Street Fight Daily: AT&T Unloads Yellow Pages, New Groupon Suit Targets Execs
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups.
AT&T Sells Majority Stake in Yellow Pages to Cerberus (New York Times)
AT&T said on Monday that it had agreed to sell a majority stake in its yellow pages business to Cerberus Capital Management for about $950 million, giving the private equity firm an opportunity to resuscitate a declining operation. The deal will allow AT&T to shed a business that has been rendered largely obsolete, having lost ground over the years to sites like Google and Yelp.
New Groupon Lawsuit Targets Execs, Seeks Board Seats for Shareholders (PaidContent)
The lawsuits are coming fast and furious against Groupon after the daily deal site admitted to dodgy accounting tactics in a recent SEC filing. The latest complaint is a so-called “derivative suit” in which shareholders seek to stand in Groupon’s shoes and enforce the company’s rights against CEO Andrew Mason and other executives.
Before Local-Mobile Revenues Can Grow, Major Problems Must Be Solved (ScreenWerk)
Greg Sterling: Overall, ads or promotions seeking to influence or generate offline transactions are sure to be a substantial proportion of mobile revenue in the future as they try to mirror general consumer usage of smartphones. However, that day may be farther away than we think because of some of the plumbing, privacy and legal issues that lie hidden beneath the surface of these bullish projections.
Crowdfunding Platform Lucky Ant Expands (BetaBeat)
Lucky Ant, a neighborhood-based crowdfunding platform, has expanded its reach from Manhattan’s Lower East Side, adding Williamsburg to the repertoire of ‘hoods with local business in need of funding. Lucky Ant has only been around for a little over three months, but it works like this: Each week, the creators choose one project from a local business in your neighborhood–something like building an outdoor patio for a local restaurant–and neighborhood residences can chip in to help pay for that project.
Publishers Lost $27 in Print for Every Digital $1 (Reflections of a Newsosaur)
Alan Mutter: The Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism generated gasps when it reported that newspapers are losing $7 in print advertising for every $1 of digital revenue that they gain. But the situation is even worse. In fact, publishers since 2005 have lost $26.7 billion in print advertising revenues while gaining only $1.2 billion in new digital revenue.
After the Hype at SXSW, Highlight Works to Build a Business (Business Insider)
Paul Davison, CEO of Highlight, said in an interview that there were definitely some problems with the app, but it’s because they had to scrape together an app for South by Southwest quickly. He also said that Highlight got some interest from investors, but it isn’t raising money.
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