Street Fight Daily: 05.11.11

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups.

Groupon has just launched Groupon Now, the company’s much-anticipated time-based deals app that wants to redefine how society eats and shops. The simple application within Groupon’s mobile apps gives a user the ability to find local deals in realtime. (Mashable)

Google has announced the opening up and general availability of the Google Places API. The service gives developers access to Google’s database of restaurants, bars, hotels and various other points of interest. (ReadWriteWeb)

Groupon was pressing to file for its expected IPO as soon as this week, even before its bankers had a chance to complexify the situation. CEO Andrew Mason and others at the company were pushing for a filing immediately, but the Chicago start-up has decided to wait a bit — though not long — to get all its investment banking ducks in a row. (AllThingsDigital)

Foursquare has partnered with Starwood Hotels and Resorts to begin offering members of the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) loyalty program additional points, badges and rewards for their checkins at participating hotels. (Mashable)

“Gowalla raised $8 million and it didn’t do shit for them. They still got their ass kicked,” Foursquare investor Fred Wilson said. Gowalla and Foursquare were locked in a heated battle to win the war of check-ins a year ago. Today, Foursquare is the clear leader between the two. (Business Insider)

New location-based service Matchbook keeps a list of where you want to go instead of a catalog of where you’ve been. The list is easily searched, organized and placed on a map. (WSJ)

Alex Rainert, head of product at Foursquare, talks about what’s next for the company and how it managed to beat back rivals. (Business Insider)

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