Yahoo Local Rolls Out Fixed-Price Local Ads

IN AN ATTEMPT TO ENCOURAGE smaller, less Web-savvy businesses to purchase online ads, Yahoo Local late last week said it rolled out flat-fee pricing for text ads.

The listings are available at the top of the page on Yahoo Local, for monthly fees ranging from $20 to $300--with the highest prices charged to advertisers in the most popular categories and the largest cities. For now, the ads include basic directory information, such as the business name, address, phone number, map, and a link to its Web site; Yahoo also is testing images in the ads, according to Aytek Celik, senior product manager, Yahoo Local.

The fixed-rate offering--which marks a greatly simplified model compared to online auctions--could persuade less sophisticated marketers to experiment with Web ads, said Greg Sterling, principal analyst with Sterling Market Intelligence.

Many local advertisers believe that search marketing is important, Sterling said, but are stymied by the complexities of managing keyword bids. But small local businesses are already familiar with flat-fee pricing, making it more appealing to them. "The model that most local advertisers are used to is a flat-fee or fixed-fee model, where they know exactly where they'll appear and for how long," Sterling said. "They don't necessarily want to spend the time to learn about search engine marketing and optimization," he added.

Good News About Global Warming?

Tired of reading bad news and dire predictions about climate change? Here's some good news about global warming—or at least as good as it gets.

According to a new report by researchers at Duke University, the extreme global warming predicted by many previous studies is unlikely to occur.

But don't get too excited just yet.

Earth will certainly experience significant global warming over the next century. Probably between 2.5 degrees and 8 degrees Fahrenheit, if the new research is correct, instead of the 16 degrees some studies have forecast.

"This still commits us to quite a bit of climate change, but it leaves the door open to avoiding the largest and most devastating consequences," said Gabriele C. Hegerl, a Duke University climate expert who led the study, in an interview with The Washington Post.

That doesn't get us off the hook entirely, mind you, because an overall increase of even a few degrees could lead to massive storms, droughts and flooded coastal areas, but we should be able to avoid human extinction and the worst environmental disruptions if the new predictions hold true. Best of all, perhaps, Hegerl says the new research may convince governments that there is still time to take action to reduce global warming.

The Duke researchers used computer models to analyze historical climate data up to 700 years old and to predict "climate sensitivity," which shows how much the global average temperature is likely to change if carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere double.

"This is the first use of several different independent data sets to come up with a constraint on climate sensitivity," said Reto Knutti of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. "It's a very solid piece of science."

More information:

Climate Change Will Be Significant but Not Extreme, Study Predicts – The Washington Post

Internet Brands acquires Wikitravel

Internet Brands, Inc, an operator of media and e-commerce sites for "large ticket" consumer purchases, announced the acquisition of Wikitravel and World66, two leading community travel guides of up-to-date, traveler-focused content. The sites are growing exponentially, collectively attracting more than 2 million visits per month, more than triple a year ago.

Both websites utilize wiki-based collaborative editing technology, and are built on the principle that travelers often get their best information from other travelers. The Wikitravel website offers more than 12,700 travel guides in 10 languages, with contributors working together to continually enhance the site's content. World66 delivers nearly 80,000 articles on more than 19,000 destinations all over the world. The sites have extraordinary community participation, currently receiving as many as 10,000 editorial contributions per week—meaning that on average a new addition to the travel guides arrives every 60 seconds, 24 hours per day. This rate of participation is also rapidly increasing.

Internet Brands will be investing in technology and other resources to help the sites continue to rapidly scale.

"Thanks to our active community, Wikitravel has had tremendous success, and this partnership is the best way to make the investments needed to take the site to the next level," said Evan Prodromou, Wikitravel co-founder. "Internet Brands has extensive experience with content-rich sites and is attuned to the unique needs of a community-driven site."

"We're delighted to join forces with the Wikitravel and World66 communities," said Bob Brisco, CEO, Internet Brands. "The sites are blessed with a large group of talented, passionate community leaders, and we look forward to helping by providing the needed infrastructure and support so the sites can grow even more rapidly."

"We believe that this arrangement will make the projects stronger," said Richard Osinga, co-founder and CEO, World66. "World66 and Wikitravel have complementary strengths, and Internet Brands brings the vision and resources to move ahead much more quickly."

Wikitravel founders Prodromou and Michele Ann Jenkins will continue to lead the Wikitravel site and community and will guide the integration of the World66 community. The founders of World66 will also stay closely involved with the project.

Both Wikitravel and World66 will continue to evolve under the collective guidance of the user community. "We look forward to working with the communities to develop new features, applications and content," said Prodromou. Both sites are open content travel guides available under a Creative Commons license.

Cool Birthday

LONDON Apr 19, 2006 (AP)— Queen Elizabeth II has invited 99 guests to Buckingham Palace Wednesday, and she won't need to ask anyone's age. All share the queen's birth date April 21, 1926. The queen has laid on a three-course meal for 70 women and 29 men who, like her, will celebrate their 80th birthday on Friday.

"It has always been a standing joke in the family that I've never been invited to the queen's birthday party, what with us being born on the same day, never thinking it would actually come true," said Betty Kay of Doncaster in northern England, one of the invited guests.

Prospective banquet guests were nominated by themselves or relatives, and 99 were chosen to represent all parts of the country.

Edna Richards of Wolverhampton said she was a firm supporter of the monarchy, and admired the queen for maintaining a busy schedule.

"I think she is a marvel. I don't know how she does it all. Being the same age I know how she must feel," Richards said.

Amid the excitement surrounding the birthday celebrations, the queen's cousin told the British Broadcasting Corp. that she is "perfectly sure" the monarch will never abdicate the throne.

"It's not like a normal job, it's a job for life," Margaret Rhodes was quoted by the BBC as saying.

Buckingham Palace said Rhodes' remarks reflected the longtime position of the queen and there was no change in her decision to forgo retirement.

"These are the questions that are asked around these big events," said a Buckingham palace spokeswoman speaking on condition of anonymity in line with palace policy. "There is no question of the queen abdicating. She will carry on as normal."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Brands in 'Treasure Hunters' to Be Used by Globe-Trotting Contestants

New Reality Series Gives Marketers Chance to Show Off Wares
Brands in 'Treasure Hunters' to Be Used by Globe-Trotting Contestants

LOS ANGELES -- Search engine Ask.com has partnered with the producers of NBC's upcoming "Treasure Hunters" to show off the site's enhanced features and market the revamped brand. Contestants will also carry Motorola phones, drive Toyota Tundra trucks and Highlander SUVs, make travel arrangements through Orbitz.com, use Dell computers and services from Visa as well. full story

Local Web Spending Predicted To Reach $5.8 Billion

by Wendy Davis, Thursday, Apr 20, 2006 6:05 AM EST

LOCAL ONLINE AD SPENDING SURGED to $4.8 billion last year, a 78 percent increase from 2004's $2.7 billion, according to a new report by Borrell Associates. The report further predicts that online ad spending this year will climb 21 percent to reach $5.8 billion. "Last year's growth spurt was reminiscent of that seen at the height of the dot-com frenzy in 1999-2000, when many local media companies had just finished building out their Web sites and began selling online advertising in earnest," stated the report, "What Local Web Sites Earn: 2006 Survey."

For the study, Borrell examined revenues at 2,266 local media properties, including 696 daily newspapers, 148 weeklies, 1,154 radio stations, 437 TV stations, and 24 independent local sites. Borrell defined "local online advertising" as "advertising placed by locally based businesses for locally focused online messages."

Online revenues last year at newspaper sites came to an estimated $2 billion, up from $1.19 billion in 2004. On average, online revenue totaled 4 percent of all revenue for 10 of the largest newspaper Web sites--up from 1 percent four years prior. By contrast, Web sites of TV stations generated just $283 million, up from $119 million in 2004; but Borrell predicts that figure should grow quickly as online video grows more commonplace, thanks to increasing broadband adoption.

By and large, newspaper sites were profitable last year, according to the report, but the average site lost market share within its designated market area; the average site controlled an estimated 14.8 market share last year, down from 18 percent in 2004. Borrell proposed that the dwindling market share stems from the growing importance of search. "Local advertisers are turning to national search engines to reach local consumers--the same audience that local media companies have traditionally controlled," states the report.

Real estate, help wanted, and car ads have become more important to newspaper sites in the last year, according to the report. Last year, ads in those three categories accounted for 75 percent of online revenue, up from 70 percent in 2004.

At TV stations, automotive ads accounted for 25 percent of online revenue, up from 18 percent in 2004; real estate was the second single largest source of online revenue, generating a little more than 15 percent of online ad dollars, while health care was third, accounting for slightly less than 15 percent of online revenue.

Cool -- Satnav Launches SatGuide

The James Bond Car: Satnav Launches SatGuide
Swapnil Bhartiya, EFY News Network	(2 Rating)
(Wednesday, April 19, 2006 10:36:24 AM)
Even if you don't know the directions, the device will guide you to your destination.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006:  New Delhi: You take the driving seat of your car, enter the destination on a pocket PC-based touch screen navigation device installed in the vehicle, and without worrying whether you know the directions or not, gun the engine. The device will guide you to your destination.
It seems we are talking about James Bond's Aston Martin or BMW cars. Not at all. This is as real as anything, and it could be your car as well. SatNav Technologies (P) Ltd., a Hyderabad-based IT products company, has launched India's first navigation system, called SatGuide, with Bangalore map data. SatGuide is a pocket PC-based, touch screen navigation device, which enable users in Bangalore to navigate around the city quickly and with ease, without taking their eyes off the road and their hands off the wheel. Satnav Technologies has partnered with Nippon Audiotronix to make the product available across all leading showrooms across Bangalore. Commenting on the launch, Sandeep Arora, national sales manager, Nippon Audiotronix, said, " We are pleased to offer India's first navigation system, SatGuide, to the people of Bangalore, and are positive that the system, one of the most popular hi-end technology-backed product in the city, will be of great use to the people." Any user of a vehicle installed with SatGuide has to enter the destination address in the unit prior to starting, the device will then suggest the best possible route, display a map on the screen of the navigation device and then prompt the user through voice commands on the directions to take, in order to reach the destination. The in-built GPS receivers receive signals from three of the 24 GPS satellites orbiting the earth and thus ascertain the exact position of the automotive. At the same time, sensors in-built in the unit record every movement, registering even the slightest change of direction. Additionally, SatGuide navigation system is built in with a comprehensive database of 22 categories, including public utility, emergency services and entertainment locations, among others, which will help the user - whether he is looking to go to a nearby ATM or is in the emergency need of locating a hospital - to reach the closest destination through the shortest possible route.