Street Fight Daily: NYC Gets Local Discovery, Tiger Takes Stake in Groupon
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.
New York City Replaces 250 Public Pay Phones with iPad-like Screens (GigaOm)
It’s a phone booth like you’ve never seen before. New York City is today launching hundreds of public smart screens to replace existing pay phones. The new platforms can do everything from provide directions to offer coupons to coordinate a disaster.
The World’s Hottest Hedge Fund Manager Thinks Groupon Stock Is A Good Deal (Forbes)
Charles “Chase” Coleman, whose $8 billion Tiger Global hedge fund has been one of the top-performing hedge funds on the planet over the last two years, has taken a big stake in Groupon, the daily deals company whose stock has been the worst-performing major stock in America this year. According to a Securities & Exchange Commission filing, Tiger Global has taken a 9.9% stake in Groupon, buying up 65 million shares by November 9.
Basing Hotel Choice on Web Reviews May Be Bad Move (LA Times)
A study conducted by Market Metrix, a San Francisco Bay Area hotel market research company, found that as much as 40% of reviews could be made up or even paid for by the hotels. The study also argued that young people are overrepresented in online reviews. Only 20% of adults older than 50 submit such reviews, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.
Nokia’s Here Maps Hits the App Store, Now Available on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch (The Next Web)
Nokia’s new Here Maps — a rebrand of its existing mapping service — is now available on the App Store, operating on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and covering over 200 countries. The iOS app includes walking directions, something that Apple does not offer. It also has live traffic, community maps (in selected areas), social sharing, public transportation and offline support, allowing users to select a local region and pre-download the maps for that region in advance.
Promoted Posts Simplify Ads but Not Facebook for SMBs (Screenwerk)
At an event last week at Facebook, Facebook said that Promoted Posts was largely created for the benefit of SMBs, who wanted simpler marketing tools that didn’t require lots of additional thinking and effort. While Promoted Posts make it easier to send promotional messages to audiences there’s a larger issue: most SMBs don’t really know what to do or post on Facebook. They don’t know how often to do what they generally don’t know how to do.
Backed By $1.1 Million In Funding, Mobee Launches A Mobile Mystery Shopping App Which Rewards Customers For Reviewing Businesses (TechCrunch)
Mobee, a new Boston-based “mystery shopper” service, is launching out of private beta this week, backed by $1.1 million in seed funding. The app rewards users for reviewing businesses through a concept of “live missions,” where users are asked to rate anything from wait times to cleanliness to the helpfulness or friendliness of the staff, in exchange for gift cards and other prizes.
Get Street Fight Daily in your inbox! Subscribe to our newsletter.