I’m in Denver for the  Colorado Automobile Dealers Association‘s  first-ever Innovative Dealer Summit. A day-long event that starts with 7:30am breakfast, I’ll be covering it here and for CIR, but I’ll also be tweeting about # ISD10 as ClassifiedTiger.

There are many simultaneous sessions and a few  keynotes but I’ll primarily be in the sales and marketing or social media sessions, as that’s what our media-industry clients need to hear about.  First up is Jared Hamilton of Driving Sales ,talking about Aggressive Search and Social Strategies for Proven ROI.

AutoTrader.com’s CEO Chip Perry speaks at the noon luncheon sponsored by his firm. His topic: Automotive Advertising: Embracing the Internet as an Influencing Medium.

Representing the non-profit  Television Bureau of Advertising, Scott Roskowski will discuss Automotive Marketing and Media today.

AskPatty.com’s Jody DeVere talks about Marketing to Women on a Zero Budget. That’s at 2pm.

There’s lots more – a jam-packed day and early evening, for sure. More later.

Target Media Partners just announced the relaunch of its Recycler.com, and the site’s expansion U.S.-wide. Recycler.com is the online companion to a 37-year-old print free classified publication. The new national site offers advanced search features, keyword highlights, seller profiles and live user support.

“Our local free-ad model was so successful, we felt it was time to take it national, and to give buyers and sellers across the nation a better alternative to what is currently being offered in the online classified marketplace,” said Pam Johnston, Recycler.com’s COO, in the announcement. “We’ve retained Recycler.com’s local content and feel, while providing users greater flexibility with expanded search options and state-of-the-art technology.” Read the rest of this entry »

In Boston, the market where the “Craigslist killer” found his victim, there’s a new call for Craigslist to drop its ads for prostitution. In an editorial today, the Boston Globe, owned by The New York Times Co., said, “Craigslist should shut down its sleazy online sex shop and instead turn back to the legitimate forms of exchange that made it an Internet juggernaut in the first place.” Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re using the TownNews.com Blox CMS and Ad Manager platform for your site’s news and advertising content, later this week you’ll be able to exclusively study the traffic your mobile platform and apps are bringing in. For those who want to enable mobile advertising, this could be quite handy.   Mobile traffic reports, via the just-announced upgrade, can be delivered separately.

If you’d like to hear more about these changes, here’s the official announcement.

Here’s an interesting description of Craig Newmark, or “the Craig behind Craigslist” as he’s often referred to:

“I’m a hard-wired nerd with symptoms I’m told border on Asperger’s Syndrome. That means I’m too trusting, often socially inept, have difficulty shifting focus, and frequently am unsure what to do in situations others handle easily. And I don’t have a normal person’s ability to sense when someone might be looking to take advantage of these shortcomings.” Read the rest of this entry »

Schibsted ASA’s Q2 2010 report shows operating revenues of NOK 3.52 billion ($563.5 million U.S.) underlying a growth of 6 percent compared to the same period in 2009. Advertising revenues contributed with a growth of 15 percent. The operating profit (EBITA) in Q2 was NOK 509 million ($81.4 million). This is the best quarterly result ever for Schibsted. Read the rest of this entry »

Spir Communication, owner of leading French classifieds sites including Caradisiac, TopAnnonces.fr and Logic-Immo.com has announced a new venture: an online insurance brokerage looking to sell insurance to the visitors of its listings sites.

The venture is to be run in partnership with existing insurance brokers and the new company, due to launch next year, will be headed up by Arnaud Giraudon, currently president of the board of insurance company Suravenir.