Video..be seen and heard online

Video is quickly becoming the Web’s standard for small business advertising. As Mike Boland at the Kelsey Group points out local businesses are finding their way to the top of organic search results through video.

It’s interesting how video has it’s way of naturally ranking high on Google and other engines which ultimately extends brand recognition. Several IYP’s such as SuperPages and CitySearch have now included video into their offerings.  Spotrunner has just acquired GlobeShooter a network of more than 1,200 independent filmmakers, professional videographers, photographers, producers and production companies throughout the U.S.

Video gives small businesses the capability to virtually allow a would be customer to visit their place of business;  capturing on-site footage of  storefronts, customer testimonials, employees at work, product demonstrations and local landmarks.

Lights–Camera–Action

Holy Moli-Social Network Raises $29 Million

Venture Beat reported today that Moli, a social network, with user profiles, friends lists, comments, and popular widgets raised $29.6 million (making the  total $55.6 million).FYI: Alexa ranks the site around #87,000 worldwide, while Compete counts just 48,000 visitors in December.

Nokia makes another move…

Mobile tech news is reporting that Nokia will acquire Trolltech ASA, a recognized software provider with world-class software development platforms and frameworks.  Speculations are that in addition to the key software assets, its talented team will play an important role in accelerating the implementation of Nokia’s software strategy. The deal is reportedly worth .16 cents per share cash.

From the press release:

“Trolltech and Nokia share the goal of accelerating the adoption of Trolltech’s Qt based technology in the commercial market and in the open source community,” said Haavard Nord, CEO and founder of Trolltech. Eirik Chambe-Eng, Chief Troll and co-founder of Trolltech continues “We are thrilled to join forces with Nokia. The company’s innovative culture and resources will give our employees new and exciting possibilities and fulfill our vision of “Qt everywhere”.”

In October, Nokia announced an $8.1 billion acquisition of map data specialist Navteq.

Google Maps get Directions to MapQuest

MapQuest, synonymous with online maps, has been the clear cut leader over the past several years. But that may be changing since Google has stepped in the arena. According to Hitwise “traffic to MapQuest has remained flat year on year and is down 20% in the past 6 months. Google Maps traffic is up 135% year on year and is up 7% in the past 6 months.”  Not bad for the number 2 mapping site following MapQuest, and ahead of number three Yahoo and fourth place Microsoft’s Live Local (Hitwise stats).

One’s has to wonder who will have the advantage when mapping and navigation become standards on all mobile devices in the near future.

Loacl.com Yelps a lot…

Local.com joins Livedeal in adding Yelp reviews on their site. Local.com, already has CitySearch reviews, Indeed for Jobs search, Oodle for classifieds and WhitePages.com for people search. More Yelp partnerships should be on the horizon since it’s public release of it’s API.

Local.com has partnerships with I

InfoSpace…what’s ahead?

Familiar faces are leaving InfoSpace since the Motricity and SuperPages acquisitions have closed.  Shareholder pressure for short term value, has left the organization with Dogpile, Infospace and a couple of other .coms.  As a consumer name, it’s not well known, although Dogpile was ranked tops by JD Power and Associates in customer satisfaction, InfoSpace’s search market share stands at less than 1%.

Once worth more than $14B, achieving that may be an impossible task unless new product development and business models are put into action. Metasearch and general search opportunities seem more attractive if coupled with local search.

2008 The Year of the Rat (and targeted ads)…

2008 is poised to be a bountiful year in tech.

The event schedule is already full,  new acquisitions have been announced, the stock market roller coasters, and your home may have reached an all time low.  But one thing is for sure, online advertising, acting almost Hollywood like, seems to be on target to blast through the roof.

2008, already forecasted to hit highest revenues online, will surely highlight 4 distinct areas of focus:

1. Performance based marketing: Pay Per X where the value of X will rise tremendously based on the conversion method.
2. Mobile: SMB’s getting on the mobile device will be key. developing that conduit is the holy grail.
3. Geo-targeted ads: mobile, kiosks, public screens, etc..wherever you’re at having a relevant ad that makes location sense served to you will be the new standard.
4. Social goes public: up until now a social network was your life online. I believe in 2008 it will cross over to your life offline; your location, your events, your immediate interests, and more.

Overall 2008 has many emerging forecasts, but these 4 above are sure to be winners for any business model.

McDonalds vs Starbucks…The Barrista Battle

The Wall Street Journal spotlights the Starbucks struggle and how McDonalds is opportunity hunting by attempting to take away some market share.

From the article:

McDonald’s is setting out to poach Starbucks customers with the biggest addition to its menu in 30 years. Starting this year, the company’s nearly 14,000 U.S. locations will install coffee bars with “baristas” serving cappuccinos, lattes, mochas and the Frappe, similar to Starbucks’ ice-blended Frappuccino.

Internal documents from 2007 say the program, which also will add smoothies and bottled beverages, will add $1 billion to McDonald’s annual sales of $21.6 billion.

A New Face at Topix

News about Dave Galvan, (formerly with Yahoo!, InfoUSA, Netscape and AOL) accepting a position with local syndicate Topix as head of biz dev . Topix has in place a robust platform for rich local content, advertising, and partner services. It’s an interesting play considering Topix is already owned by newspapers.

CorporateSEM.com

My good friend and colleague, Steve Wiideman announced the launch of  CorporateSEM.com, a search engine marketing service based in Calabasas, California. I don’t have to tell you how big of a role both SEO and SEM play in every sized business’s online presence.

From the announcement:

“The value proposition isn’t simply having the best resources on the project and delivering on time, it’s having an open communication channel and providing a service as though we were a partner, not a vendor. Performance results and communication play a vital role in our success and client relationships.” says Wiideman.

Visit the website, www.CorporateSEM.com to learn more.