Archive for March, 2008
Search Marketing Expo in Munich
27 Mar. 2008 | Author: SMX, the Search Marketing Expo comes for the first time to Germany, taking place in Munich on April 8 and 9, 2008.
Responsible for the content and planning of this conference on Search Engine Optimization and Marketing, are the internationally recognized Search Engine gurus Chris Sherman and Danny Sullivan – both are editors of the well-known search engine blog Search Engine Land.
According to a press release, the organizers have targeted the two-day conference and exhibition, to those professionals responsible for search engine and online marketing for companies and agencies.
The program will provide an intensive survey of the most important developments in this field. The organizers will cover areas such as basics for beginners (e.g. keyword selection, the production of search machine friendly websites, or tactics for successful links) as well as specialized themes for experienced professionals in the field. For the latter, topics addressed will include new developments such as Blended Search (where the results, generated by specialized search engines such as local search, are automatically included in the results list) and their influence on search marketing, are also on the program. Further, themes such as the implementation of Communities, Bookmark Platforms or Blogs and their search engine optimization will be covered. And also Local Search is an important subject covered. One session being offered is titled ‘Local Search Tactics and other mysteries’ where insider tips are promised for “successful local strategy, illuminating the new possibilities offered by Blended Search and Local Mobile Search”.
Full details (in German) about this rich program, its participants, registration, prices and location, can be found on the website of SMX.
Posted in Events, Local Search, News | 
Tags: chris sherman, danny sullivan, Konferenz, Kongreß, Search Marketing Expo, Sherman, SMX, Suchmaschinenmarketing, Suchmaschinenoptimierung, Sullivan | 
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GoLocal.de starts up
As already reported on these pages, the makers of GoYellow also are venturing into the Web2.0 world. On March 10, 2008, the new ratings portal GoLocal.de was launched on the web and is available to all users under the motto “Find better together”…
GoLocal.de in effect is a product of GoLocal GmbH & Co. K.G. that in turn is a daughter company of GoYellow Media AG, whose products include the online directory GoYellow.de.
The new ratings platform GoLocal.de is similar in many of its functions to the recommendation platform Qype. Using GoLocal.de, users can find businesses & services under “locations” – and the ratings of other users for a specific locations/undertakings. The results are generated in a list and shown on a GoogleMap. Particularly practical is the sort by alpha, distance or best rating function. Registered visitors can also add their opinions to generated listings, providing star ratings, adding photos or adding new ‘locations’. A route planner is not offered at present.
Along side the search for ‘locations’, GoLocal.de also offers an event search. Using this one can research events in the neighborhood and also add descriptions and comments.
In a press release, the company describes GoLocal.de also as a ”ratings community”. This confuses somewhat, since registered users are unable to communicate with other users, contrary to what one understands today under community functionality.
The new service is still in the Beta-Phase, and will be expanded in the coming months, according to the press release. As of mid June 2008, the full version is expected to go live, and plans also include the simultaneous launch of a mobile portal.
Posted in Web Communities, Local Search per PC, Local Search, News |
Tags: Bewertungsportal, Branchenbuch, Empfehlungsportal, GoLocal, GoYellow |
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KennstDuEinen.de cooperates with eins.de
Just a
This in essence means that other portals are now able to embed the recommendations of KennstDuEinen.de into their own websites, according to the management of KennstDuEinen GmbH in a press release. For marketing partners this provides the possibility of increasing the attractiveness of their offerings and customer connectivity. As a result, KennstDuEinen.de is hoping to extend its reach and raise its profile throughout the German-speaking region.
The first partner enrolled in this scheme is the social city portal eins.de. As announced by both firms in another (joint) press release, though this cooperation, the members of eins.de will enjoy direct access to the ratings portal. Using this new functionality, users of eins.de will be able to search for and rate local service providers and businesses. Their ratings will subsequently be displayed on both portals. KennstDuEinen already lists 5 million such entries on offer, mostly generated through the local search machine suchen.de (operated by t-info).
eins.de users can find this new feature on the start page in the left-hand navigation section under ‘Service’.
Posted in Web Communities, Local Search per PC, Local Search, News |
Tags: eins.de, KennstDuEinen, Städteportal, Stadtportal, t-info, User Generated Content, web2 0 |
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GenieTown: Marketplace for local services
Recently GenieTown, a new local marketplace, was launched in the USA. This service aims to offer and search for all forms of services.
This new site aims at services from professionals, from private persons and from ‘Genies’, as the experts are labeled here. The principle of the site is that everyone and anyone can possess abilities that someone else could make use of. And that, irrespective of whether one is a licensed business or a talented ’self-taught’ person. The services offered or searchable here cover the full spectrum of needs. They range from help with building renovation, housework or garden tasks, child sitting or pet sitting, through car repair, computer problem-solving, tax returns, to music tuition.
GenieTown offers a web presence to the service ‘providers’, where they can describe themselves and the services offered. When looking for an expert, one can either search the Genie (experts) for the specific area, or alternatively post a request with the issue at hand, and invite the Genies to respond to the help request with a proposal or quotation.
As with most Web 2.0 projects, the Genies and the clients are able to describe and rate each other. In so doing, they can accumulate points– which then reflect not only the quality of the services delivered, but also their involvement in the community; the inclusion of articles with tips and tricks or the answering of questions can all add to one’s ratings.
In a press release delivered by the presenters, GenieTown is a kind of mixture of the YellowPages (online directory), Craig’sList (online classifieds) and eBay (auctions).
GenieTown is still in Beta, and is concentrating at present on the San Francisco Bay Area.
Posted in Web Communities, Local Search per PC, Local Search, News |
Tags: Community, genietown, local, Marktplatz, web2 0 |
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Lokalisten.de is now mobile
The German social networking site, lokalisten.de announced the start of its mobile portal at the beginning of March 2008.
As indicated by the company in a press release, the mobile-phone version of the local web community offers multiple possibilities for being able to ‘always and everywhere’ keep in contact with one’s friends. Registered users are thus able write messages on the fly, search for new contacts, view and edit profiles and photos, and even upload photos.
The mobile start page of this community for friends and friends’-of-friends is reachable by mobile-browser under mobile.lokalisten.de. Non-members of lokalisten.de are also able to sign up from their mobile devices, and can use the same login details to access the network when surfing from a PC.
At City24, call mobile phones gratis
Since the end of May 2007, community members of the city-portal City24 have been able to make free calls to landlines. The Internet portal has now broadened its offer.
Registered users are now offered free connections in virtually all cellular networks, and that internationally! This service functions without any additional hard- or software. For these calls, as with other call-services, the user enters their own number, and that of the destination number, with which this services then establishes the connection. This offer is available around the clock. Conversations are limited to maximum 30 minutes.
There is, however, a small catch… the service doesn’t cost real cash, but rather “CityCredits”. These are a form of bonus points – members receive 30 daily points automatically. These ‘BasicCredits’ expire at the end of each day, thus disallowing accruing credits. Additional CityCredits can be acquired through other activities and actions, and these do not expire daily, for example through the posting of events, parties, provider ratings, activation of contact or friendship classifieds, invitations from friends or posting of one’s profile photo.
Through these rules and the members’ point collections, the amount and/or length of the ‘free’ phone calls allowed are regulated. Additionally, the number of credits required varies according to the destination country telephoned. So, calls within the German landline system costs one credit a minute, thus permitting a 30-minute phone call daily. A call to the German Mobile Phone network costs 27 credits per minute, thus reducing one’s daily free contingent to just over one minute. In order to make more use of this service, members are thus encouraged to become active on City24 and earn more credits.
Posted in Web Communities, Local Search, News, Practical features |
Tags: Anrufdienst, City24, gratis Telefonieren, lokale Informationen, Städteportal |
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New Cooperation between local directory services
The person search service yasni.de has joined forces with 11880.com, and YellowMap has integrated the ratings offering of autoplenum.de
yasni.de and 11880.com
Recently, yasni.de, a search engine for people, utilizing Web 2.0 elements, and the information portal 11880.com (Telegate AG) have been collaborating. As a result, telephone numbers and addresses are now obtainable on yasni.de, as announced by the presenters in a press release. Conversely, 11880.com now links a person search, by the provision of a link labeled “What does yasni.de know about this person’s name?” directly to yasni.de.
Steffen Rühl, founder of yasni.de, explained this new strategic cooperation in its quest to expand and reinforce its leading position as the most-used person search engine in Germany. This service was started at the end of October 2007 under the motto “What does the Net know about you?” It accesses publicly available information on the web around the name search. Additionally registered users are also able to submit their own profiles.
YellowMap offers ratings from autoplenum.de
The “Knowledge platform for Drivers” – autoplenum.de has been cooperating with online directory YellowMap, as of mid-February 2008.
As announced by autoplenum.de in a press-statement, users of YellowMap who search for car showrooms, dealerships or repair shops, are now able to access autoplenum.de member ratings (on a separate tab) of these facilities, as well as their addresses. This facilitates users of YellowMap to gain additional insight and assist their qualified choice, without unpleasant surprises. A direct link to the autoplenum.de website also enables YellowMap users to share their own experiences and ratings of this business branch, with autoplenum.de users.
Posted in Local Search per PC, Local Search, News, Local Search Engines, Practical features |
Tags: 11880.com, Auskunftsportal, autoplenum, Branchenbuch, Telegate, yasni, YellowMap |
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A further release of Live Search Maps Germany
Just a short while after the recent update of the German-version of Live Search Maps navigation was released (see our report), a number of new features are on display.
As of August 2007, the local search results for the German version of Live Search Maps have been delivered by t-info’s local search engine suchen.de. As accessible on suchen.de for a while, a free direct telephone call option on Live Search Maps has been introduced, as of the 21st February 2008 update to Live Search Maps. 
This function allows the user to connect directly using a landline, with a discovered undertaking or service provider. To do so, one clicks on the desired search result, with which a new window opens showing a detailed map view and address details. For those wanting immediate telephone contact with the party, all that is necessary is a click on the “Free call” button, and then to enter one’s own phone number (for a callback). In a Microsoft press statement, this service is available between 6am and 10pm (CET), and the length of conversation is limited to 30 minutes.
The Route Planner has also been upgraded: for the first time Microsoft has integrated a Microsoft Virtual Earth option in the German-language site. The Route Planner calculates either the fastest or shortest routes to the destination. Using this function, the user is able to print an optimized Print version of the route in question.
An additional use of this last function is for the planning of routes where the user can specify start and destination addresses, thus generating the route directly from the Map view. In this option, the name of the discovered firm is automatically included as the start or destination of the journey. One can alternatively mouse over the generated search locations on the map, and then click-select either “Route from…” or “Route to…”
Stronger together: Telegate takes over KlickTel
The local search service market in Germany is fiercely competitive. In the spirit of this, Telegate AG, which runs the online-information service 11880.com among other services, has bought a controlling interest in its competitor KlickTel.
With this development, one of the market-leading providers in the field of local search in all contemporary media channels in Germany has been created. This was published in Telegate AG press release. Together the two companies will annually process upward of 210 million cross-media search requests, and cover virtually 15% of the entire market volume of information and online directory services. According to Telegate, both firms together employ approximately 400 people, thereby creating an alliance forming one of the largest organizations, specializing in and responsible for the needs of small and medium-sized firms in Germany.
Telegate AG, by their own admission, have acquired 78,6% of the base capital of KlickTel, thereby investing around 25 million Euros in cash. The transaction has been approved by the board of Telegate AG, but still awaits the stamp of approval from the national (German) Monopolies Commission (Bundeskartellamt).
