Fred Mercaldo has long been a key player in the geodomain space. The Scottsdale.com owner (who was profiled in our March 2013 Cover Story) is also the CEO and Co-Founder at City Brand Media (CBM), a media, publishing and management company that represents a network of more than 140 City(dot)com websites across the country. CBM, who is based in Oakland, California, just scored a major coup when they announced the acquisition of Oakland.com for an undisclosed sum.

Oakland.com will serve as the flagship site for 20 Bay Area sites including SantaClara.com, Sunnyvale.com, Sausalito.com, Danville.com, Burlingame.com, and many others. Each of those  hyperlocal community sites will feature city news, editorial features, a business directory, real estate information, restaurant listings and a comprehensive list of upcoming local events. All of the Bay Area sites are expected to go live in January 2016.

Fred Mercaldo
City Brand Media CEO & Co-Founder

Mercaldo said, "We’re thrilled to be amongst the drastically changing Oakland landscape, as major tech companies make the move to the area due to the higher priced and scarce office availability in San Francisco. Not only is City Brand Media’s home office located in the iconic 22-story Oakland Tribune Tower, which serves as a centerpiece of the Oakland skyline, but also our associated companies employ more than 500 local Oakland residents. For this reason, we feel especially grateful to be helping local Bay Area companies promote their businesses online.”

Oakland is emerging as a new hot spot for major tech companies. In September, Uber Technologies announced its plans to open a new global headquarters in downtown Oakland, which will house its 3,000 employees. “

City Brand Media also maintains a second home office in Mercaldo's home town, Scottsdale, Arizona, where the company manages Scottsdale.com, Tempe.com, Chandler.com, FountainHills.com, Mesa.com and ApacheJunction.com.