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

Google Launches a Leaderboard for Check-Ins, But Foursquare Has Been Here Before (BetaBeat)
Google snuck in a bit of a bomb for Foursquare with the latest update to its Google Maps app for Android. Without so much as a blog post or promotional tweet, users started noticing that version 6.3 would now offer an incentive to check-in to Latitude; points.

A Customer Loyalty Program (From Some of the Folks Who Brought You Groupon) (New York Times)
Belly’s customer loyalty plans are intended to match the culture of individual businesses, creating experiences to build a relationship between merchant and consumer. What works at a comics store, for example, would not necessarily work at a spa. When customers sign up with Belly, they gain access to all the loyalty plans on the company’s digital network, cutting down on the need to carry wallet-clogging buy-10-get-one-free punch cards.

Supporting Profitable News (BuzzMachine)
Jeff Jarvis: It’s not just not-for-profit thinking that’s dangerous to journalism. It’s the unprofitable thinking of for-profit news companies. That is why, again, I insist on holding students and the industry they’ll lead to the more diligent standard of true sustainability. That means profitability. There’s nothing wrong with that.

The New Haven Independent Reboots Its Comments Engine (Nieman Lab)
Yesterday, the local news site in Connecticut announced that user comments were back — with some new rules to keep the conversation civil. Two journalists will be screening comments: Joshua Mamis, a former editor and publisher of the alt-weekly New Haven Advocate, and Gwyneth Shaw, a former Washington reporter for the Baltimore Sun and Orlando Sentinel who now covers nanotechnology for the Independent.

9 Hot Tips for Small Business Marketing on Facebook (Mashable)
Whether your brand is fully established or just starting out, launching a marketing campaign can seem overwhelming. But, it doesn’t have to be a timely or expensive process. There are several small and simple things you can do for your brand on Facebook. In fact, some of these marketing tactics are used by the biggest brands in the world.

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