No where does user generated content have potential for greater impact than in local search. People who live in a neighborhood are the best qualified to provide information and keep it up to date, but it has been slow going so far.

Yahoo has been adding UGC to its Local site, include allowing people to update listings, submit reviews, photos, and ratings, (per SearchEngineWatch although for some reason the participation from the user community has been tepid at best. I'm guessing that because there are so many options (Google, InsiderPages, CitySearch), that users are splitting up their contributions, which results in a less than comprehensive service anywhere.

For restaurants and nightlife especially the people know best, and the wiki/UGC model has tremendous potential. When I wrote about this I anticipated that there would have been more momentum by now.

Maybe people aren't so interested in helping the corporations increase their profits by building a better site, so the community feel ain't there. Maybe local sites could offer some incentive to get people to contribute -- free t-shirt? money for the library? new bus for the school?

Somebody will get this right.

Google has added a "quality" rating to its keyword reporting, which -- if it works as advertised -- could provide important insight into the effectiveness or your campaigns on a more granular level. This could enable you to emphasize what works and maximize your click-throughs. Our boy Evan at PPCLab has more details and a screen cap.

Congratulations Les Moonves, you really get it.

The CBS CEO has been ushering his company into the digital age more aggressively than any other network TV provider, and at CES (Consumer Electronics Show), he fully embraced the YouTube mashup model.

Moonves says allowing fans to take clips and slice and dice content is a good thing and will only increase the value of its programs, according to the Chicago Sun Times. Moonves announced a deal with Sling Media allowing netizens to carve up their content and share it with others online, and split the advertising revenue. So we'll soon be able to watch CBS mashups online and on the TV through the SlingCatcher (take that Apple TV!).

Moonves turned the online NCAA basketball tournament broadcast from a subscription to ad-supported model last year and increased revenue 18 fold, according to MediaPost. CBS plans on getting its due from shows watched through DVRs as well.

While most television content isn't worth paying for, it is extremely valuable when it can be freely distributed with ads inserted. Freeing content for all to save, share and manipulate will be the most important development in video advertising and TV network ad revenue for the next few years, and watch as NBC and ABC fall in line. Fox has been the least Web friendly, and not surprisingly ratings have fallen this year. Imagine what fun fans of 24 and American Idol could have if Fox facilitated mashups!

Newspaper publishers have realized that online news sites are a much bigger threat to them then they are to each other, so they are considering forming their own ad network.

According to the Wall Street Journal, as quoted by the Associated Press, Gannett, Tribune Co. and McClatchy are in talks to form their own ad networks.

The combined reach of hundreds of newspaper websites could be a formidable alliance in winning over national advertisers. This could streamline the selling process if the new ad network focus on geotargeting customers so that advertisers could specify which regions they want to reach, and to what extent.

The publishers could offer targeted advertisements by combining the demographic information that they collect offline with online registrations. The companies could then offer email advertising services with access to an impressive list of customers.

If the publishers do not renew the contracts with their current ad agencies they could cause some serious hurt in the ad world. You might even see some ad execs filing suit, claming that the agreement would create a virtual monopoly.

The newspapers would likely continue to continue sharing content with news aggregation sites such as Yahoo or Google News who have been taking some of their ad revenue. Papers to

Cablevision is addressing concerns about TiVo and lost ad dollars from fast-forwarding through advertisements by offering ad-sponsored video on demand programming.

The company has signed up Sony, Unilever, Porsche, and the U.S. Navy (?) as advertisers for its free shows, according to Advertising Age.

Let's face it, DVRs and TV over the Internet prove that people want to watch shows at their convenience, but they don't want to pay for shows that go out over the free airwaves. So the big cable companies need to sit down with the networks and figure out a comprehensive strategy. Cablevision has it right -- interactive ads specially geared to the VOD audience can minimize the interruption while providing revenue for the content creators.

The longer they wait -- and watch DVRs become ubiquitous and people becoming more comfy watching TV on their PCs -- the less likely they will be able to modify viewer behavior.

It's not too often that I get excited about a new tech gadget, much less a cell phone. However, I had no less than two conversations about Apple's new iPhone and each got me more and more convinced that this has to be my next phone. The first conversation went something like this...

Andrew: Hey Jason, did you hear that Apple finally announced the iPhone?

Jason: Nope hadn't been paying any attention to the news lately.

Andrew: Dude, I think all Labitat employees are going to need new phones shortly.

Jason: Ha, good one.

Now the second conversation was from someone who doesn't get too overly-excited about any new product or press because he's been around the marketing / branding block for a while and has seen his share of johnny come latelys. But Allen Adamson was so pumped about what the iPhone means to the mobile handheld industry that he felt obligated to discuss it with me.

Allen had infected me with his excitement, so much so I felt compelled to post about it... and that's not easy for me to do these days.

In order to understand how BIG this announcement from Apple is, its important for you to understand the current state of the mobile phone / handheld market and a bit about the iPod.

Currently I'm in the market for a new mobile phone and my two main options are the Treo and the Blackberry. I had been leanding toward the Treo because it has a camera on it as well as a browser and decent email capabilities so I could get more work done while I'm on the road. The camera is critical for being the first to release information from whatever big media event I may be covering. Also a lot of my friends and colleagues use the Treo and I personally think it's a bit more hip than the Blackberry.

Which brings me to option no. 2, the Blackberry. My personal thoughts are that the Blackberry is a bit too corporate for my own taste but when it comes to productivity the Blackberry is tough to beat since the majority of senior level executives and up and coming executives swear by it. But the biggest drawback on the Blackberry for me is having to learn another interface, who has the time or desire to learn another proprietary interface on a cell phone that has super tiny keys? Not me.

My other hesitation in purchasing either the Treo or the Blackberry is simply that I'm not going to be able to use 90% of the features of either one of these handhelds right out of the box. I know I'll have to consult the owners manual on each of them. And then with the Treo there's the question of do you use the Palm OS or the Microsoft OS? Anyway, long story short, I've been stuck at this crossroad of indecision for quite some time and was hoping for a better alternative.

Enter iPhone and Apple's Compelling Branding
So then I hear about the iPhone and some of it's usability features and I'm like yesssss! This is the phone for me. And during my conversation with Allen yesterday I told him that I wouldn't be surprised if the iPhone captures 60% of the mobile handheld marketshare in the next 18 - 24 months. Here's why...

No Owner's Manual Needed - Ever!
If Steve Jobs actually delivers on his promise of insanely instinctive touchscreen based usability on the iPhone then it's simply game over for their competitors. Think about it, did you ever open the instruction manual (my parents and in-laws can ignore this line since you're out of mshift's demographic) on your iPod before you started using it? Of course not, because you didn't have to. My biggest issue with the two other phones I was considering purchasing were that I don't have the time or desire to learn how to use another phone. However, the iPhone changes all that. First off it's from Apple so you know it's going to be cool. Secondly, the screenshots on Apple's iphone site make this thing a no brainer.

Allen Adamson put it something like this...

Apple could very well change the landscape in the mobile handheld market with the iPhone. No other phone manufacturer can boast about their ease of use or has a user base as passionate as Apple.

I think Allen makes a great point and I'm convinced he's right.

For Business Professionals
Let's forget about the slick iPodability and iTunes embedded in the iPhone for just a minute and think about what this does for the business world. This phone will be reliable because it's based on the Mac OS X operating system, period. It has email, browsing, wifi, EDGE and bluetooth 2.0 built in so you can connect to anything anywhere with or without a hotspot. That means you can use skype from Starbucks and save mobile minutes. It will come with 4gig or an 8gig hard drive which means you could store all of your email from 4 different Yahoo! or Google Gmail email addresses on this phone (another huge problem solved). Most importantly however is this thing will be simple because there's no stylus, it's all a elegant touchscreen and it's built on Mac's legendary OSX operating system... nearly unbeatable.

Hip Factor
So sure it can help you be more productive and connected but what about looking good and stylish to boot? First off it is the best looking phone I've seen to date. The touchpad will make all of your friends jealous. It comes with a 2 megapixel built in camera so you can snap away at any celebrity filled event and get great shots while not worrying about how much storage you're using since the baseline iPhone comes with 4 gigs of data.

Now the other cool factor is that not every kid in your neighborhood is going to have one since it's suppose to retail for somewhere around $500 USD. So if you spot a middle-school or high-school aged kid with one then the kid is either spoiled or an up an coming internet mogul. If it's the latter then you should probably introduce yourself.

Big Question: Battery Life
So this phone seems to have everything but it doesn't matter if it has to sit on the charging cradle 8 hours a day. The Apple iPhone tech specs say it will have up to 5 hours of talk time including talking, playing video or browsing and up to 16 hours of pure audio playback time. I'm not sure if I believe that yet but I honestly don't know how they can do that and keep the iPhone's weight down to 4.8 ounces or 135 grams. Perhaps they're telling us how much it weighs without the battery, not sure on that one.

I guess the only question left now is, when and where can I get it. I know Cingular is going to be the only wireless carrier of the iPhone but there's nothing on their site about it yet so I guess we'll have to keep our ears tuned into the Apple marketing machine.

Note: I know a lot of you will go out and purchase one of these as soon as they're available so here's a free tip on how you can save all of your mobile phone contact information and import them super easily. It's called Zyb, try it, you'll love it.

Apple continues its quest to extract every last cent of disposable income from its legion of followers with a new TV box that offers almost nothing new at a higher price than available alternatives.

For $300 for the Apple TV, plus $99 for the Airport wireless station, you can watch TV shows or movies, or stream your iTunes collection to your television/home entertainment system.

Wow, only $400 to pick from a whopping 250 movies that you have probably seen before and can only buy. I'd rather rent from NetFlix oir Blockbuster for a fraction of that price, or buy the DVD and be able to play it anywhere. Talk to me when you have a few thousands movies to choose from.

And if you really want to listen to your iTunes music library on your home stereo, you can buy a $39 dock and plug it in without messing with a wireless network.

Apple's closed iTunes-based TV box misses the Internet opportunity completely. If I'm going to invest in a wireless network and box to stream Web content, I darn better well be able to watch YouTube videos or vlogs that are saved via RSS, and not just the smattering of content that I have to buy from Apple.

You gotta admire the cojones on Mr. Jobs in peddling this. I'll bet that in a year more people will be using the SlingCatcher or TiVo product for sharing web content with the TV than the overpriced under-delivering Apple TV.

Apple TV, your lifespan is that of a mosquito.

Update 1/10: I did not see any reference to playing movies or video downloaded in any other format in Apple's press release. If the Apple TV can stream all kinds of video it would be more useful, but still there are more versatile products available that cost less.

Like an unfulfilled playboy, TiVo is hoping to find happiness by hooking up with many partners. One of the founders of the digital video recorder (DVR) technology, TiVo has added music videos and music streams to its repertoire and has finally seen its long-anticipated deal with Comcast bear fruit.

TiVo has signed up with RealNetworks to give access to the Rhapsody music listening service thorough their DVR boxes. TiVo and RealNetworks subscribers can add songs being streamed to their playlists so that they can be played on demand. Playlists are also synched with RealNetworks' Internet-based service, making it a convenient way to find new music and access it from anywhere.

So forget Apple buying TiVo -- the Real deal means that ain't gonna happen.

TiVo also has a deal with Music Choice so that music videos can be recorder and watched on demand. Many cable providers already include Music Choice, but I guess the on-demand feature adds convenience. I guess music videos are still a big deal for some folks, but I'm showing my age.

Last but not least, the long-awaited Comcast cable box with TiVo is being featured at CES this week. Comcast has offered its own DVRs for sometime, so the TiVo software is a premium feature that will probably cost a few extra bucks per month. I haven't seen any other DVR software that comes close to TiVo, so if you are a Comcast customer, treat yourself.

No announcements about advertising on TiVo this time around. Subscribers will only tolerate a minimum of advertising (it works for HBO), so TiVo has to be very careful. Google is looking less likely as a suitor for TiVo too, so perhaps they will stay independent after all.

Technology guru Guy Kawasaki has a popular blog (180,000+ pages views per month), but by relying on AdSense ads, he made just $9 a day. He recently laid out his lack of return on his time from one year of blogging, stating that the effective CPM of $1.39 wasn't nearly enough to sustain his blog.

While ranking #45 on Technorati's list of blogs is impressive for a first year blogger, Des Traynor points out that technology fans may not be the best audience for garnering click-throughs. Tech geeks aren't likely to buy products and will use ad blockers to eliminate the opportunity, he argues.

I write for three different blogs each day and recognize the challenges of making money by blogging. If AdSense is central to your business model, you might want to think about a new career. AdSense ads are small, and utterly boring to look at so that very few people would spend more than a fraction of a second glossing over the text. Why not link contextual advertising with display ads so that at least you have a snowball's chance of catching the occasional straying eye?

Unless you have millions of people coming to your blog each month, you need display ads or to be an affiliate to generate substantial scratch. This requires having a sales department so that you can sell ads at higher CPMs.

Along with finding an audience of consumers amongst your readership, generating revenue depends on relevancy, and Google's algorithm can often fall short. Finding readers who are prone to buy depends much on the category of your content, as well as how close to the consumer experience your writing gets. If you subject deals mostly in the realm of the theoretical, has nothing to do about commerce, and isn't written about in books that can be promoted, then you are in deep doo doo.

I'm still far from mastering the art of blogging for cash myself, but I knew going in that AdSense is a last resort for most writers.

A new search engine targeted to mobile users is optimized to return answers instead of pages of results. The 4Info directory search engines asks that you format questions with what you are looking for and a location (city name or zip), and delivers the top 5 results as business names, addresses and phone numbers.

You can also search by movie title to find out where a film is playing, and the search engine also provides tips on how to search if you don't get the answers you want.

Or, you can enter the zip code and "w" for weather, or your favorite sports team name, and you'll immediate get what you are looking for (like the score of 23-20 for the Philadelphia Eagles over the New York Giants). The company has also set up text alerts so that you can receive a message every time your team scores or periodic stock updates.

By avoiding the noise of search results, 4Info has come up with a much cleaner interface for mobile search. The service is free, and so useful that the desktop search engines should take notice in how to provide concise, cogent, responses.

Sling Media, the company whose SlingBox enables TV content to be streamed online to any PC, will provide the ability to easily watch web video through the television.

The Sling Catcher was announced at CES, and according to BusinessWeek, will cost under $200. Any form of web video or images can be sent to the larger and more enjoyable flat screen. But there is one significant drawback -- no ability to control playback on the TV, so the PC had better be nearby.

I envisioned a product like this back in December, not realizing that I even had the correct manufacturer in mind:

Like a reverse SlingBox, you should be able to watch any movie download on your TV through a wireless connection, or even download it straight to your DVR.

Being able to watch downloaded movies or short form video on the TV could be a big boost for web video and increase the amount of time spent watching online content. More net video watching will occur once you are able to do it from the comfort of the coach.

But, just as counting TV ratings gets more complicated when you can watch programs online, so will advertising on web video when it is streamed to TV. If the interactive component is no long present on TVs, it may require adjusting the pricing and ads.

Update: Sony will also deliver hardware for delivering web video to televisions. The Internet Video Link HD streams a high definition version of content from AOL and Yahoo to Sony's Bravia televisions. The service will reportedly use RSS feeds to organize content (someone has been listening to me!), but limiting the video to just AOL and Yahoo severely undercuts it's utility. If Sony wants this product to succeed, they'll open it up to all feeds quickly, or some intrepid software gurus will do it for them.