Strangely, U.S. media is behind Europe and Japan when it comes to locational targeting via mobile devices.
Travel products take note: Vegas.com is making a killing off of paid search on mobile platforms. The paid ads which appear next to search results on the Android operating system, which is now on iPhone and Palm Pre. Click-through rates are a healthy 20% on the ads, often surpassing those of desktop campaigns, said Scarlet Lento, internet marketing manager for th site. 
How much revenues are being made today by local media sites using mobile platforms? To find some answers, we caught up with Tom Kenney, president of Verve Wireless, whose platform is used by more than 500 local media sites, the largest network in the U.S. 
Mobile marketer As local media sites continue to look for ways to create and sell low cost high quality video to small businesses one contender is Spotmixer. The product is simple enough, a set of 200 video advertising templates by industry, that media can customize with voice overs, text, music, photos, mood and pacing by following a wizard (or use SpotMixer’s experts for a fee).I spoke with Leslie Latham, Vice President of Business Development just after she signed up Comcast Spotlight in San Francisco. Read More »
Everyscape, a provider of software that creates interactive panoramic video tours, called “webscapes” has an interesting play for local media companies. So far the company has partnered mostly with merchant associations using its own sales force to sign up the merchants. But there is no reason media companies can’t do the same thing, obtaining video content for “experiential” guides like dining and nightlife, or for hyperlocal communities. Read More »
“Best of” contests gain new life online when media companies partner with Web-savvy CityVoter, a site that let’s visitors vote for their favorite establishments. So far mostly broadcast sites with no established “Best of” brand have taken advantage of the opportunity. “TV is a no-brainer. Its like a megaphone,” says Joshua Walker, founder and CEO. “I’m still looking for the print that can activate as well as TV. Print companies tend to get caught up in Church and State issues.” According to the Kelsey Group about half of the traffic from contests comes from the media, the other half comes through the CityVoter site. Read More »
