Street Fight Daily: Apple Maps ‘Life Threatening,’ Starbucks App for All

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.

Apple Redraws Maps After Australian Drivers Led Astray in the Bush (The Guardian)
Apple has updated its new maps system after police in Mildura, Australia, said a number of people trying to find the town of 30,000 people became hopelessly lost in the bush in scorching temperatures. One man was stranded for 24 hours last week in temperatures of up to 46C and at least three more have had to be rescued after following the directions given on Apple’s new maps.

Starbucks Mobile Vets Get $10M for Cardfree Mobile Payments Tool (GigaOm)
Businesses interested in recreating the success of the Starbucks mobile app have a new option in Cardfree, a startup that is launching with $10 million and is led by a team that helped build the Starbucks mobile experience. The company is looking to help businesses build out their mobile strategy by giving them a suite of tools and services so they can do more business via mobile phones, build more loyalty and get more valuable data.

Eight Great Location-based Mobile Campaigns from 2012 (Econsultancy)
Location-based mobile services have been one of the major digital trends this year, as they provide a great opportunity for retailers and brands to create contextual experiences to engage their customers. There are a number of great examples of brands using location-based mobile services this year, but here is a run down of eight of the best campaigns.

How to Save Groupon (Harvard Business Review)
Rafi Mohammed: It’s time for Groupon to come clean on what many merchants have already discovered: its 200 million are mostly frugal people looking for deep discounts, not consumers looking to create long-lasting new relationships. Instead of promoting daily discounts as a vehicle to drum up profitable future business, Groupon should be selling excess goods and excess capacity. The smattering of customers who return and pay full price should be considered “gravy,” not the primary goal of the promotion.

Google: World Cartographers (PC Mag)
Google has apparently devised a genius way of using the public to create a wealth of deeper information and a better photographic database. Its latest stealth effort is Ingress, a location-based augmented reality game in which users seek information about something called “exotic matter,” is just a way for you to roam around your town, further enhancing the Google mapping software.

7 Key Takeaways From BIA/Kelsey’s ILM Conference (Search Engine Land)
As we head into 2013, local businesses have some important trends to consider when developing their marketing plans. The ways in which consumers are both searching and finding local businesses are rapidly changing, and local businesses and marketers are quickly adapting to take advantage of new opportunities to drive business in the door.

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