Oodle iPhone App, focus on ‘wireless camera’
Oodle launched an iPhone app. But when searching for Oodle in the App store, the only returned search results are for ClassiFind Lite and Classifieds Pro!? Back to iTunes and my PC to find the ‘Wireless Camera’ App.
Online classified search engine Oodle raises another $5.6M
Classified markets are growing in the recession and going digital.
Classified markets are connecting with social networks and going mobile.
Oodle has successfully developed the classified search ecosystem and has become an upstream swimmer in 2009. Mobiya is on its tail, extending the Oodle UK network to mobile and improving the overall quality of Oodle's UK listings to create a safer market place for users. Not forgetting the monetisation over mobile!
CEO Craig Donato blogged about Oodle’s third round funding from existing investors. No new investors were invited nor accepted in this round. Many of them had their wallets open and could only dream of becoming part of Oodle’s cap table.
Oodle met all milestones, now boasting more than 10 million monthly unique visitors, not to mention the potential of the Facebook deal. More than enough reasons for existing shareholders to inject more cash into the company to sustain growth, and protect their shares from dilution.
The woeful economy is also a plus, not only for Oodle, but for everyone in the Classified sector: “More and more people are turning to classifieds in this tough economic environment to find great deals or raise extra cash.” said Craig Donato.
Breaking news: Mobiya’s classified distribution carrier, Oodle, lands deal with Facebook
"Content is no longer king!" Traditional media companies are no longer (cap)able to make serious distribution deals with online media giants. Startups that have built media platforms through aggregation technology, distributed applications, search, meta-distribution and cross-channel publishing are powering the online media giants' online advertising dollars and community interactivity.
A couple of hours ago, Craig Donato, CEO of Oodle, announced their deal with Facebook. Driven by an open media mentality and a vision to create community marketplaces that put Oodle in a position to power MySpace's classifieds, and now also Facebook. As TechCrunch reported earlier today: "Even though Facebook and MySpace are archrivals, this makes sense because in classifieds scale matters. The more listings and the more people seeing those listings, the better." Scale matters, no matter where you get the content!
Oodle has proven once again that creating distribution efficiency in a very crowded online classified market space is king. Classifieds is no longer about content ownership, but how you efficiently monetize the consumer and community interactivity, how you traffic the listings via search optimization, how you create a safer scam-free marketplace (using mobile number verification technology) and how you can create win-win partnerships through revenue share models.
We've almost forgotten about the consumer. He definitively wins: faster search, real-time adverts, access to a complete offer, safe transactions, all together making it a transparent and efficient marketplace. Add mobile and it becomes enjoyable and portable, even more profitable (= Mobiya). To end with Donato's own words: "In many cases, you simply want to find a good home for items you are no longer using. In these instances, who you are giving to or selling to is more important than selling to them at the highest price."
Makes you wonder how eBay is going to tackle their gigantic classified problem!?
Facebook: looking for a classified partner
Classifieds and social networks, an untapped opportunity. Many blogs carry posts about it, but not many social networks have successfully introduced a classified advertising service, leave alone monetize the content. Netlog, Myspace, Bebo, Hyves, and now also Facebook are struggling to find the right classified partner.
The article below written by Michael Arrington from TechCrunch provides insights into the issue, the players, the technology and the potential… and to quote him "if Facebook gets this right there is a potential for lucrative advertising dollars – people looking to buy stuff are easy targets" and to finish with a quote from our own CEO, Martin Davis: "Mobiya connects to consumers on their mobile phones right at the time when they have their wallets open…"
Here's a rumor that won't go away – Facebook has been quietly searching for a partner to take over their one and a half year old classified listings application, and may relaunch as early as the end of December.
According to our sources, Facebook distributed a request-for-proposal to a number of classified sites earlier this year (the same model they are using for Facebook Music).
The obvious partner is Oodle, which began powering Walmart Classifieds earlier this year. We've heard some reports that they have in fact already won the contract.
Whoever powers Facebook Classifieds (or Facebook Marketplace, as they call it) has a big hill to climb. Competing with Ebay (and their Kijiji) and Craigslist isn't trivial. The original thought was that social networks were great for classifieds because the buyers and sellers know each other. But Facebook's current classifieds system shows anemic listings. The Silicon Valley network, for example, had a total of ten new listings added yesterday. San Francisco had twenty. New York City – zero. And for those who've forgotten, Microsoft launched their own classifieds site based on MSN friends and private networks (like businesses), and it went nowhere.
Part of the problem is the limited functionality of the existing classifieds system, which allows a short listing, a picture and communication via Facebook's messaging system. Better software may mean more listings (although the bare-bones and massive Craigslist is a clear exception to that rule). Oodle, or whoever wins the contract, may also bring lots of listings from their other networks.
If Facebook gets this right there is a potential for lucrative advertising dollars – people looking to buy stuff are easy targets.
Mobiya partners with Oodle to launch mobile classified service for Magic 105.4
LONDON, August 25, 2008: Mobiya announced today the launch of a new mobile classified service for Magic 105.4 and Magic Digital in collaboration with Oodle UK. Magic is a very popular national radio station and TV brand in the United Kingdom, owned by media giant Bauer.
How does it work? Very easy, listen to Magic’s 30sec radio commercial: Download magiclocal.wav
Magic radio reaches 2.7 million listeners every week and triggers users to text message their classified with picture to Mobiya’s MMS short code 66121. Mobiya handles the mobile user experience for people placing picture classifieds via MMS and simple text messaging.
Mobiya and Oodle exchange the classified content over their networks and within minutes the classified content is indexed and made available to Oodle’s audience. Oodle publishes the classified listings to the web via their online classified portal and white label Oodle Marketplaces such as Magic Local. These listings reach over 1 million potential buyers a month.
An example of the most recent mobile classified listing: http://www.oodle.co.uk/browse/?q=mobiya
How to respond? When clicking on an individual mobile classified in the Oodle listing you are taken back to Mobiya to find more information about the item for sale and to see the instructions about how to contact the seller. A simple web form allows users to safely enter their mobile phone number. Mobiya’s system will then bring the buyer and seller in contact over mobile communication.
Three examples of recently published picture classifieds:
- http://magic.mobiya.co.uk/showad/adgpam (car for sale)
- http://magic.mobiya.co.uk/showad/adgpat (collector’s items)
- http://magic.mobiya.co.uk/showad/adgpdj (DVD movies)
Mobiya and Oodle have revolutionized the way people interact with classifieds – by introducing mobile services and combining it with meta-distribution. In less than 60 seconds from taking a picture with a camera-phone and sending it to 66121 your advert is indexed by Oodle and made available for search to millions of users. Try it yourself: click here.
—end
Mobiya and Oodle powered mobile classified for Magic radio features:
- Ad placement over MMS with image and video, location tagging and keyword indexing
- Ad indexing and search via Oodle classified advertising network and marketplaces
- Ad publishing via full-branded custom web forms and classified widgets from Mobiya
- Ad responding over SMS to unlock contact details and any kind of hidden information
About Mobiya
Mobiya, a mobile classified advertising network, is available to 70 million people in the UK and Belgium. Mobiya operates classified services for media giants such as Bauer Media, Reed Business Information and Concentra Media Group, newspaper publishers such as Sport Newspapers and Metro Belgium, and classified specialists such as Koopjeskrant. Mobiya is consistently ranked among the top innovative players in the mobile advertising industry with its emerging mobile classified platform: Mobiya System 1: one classified media platform for all mobiles, all formats and all media. Mobiya is privately owned and has offices in Oxfordshire, UK and Gent, Belgium.
Further information can be viewed at www.mobiya.com and www.mobiyalog.com.
About Oodle
Oodle (www.oodle.co.uk), is a whole new way to shop classifieds. Bringing together more than 3.0 million listings from 100′s of classified sites, Oodle improves the way people buy and sell locally. Oodle offers the most comprehensive search, convenient email alerts and information to empower consumers to make better buying decisions.
Since its launch in 2006, the Oodle UK network has grown rapidly and delivers over 2,400,000 monthly referrals to its content partners. The Oodle UK Network powers classifieds for leading brands, including The Sun Newspaper, Lycos UK, Magic Radio and Infospace. The Oodle Network offers media companies and portals a proven business model for free listings and the best classifieds marketplace for their customers.
About Magic 105.4
Visit Magic’s web site or or listen live to Magic 105.4: Magic 105.4 Webstream.