New Zagat Mobile Offering Launches

Zagat Survey has launched ZAGAT.mobi, an advertising-supported mobile web site that contains Zagat's trademark information on restaurants, nightlife and hotels throughout the U.S., London and other international sites.

ZAGAT.mobi is compatible with any web-enabled mobile phone. The service provides free access to restaurant, nightlife and hotel information and even offers directory listing information, such as address, phone number and hours. ZAGAT.mobi also has features that enable users to send information to a friend via SMA and it provides links to related services (like directions, movie times and airlines). In addition, ZAGAT.com subscribers can view Zagat ratings and reviews on the mobile service as part of their subscription (with no additional fee).

Zagat Survey's technology partner for the ZAGAT.mobi initiative is Starcut, which designed and developed the site. Zagat partnered with Third Screen Media (a subsidiary of AOL) and Winstar Interactive Media (a division of Interep Interactive) to manage and sell advertising on the new mobile site.

ZAGAT.mobi further represents Zagat Survey's comfort level in launching services that complement the latest technology. The company has seamlessly migrated its offerings from the traditional print product to its web site to ZAGAT TO GO smartphone software in order to serve the ever-increasing mobile information needs of its customers. Kudos to Zagat for also offering ZAGAT.com subscribers free access to content on the mobile service instead of making them pay for such a value-add. Clearly, not every directory and database publisher is in Zagat's position, where its content is in demand on a mobile platform. But the Zagat folks recognize their information is even more valuable than ever when it's available on mobile devices and they will undoubtedly continue to keep pace with new technology.

Flip Data

One of the most intriguing aspects of the web is that in addition to an incomprehensible amount of information coursing through its electronic veins, a lot of this information can also be aggregated with relative ease. And while simple aggregation often adds value in and of itself, it's often possible to unlock even more value by flipping these aggregations of data over and creating analytical datasets which are sometimes more valuable than the data from which they were built! Consider some examples, all either current or former InfoCommerce Models of Excellence winners:

Consider one of our favorite examples, Wanted Technologies, which gathers up help wanted advertising from all over the web. But rather than trying to create a simple aggregation of all this advertising, Wanted flips it on its head to create a powerful and sophisticated prospecting tool for executive recruiters.

Another great example is TitleZ.com, which noticed how much publishers and authors were coming to rely on Amazon.com book sales rankings for marketing purposes. TitleZ, with Amazon's permission, created an application to monitor sales of any book over time, and chart it against other titles as well.

Still another great example is Vendio. Vendio began life providing software to eBay merchants to streamline their online selling activities, but quickly realized there was gold in all the transaction data flowing through its servers. It began aggregating these data to create a historical pricing database to help eBay merchants optimally price their merchandise.

These are just a few examples of the lucrative opportunities that are presenting themselves to flip and re-shape data to create new and valuable data products, in many cases leveraging data created by others, meaning none of the traditional compilation costs associated with data publishing, and it's an even better opportunity if you can find creative ways to turn your own data inside out ... not coincidentally the theme of our InfoCommerce 2007 conference where you'll be able to meet many of our Model of Excellence award winners, companies just like these. InfoCommerce 2007 puts the future of data publishing at your fingertips. Check out the program and register today!

Labels: titleZ, vendio, wanted technologies

CQ Launches CQ MoneyLine

Congressional Quarterly this week announced the launch of CQ MoneyLine, a tool that enables lobbyists, journalists, candidates and other individuals who are tracking the flow of money in politics. CQ MoneyLine, which was previously known as PoliticalMoneyLine, has a new web site with increased functionality and is integrated into Congressional Quarterly's main site, CQ.com. PoliticalMoneyLine was acquired by CQ last July and had its own web site before this launch.

CQ MoneyLine provides users with access to more than 25 years of data. The content included on the site, which is collected from sources such as the FEC, IRS, House and Senate, is updated within hours of being made available. Specific tasks users will be able to complete are: track contributions from PACs, individual donors, politicians, elected officials, candidates and party committees; learn which industry sectors raise and distribute the most money and where that money is being used; follow the flow of soft money through 527 groups (such as MoveOn.org and Progress for America); and retrieve information about thousands of lobbyists, indexed by client and issue.

Among the new features is simplified navigation. The 58 links on the PoliticalMoneyLine site were consolidated into three landing pages and one lookup tool on CQ MoneyLine to simplify the search process. There is also an expanded search capability that provides many ways in which to search for campaign finance information. The integration with the CQ.com site has led to integration with other CQ services, such as CQ Member Profiles.

This new tool has been part of the CQ family since PoliticalMoneyLine was acquired in July 2006, but this launch marks its official welcoming into the CQ family. The acquisition is clearly a good fit and the new site will undoubtedly draw more traffic to this particular offering and to the CQ.com site as well. Congressional Quarterly didn't rush the integration and that's probably a good thing. The company needed time to make sure it got it right. As users begin to visit the new site, CQ will quickly learn if they did.

AAA Mobile A Costly Endeavor

AAA has launched AAA Mobile, a new service for GPS-enabled mobile phones that contains the travel information, maps and road service that AAA has offered for years. Users can receive audible turn-by-turn directions as well as information about hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions listed in AAA's well-known TourBook guides. With one touch, members' phones can send their GPS location to AAA and connect members directly with a AAA representative for roadside assistance. So if they have car trouble and are unsure of their exact location, AAA will still be able to send help.

The service can be downloaded directly from certain GPS-enabled phones. AAA enlisted the help of the Networks in Motion location-based services platform to run AAA Mobile. Users can search for destinations by category (such as hotel or restaurant), for the closest locations or those that match a business name. They can also see maps of their current location or other locations. Pan and zoom capabilities will enable them to locate specific entries on a map. AAA subscribers can download the application to their phones and must pay a $9.99 monthly fee for service.

This offering really represents the convergence of all of AAA's great services into one easy-to-access wireless application. It's certainly a tool that will make AAA members take notice, but not necessarily take advantage of. Asking those current members to pay $9.99 a month for the service may be asking a bit too much. For a fee of about $6.00 a month, members can sign up for a full membership to AAA, which includes many more offerings than the AAA Mobile service. AAA should instead consider offering AAA Mobile as a value-add for members or perhaps use it as part of a promotion to enlist new members.

A Victory for Vertical Search

Healthline Networks and Ask.com have teamed up to launch Health Smart Answers featuring Healthline. The new service is designed to help Ask.com users find reliable health information more quickly. They will be able to access medical definitions, images and links to physician-reviewed content.

Healthline is known for its taxonomy-driven medically guided search platform used by consumers and business partners. The search platform is comprised of a database containing more than one million medical terms. In addition to Ask.com, other Healthline customers include prominent organizations, such as Aetna, Merck and U.S. News & World Report.

This certainly isn't a large announcement, but its impact could be rather enormous. Essentially, this represents a general search engine featuring content from a vertical search engine. While traditional search engines have received the lion's share of attention in recent years, it seems it's now becoming the vertical search engines' time to shine. Companies of all types now recognize how valuable vertical search engines are in collecting and organizing relevant data for consumption by users. These users want and expect more specific and targeted results and vertical search capabilities are the answer. As Healthline continues to build its customer base, expect Ask.com to explore partnerships with vertical search specialists in other subject areas.