which predicted in a recent blog …

I’m not sure if this is brand new but it appears that YellowBot is the latest local search site to integrate an location auto-detect feature. We recently reported that Google Maps has done the same. This is now possible with Google Chrome and Firefox 3.5, and we’ll soon see the same functionality more pervasive across …

I was recently able to catch up with Michelle Moore, director of search engine strategies at Metric Voodoo. We’re sitting on a panel together at SES San Jose next month and had some time to discuss the areas where mobile local marketing needs improvement, or requires different ways of thinking. These will also be key …

TV118 is a new converged media directory service developed by Central Index (U.K.-based business directory provider) and Miniweb (U.K.-based interactive service provider) that “exposes searchable business directory services to TVs not just PCs.”
TV118 allows TV operators, advertisers, content owners and CE device companies to leverage existing Web assets on to broadcast TV and broadband platforms …

Google’s pending sale of its Google Radio product to broadcast software platform provider WideOrbit helps the search giant with its attempts at managing margins by cutting expenses and selling assets. Google acquired dMarc, which formed the basis of Google Radio, back in January 2006 with the expectation of applying its technology driven and scalable efficiencies …

The New York Times reports that ESPN, after a successful launch of its local sports Web site concept in Chicago, is adding three more markets: New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.  The Dallas site launches this fall, while New York and LA will start in early 2010. Fifteen staffers are being added for the three …

I recently had the chance to talk to Jeff Smulyan, president and CEO of Emmis Communications. Smulyan was one of our keynoters at May’s Winning Media Strategies conference. We picked up the conversation where the conference left off: the sizable mobile opportunity that awaits the radio industry.
This is very similar to the opportunity facing the …

Here is a recap of posts from last week, in case you missed any. Click below to read each post in full.
Mobile Video’s Growth: A Conversation With PacketVideo
Fresh off PacketVideo’s $45 million strategic investment from Japanese mobile giant NTT DOCOMO, I had the chance to talk with Chief Business Officer Joel Espelien. The investment brings …

Lat49, which sells ads on online maps for more than 120 Web sites, including Topix.net, Trails.com and others, announced that it has raised $1.5 million in Series A financing. Participation was led by PenderFund Capital Management, with further participation from existing investors including Discovery Capital.
The site, launched in early 2007, focuses on location specific segments. …

Fresh off PacketVideo’s $45 million strategic investment from Japanese mobile giant NTT DOCOMO, I had the chance to talk with Chief Business Officer Joel Espelien. The investment brings the company closer to the existing partner, which should help it position itself better for delivering its flagship mobile video platform.
PacketVideo works with most major worldwide carriers …

Mobile start-up Aloqa announced that it has raised $1.5 million from angel investors and Wellington Partners. The company sits at the growing three-way intersection of mobile, local and social. Specifically, it alerts users to interesting events, locations or people in proximity, when those things match preset preferences defined by a series of “channels” within the …

One of the criticisms of the Palm Pre has been the lackluster volume of apps that are available for its WebOS platform. There were about a dozen released with the Pre, based on the individual deals Palm formed for pre-loaded (no pun intended) launch apps.
Today the company released its SDK for all. This is essentially …

Sean Greene is moving into a digital leadership role at R.H. Donnelley, transitioning from his most recent role as senior vice president of strategy and business development into the new position of SVP Interactive. Greene plans to move from RHD headquarters in North Carolina to Santa Monica, California, where RHD’s interactive group is based (a …