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and
deliver other content at the neighborhood, or
"hyperlocal" level, are bursting with
life..." The article goes on to describe
how hyperlocal sites have gotten so hot they have become prime
acquisition targets for big media and big tech
companies. This is obviously a very positive development
for geodomain site operators who are local by
definition, though the hyperlocal boom should help all
sites that provide useful news and information for local
residents.
The
money being thrown at the larger operators in this
category is mind boggling. Last month Google tried
to buy local information provider Yelp.com
for $550
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TheDeal.com
noted that "Meanwhile, hyperlocal startups continued
to get funded. In December, Outside.in, which
pulls together neighborhood blogs and other local
content, announced it had closed a $7 million
Series B round of funding, led by existing investor Union
Square Ventures, with participation from new investor Turner
Broadcasting System. As part of Turner's investment, CNN.com
will use Outside.in's aggregation and curation tools to
power hyperlocal news across all of its sites.
The new round brings Outside.in's total raised to $12
million." Not bad for a site operating on an Indian
ccTLD (.in).
Even though they missed out
on Yelp, Google isn't giving up on hyperlocal. Instead
they have decided to "roll their own"
solution. They now have a Local link on their
mobile application that, when you click it, brings up all
of the businesses in the immediate area where you are
located, including Restaurants, Lodging, Gas Stations,
Shopping, etc. This will give them an opportunity to rake
in even more money from local businesses who want to be
listed on those hyperlocal Google results pages.
Hyperlocal is just one
example of several areas online that have boomed
throughout the recession and continue to provide great
opportunities at a time when the outlook is positively
bleak in so many other places.
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One other note today
- domain auction site Bido.com
just launched their new Bido Guarantee Program
that opens up some new sales options for
domain owners. Bido has assembled some of the top
buyers in the industry, called their Guarantee
Partners (including firms like Name
Administration, NameMedia, National
A-1, Rick Latona, etc), who submit
their offers for domain names that they are
willing to buy in a private auction not open to
the public. |
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If
you are the seller, you have there choices when
the auction ends - 1. Accept the
Guarantee Offer (the highest bid) and sell the
domain, 2. Send the domain to a No Reserve
public auction using 75% of the Guarantee
as a starting bid or 3. Keep the domain and
walk away if you don't like either of the first
two options. You can take advantage of this latest
Bido innovation by submitting listings here.
You can also learn more about the program from a post
at Bido Co-Founder Sahar Sarid's blog. |
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