Getting Granular: The DigitalGrit Blog

AP: Yahoo Inc. Acquires Upcoming.org

SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) has acquired Upcoming.org, an online event planning site that's expected to infuse the Internet powerhouse with more content about local communities.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company confirmed the deal late Tuesday without disclosing financial terms of the acquisition.

Los Angeles-based Upcoming acts as a social calendar that depends on its users to post free listings about a wide range of upcoming events, from local rock concerts to picnics in the park.

The site, founded by Andy Baio, provides tools that enable users to share observations about the events and identify common areas of interests.

Yahoo plans to keep Upcoming's current Web site separate, but eventually will incorporate much of the content into its own site to bolster its local search capabilities, said Paul Levine, Yahoo's general manager of local search....

Read the AP article.

DigitalGrit commentary due later this week!

AP: Yahoo Inc. Acquires Upcoming.org

SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) has acquired Upcoming.org, an online event planning site that's expected to infuse the Internet powerhouse with more content about local communities.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company confirmed the deal late Tuesday without disclosing financial terms of the acquisition.

Los Angeles-based Upcoming acts as a social calendar that depends on its users to post free listings about a wide range of upcoming events, from local rock concerts to picnics in the park.

The site, founded by Andy Baio, provides tools that enable users to share observations about the events and identify common areas of interests.

Yahoo plans to keep Upcoming's current Web site separate, but eventually will incorporate much of the content into its own site to bolster its local search capabilities, said Paul Levine, Yahoo's general manager of local search....

Read the AP article.

DigitalGrit commentary due later this week!

76% of SMBs Generating Leads Online, Only 20% Using PPC

According to InternetNews.com today, small- and medium-sized business owners are doing well with their Web sites:

According to the ISP Interland's Summer 2005 Small and Medium-sized Business Barometer, 76 percent of SMBs said they pluck plenty of leads from their Web sites. Another 57 noted in the survey said they generate leads from their Web sites. Fifty-seven percent said they made money either directly or via offline purchases influenced by their Web sites.

And although a surprising 82% claim to generate monthly revenue from their sites, these folks appear to be conservative with their use of the Web:

Among the features that SMB's said they use to help market their Web sites: e-mail marketing topped all at 60 percent. Another 54 percent said they deploy search engine optimization to make sure they're found online, and 27 percent said they use online coupons. But only 20 percent indicated they use pay-per-click as a marketing tool. Farther down the list was the use of blogs (19 percent), podcasting (11 percent) and RSS (10 percent) for generating sales.

Only slightly more than half are even OPTIMIZING their sites. And only 20% use PPC?  I understand fully the budget-driven "if-it-ain't-broke-don't fix-it" mentality to which many businesses subscribe when it comes to their Web presence, but gosh, don't these folks realize the boost they'd get from even a small investment in Google AdWords? The ROI on a well-done campaign can be astronomical.

But I'm preaching to the choir, here. It's just amazing to me how little search seems to have caught on in this market. Perhaps we need a few more evangelists out their focusing on the SMBs...

76% of SMBs Generating Leads Online, Only 20% Using PPC

According to InternetNews.com today, small- and medium-sized business owners are doing well with their Web sites:

According to the ISP Interland's Summer 2005 Small and Medium-sized Business Barometer, 76 percent of SMBs said they pluck plenty of leads from their Web sites. Another 57 noted in the survey said they generate leads from their Web sites. Fifty-seven percent said they made money either directly or via offline purchases influenced by their Web sites.

And although a surprising 82% claim to generate monthly revenue from their sites, these folks appear to be conservative with their use of the Web:

Among the features that SMB's said they use to help market their Web sites: e-mail marketing topped all at 60 percent. Another 54 percent said they deploy search engine optimization to make sure they're found online, and 27 percent said they use online coupons. But only 20 percent indicated they use pay-per-click as a marketing tool. Farther down the list was the use of blogs (19 percent), podcasting (11 percent) and RSS (10 percent) for generating sales.

Only slightly more than half are even OPTIMIZING their sites. And only 20% use PPC?  I understand fully the budget-driven "if-it-ain't-broke-don't fix-it" mentality to which many businesses subscribe when it comes to their Web presence, but gosh, don't these folks realize the boost they'd get from even a small investment in Google AdWords? The ROI on a well-done campaign can be astronomical.

But I'm preaching to the choir, here. It's just amazing to me how little search seems to have caught on in this market. Perhaps we need a few more evangelists out their focusing on the SMBs...