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Tag: SinglePlatform

  • TripAdvisor Acquires SinglePlatform to Help Restaurants Enhance Experience

    TripAdvisor Acquires SinglePlatform to Help Restaurants Enhance Experience

    TripAdvisor has announced the acquisition of SinglePlatform from its parent company, Endurance International Group.

    SinglePlatform works with restaurants to help them publish and manage their menus online, as well as other pertinent information, such as their hours of operation and contact information. The service has become increasingly important to restaurants, given that “93 percent of diners check menus online before choosing a place to eat.”

    “We are obsessed with making restaurateurs’ jobs easier and more successful, and our acquisition of SinglePlatform is an important step in offering them a place to conveniently manage their entire online presence across the web from TripAdvisor,” said Bertrand Jelensperger, senior vice president, TripAdvisor Restaurants. “We look forward to bringing SinglePlatform’s technology and know-how to a truly global audience to help millions of restaurant owners and managers unlock more digital opportunities.”

    “We could not be more excited to join forces with TripAdvisor,” said Josh Glantz, senior vice president and general manager, SinglePlatform. “SinglePlatform’s strength in the United States combined with TripAdvisor’s global reach and advertising platform for restaurants perfectly positions our combined team to offer more solutions for owner-operators and multi-location brands everywhere to reach consumers at the moment they are looking for dining options.”

    The combination of TripAdvisor and SinglePlatform is a logical one, as TripAdvisor is one of the platforms SinglePlatform publishes information to. Meanwhile, TripAdvisor has been working to expand its services and value to the restaurant industry and the new acquisition will help it make significant strides in that direction.

  • Constant Contact Acquires SinglePlatform

    Constant Contact Acquires SinglePlatform

    Constant Contact just announced the acquisition of SinglePlatform, a privately owned company focused on business mobile and web discovery.

    The deal closed yesterday and it cost Constant Contact approximately $65 million in cash, but could also yield SinglePlatform an additional $30 million in bonuses if the entity achieves certain financial goals.

    Here’s what Constant Contact said in their press release:

    SinglePlatform gives small business a single place to update their critical business information and delivers that information across a publishing network that reaches more than 200 million consumers per month. This network includes sites like Foursquare, New York Times, YP, and UrbanSpoon, as well as the business’s social media profiles, website, and mobile site. SinglePlatform lets small businesses quickly distribute rich content so that consumers can find it at the very moment they are looking to make a purchase decision.

    The SinglePlatform offering complements the current Constant Contact suite of online engagement marketing tools by helping small businesses reach and engage their next customer even earlier in the customer lifecycle.

    Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact comments on the acquisition of SinglePlatform:

    “There are hundreds of online and mobile sites that consumers use to find local businesses and make purchase decisions. It’s literally impossible for time-starved small businesses to keep up with all of them,”

    “Almost 50 percent of searches for local businesses happen without a specific business in mind so it’s absolutely critical that small businesses are listed everywhere to ensure they are found when and where consumers are looking. SinglePlatform makes that incredibly simple – update your information once, and it’s delivered to all of the important search engines, apps, directories, and review sites.”

    Wiley Cerilli, CEO of SinglePlatform comments on what their platform provides and the acquisition by Constant Contact:

    “The internet is shifting from a listing directory to a discovery engine,”

    “The first step is making sure your listing is available wherever people are searching. The real magic happens when rich business information – menus, product photos, videos – is delivered at the moment that people are making a purchase decision. SinglePlatform’s Digital Storefront is designed to do just that, getting small businesses in front of more people with the type of information that drives new customers and increased sales.”

    “We’re thrilled to have the talented SinglePlatform team join Constant Contact. SinglePlatform is just as passionate about small business success as we have always been,”

    “I look forward to introducing our half a million small business customers to their offering and sharing the benefits of our suite of engagement marketing tools with SinglePlatform’s rapidly growing user base.”

    All of SinglePlatform’s employees will become part of the Constant Contact team, but the company will still conduct business out of its New York City offices. The company is expected to add over $10 million to Constant Contact’s 2013 revenues.

  • Rumor: Google Has Eye On Local Platform SinglePlatform

    Google has reportedly been in talks with SinglePlatform, a local business content publisher network that provides hotels, restaurants, bars and PR firms with a place to manage their digital presence and gain customers.

    According to Business Insider, Google has been "sniffing around" the company, with possible (AKA: speculative) acquisition considerations. However, BI reports:

    While Google has shown interest, our source says nothing will happen until SinglePlatform is "much larger." It looks like Google wants to see SinglePlatform’s technology field tested.

    SinglePlatform’s lofty goal is to get every small business using their network. It has a few thousand signed up now and has hired sales reps nation-wide to get more.  If it succeeds, it will have a lot of information aggregated about the businesses and endless ways to use it.

    SinglePlatform in Google's sights?

    "97% of consumers now use online media when researching products or services in their local area," says SinglePlatform, explaining its purpose.  "However, only a small percentage of websites have up-to-date information. Local businesses recognize that they need to have a full digital strategy but don’t know where to start." 

    Such a product would certainly fall in line with Google’s newfound emphasis on all things local, so such an acquisition would not be entirely shocking.