Category Archives: yellow pages

How small businesses should use Yelp

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Rakesh Agrawal

Although I’ve strongly criticized Yelp‘s business model in recent weeks, Yelp is an incredibly important platform for small businesses to be aware of and engage with. And unlike Groupon, which has almost no redeeming value, Yelp has created a valuable consumer … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, local search, yellow pages, yelp | 4 Comments

Heading toward the Facebook recommendation engine

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Rakesh Agrawal

There’s an interesting thread over at Mike Blumenthal’s blog on the effect of Facebook Places on the local reviews space. My view is that reviews and updates will coexist, much as blogs and Twitter coexist. People who were less committed … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, lbs, local search, maps, yellow pages, yelp | Tagged | 15 Comments

Why don’t local businesses use the Internet?

Posted on September 1, 2008 by Rakesh Agrawal

Back in the mid 90s, I frequented The Weinery, a total dive of a hot dog place in the Cedar/Riverside area of Minneapolis. Jerry, the then owner, collected email addresses and would occasionally send out specials. Say the password when … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, lbs, local search, marketing, newspapers, yellow pages | 9 Comments

GPS for Blackberry and Calendar come to Google Mobile

Posted on May 25, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google announced GPS support on the Blackberry 8800. This is a huge move. It’s great that a major U.S. carrier, Cingular AT&T, is allowing free access to location data. I would have expected them to disable GPS access. I love … Continue reading →

Posted in google, gps, iphone, local search, maps, mobile, mobile search, wireless, wireless data, yellow pages | 5 Comments

Cleaning up my digital neighborhood

Posted on March 20, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

My neighborhood undergone a lot of change in the three years I’ve lived here. It’s been very exciting to see new businesses come in and sad to see some old favorites go away. (I’m still puzzled as to how the … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, google, local search, yahoo, yellow pages, yelp | Comments Off on Cleaning up my digital neighborhood

AOL launches local beta

Posted on March 16, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

AOL Local has a beta of a new map-based search product. It’s a solid first effort, and one that is competitive with offerings from Google, Yahoo! and Yelp. AOL Local plays up AOL’s primary differentiator over the competition: exclusive content … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, city guides, google, local search, maps, yahoo, yellow pages | Comments Off on AOL launches local beta

Top trends and predictions for satellite navigation

Posted on March 8, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Yesterday, I wrote about my experiences with various types of satellite navigation. Here are some of the major trends in the space and my predictions for what we can expect to see in the next three years. Trends that will … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, cars, city guides, consumer electronics, flickr, google, gps, local search, maps, mobile, mobile search, satellite navigation, wireless, wireless data, yahoo, yellow pages | 3 Comments

Text to self: buy milk

Posted on March 6, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I finally broke down and signed up for an SMS plan. Since then, I’ve been texting myself key nuggets of information: Airline and hotel confirmation numbers Addresses and phone numbers of new restaurants I’m trying Shopping lists The easiest way … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, gps, im, local search, mobile, sms, wireless, yahoo, yellow pages | 3 Comments

Rooftops and Google Maps

Posted on November 29, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

I was flying into Atlanta yesterday and as the plane descended to the runway, I noticed that one of the buildings on the ground with a giant bullseye on it – Target. Next to it, there was a building with … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, google, local search, maps, yellow pages | 1 Comment

Abuse risks with Google click-to-call

Posted on November 20, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

R. Franklin pointed me to a blog entry by Lauren Weinstein about the potential risks of a service like Google’s click-to-call Because Google doesn’t verify that the number you enter belongs to you, it is easy to use the service … Continue reading →

Posted in google, local search, maps, yellow pages | Comments Off on Abuse risks with Google click-to-call