AutoUpLinkUSA Launches New Search Tool for Car Buyers

AutoUpLinkUSA, an inventory data and vehicle image acquisition, management and online publishing company, has launched a new feature that will enable car buyers to search for used cars based on ownership history. More specifically, they will be able to narrow their search results to include just Carfax 1-Owner cars. AutoUpLink will also provide consumers with access to Carfax vehicle history reports that subscribing dealers have already run.

This new search feature seems very simple at first glance. But sometimes, the most simple ideas are among the best. AutoUpLink possibly put itself in itself in its customers' shoes when developing this search function.

All online shoppers want to find exactly what they're looking for as quickly as possible This feature will help them accomplish that goal when searching for a used vehicle, with the end result a more efficient and productive web experience.

At the same time, the new feature will also benefit AutoUpLink's dealership customers by connecting them with interested buyers more quickly. Essentially it will help the dealerships better market themselves to the end consumer and hopefully lead to increased sales.

Adding Value Still Adds Value

About a year ago, I signed up to receive an email newsletter from TabletHotels.com. TabletHotels is a site offering reviews of, and reservations for, unusual boutique hotels worldwide, describing itself as a resource for "global nomads."

Since I am highly protective of my inbox, and am decidedly not a global nomad, it's reasonable to ask what attracts me to this website and its newsletter. Let's start with the graphic design, among the most attractive and inviting I have seen. The user interface is equally good. The hotels are individually selected, putting TabletHotels into a distinctly different class from the myriad hotel booking sites that want you to do all the legwork and decision-making yourself. The information on each hotel is rich, deep and clearly not cookie cutter or recycled hotel brochure copy. There is an elegant and powerful booking engine, and lots of special discounts to further entice a user to make a booking.

What caught my eye this morning was an announcement by TabletHotels that it is adding user reviews to its site. That, by itself would be a giant yawn as almost every hotel booking site has already added user reviews. What really intrigued me was that TabletHotels would only publish reviews from registered users where it could confirm that the user had actually stayed at the hotel. That's no small benefit in a world where well- known sites such as TripAdvisor.com are being faulted for having so many reviews it is becoming hard to draw any conclusions from them. It's also important in a world where reviews have become so important to hotels that some of them are posting anonymous favorable reviews of themselves to "fight back" against unfavorable reviews.

There is a lot to commend the notion of verified reviews. They reduce the overall number of reviews, reducing clutter and noise and making those reviews that do appear more valuable. Clearly, they also make the reviews more trustworthy, and again, more valuable. They also burnish the image of the site overall as one committed to providing only trusted, quality information.

Are verified reviews more work? Absolutely. But to my mind, extra effort is what distinguishes those who will be the long term winners in the information business. Too many Web 2.0 start-ups seem to think more is better, and dismiss the very concepts of editing, filtering or verifying. But these have provided the long-standing essence of publishing, and they aren't called "value-add" for nothing.

Labels: tablethotels, tripadvisor, user reviews

Sony Acquires Gracenote

Sony Corp. of America announced this week that it plans to acquire Gracenote, an InfoCommerce Group Models of Excellence winner, for a price of $260 million. Sony plans to operate Gracenote as a separate business unit; and Gracenote's senior management team will remain in place.

Gracenote is a provider of embedded technology, enriched content, and data services for digital entertainment solutions in the Internet, consumer electronics, mobile and automotive markets. According to a press release announcing the deal, Sony plans to use the acquisition to further develop its digital content, service and device initiatives.

Sony was already a customer of Gracenote. Other Gracenote customers include Apple iTunes, Yahoo! Music Jukebox, Panasonic, Philips and Samsung. So Gracenote already had a strong presence in its space.

Yet, with the backing of a prominent company like Sony, Gracenote is positioned to grow even more rapidly than it would have on its own. Essentially, this deal signifies how valuable Gracenote's offerings are and will continue to be in the electronics marketplace.

Local Directory for Instructors Launches in Seattle

A new local directory has launched in the Seattle area. TeachStreet is a free service that helps connect people with more than 25,000 teachers, coaches and other instructors in the area. Users can search TeachStreet to find instructors for classes such as yoga and beer making. Searches can be targeted through a variety of criteria including neighborhood and age range.

To collect contact information for the TeachStreet database, TeachStreet has enlisted the help of a team of contractors to manually collect the data--which includes names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and pricing information. The contractors comb sources such as Google, Craigslist, school catalogs and other web sites to find the information.

TeachStreet recently announced a $2.25 million venture round of funding. But the company plans to use online advertising to grow revenues. It will offer instructors the opportunity to purchase sponsored links and will eventually launch premium services (such as payment processing to instructors).

This is an interesting idea, but it will only be successful if contractors can collect enough information--and the most accurate information--to make it a robust offering. Still, it would be helpful if the contractors didn't have to do it alone. And they might not have to.

The company's founder is hoping that individual instructors will want to take an active role in creating and updating their profiles. If that happens, it will certainly help TeachStreet. Then, accuracy can be more confidently ensured, and the profiles will provide more value for users and the profiled instructors as well.

Major Publishers Launch Online Ad Network

Digital marketing company 24/7 Real Media Inc. this week announced its partnership with four prominent publishers to launch an online business-to-business advertising network. BBN is the joint creation of Cygnus Business Media, Nielsen Business Media, Reed Business and McGraw-Hill.

Included in the network are web sites of equally prominent publications, such as Construction Equipment, Adweek, Aviation Week & Defense Technology and CPA Technology Advisor. The network attracts almost 10 million monthly unique users (60 percent of the audience is small business owners and decision-makers). BBN includes more than 200 web properties.

Now including BBN, 24/7 Real Media's offerings are comprised of more than 1,500 sites. 24/7 Real Media's network attracts about 150 unique viewers each month and it offers targeting solutions such as lifecycle management, search retargeting, geo-demographic, content, behavioral, retargeting and custom.

BBN will use Open AdStream, 24/7 Real Media's proprietary ad serving and campaign management platform to the targeting and delivery of ads to web sites.

Online ad networks certainly aren't anything new or revolutionary these days. But this particular offering could still make a huge impact on online advertisers who target the b-to-b space and want to align with these major publishing brands.

However, one interesting note is that this isn't the first time Reed has participated in an ad network. In fact, it had its own. The publisher launched the Reed Partner Network last year, and the network included both Reed Business and non-Reed web sites. BBN could actually have been considered a competitor to Reed's own network. As a result, the Reed folks say that the Reed Partner Network will cease to operate as a separate unit by the end of the month.

Exposure is key in advertising. But too much isn't a good thing.