Street Fight Daily: Apple Talks with Foursquare, Facebook Guns for Yelp
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.
Apple in Talks With Foursquare About Data-Sharing Deal (The Wall Street Journal)
Apple is in early discussions to integrate local data from Foursquare into its mapping application, according to people familiar with the talks, as the company continues to build an arsenal of local data to try to take on Google Inc. The talks, which took place in recent weeks and involve Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue, are the latest sign of Apple’s plans to more tightly integrate local services into the iPhone and iPad.
Native Advertising Could Spell Trouble for Foursquare With Brands (Street Fight)
Given that Foursquare’s user base isn’t going to get as big as Facebook’s or Twitter’s (which is not necessarily a bad thing) and considering the pressure to justify its valuation, putting too much faith in a native ad model could potentially spell trouble for the company.
Facebook Pushes Into Crowded Territory — Again — With Local Discovery Update (AllThingsD)
Facebook is pushing hard into local discovery territory with Nearby, an updated feature inside its mobile app that offers suggestions on businesses and places of interest you may want to check out. Nearby functions best by taking cues mined straight from your Facebook account — stuff you “Like,” stuff your friends have “Liked,” places you’ve checked in to, etc.
Mobile Digital Mood Ring? Gravy Targets Hyperlocal Events — All of Them (Street Fight)
Rick Robinson: I recently caught up with Jeff White, the serial entrepreneur behind timeRAZOR’s app. Among other things, Gravy asks users what kinds of events and experiences they are in the mood for — rather than presenting them with a menu of options.
Swipely Hits Its Stride Combining Payments, Analytics and Loyalty (GigaOm)
Swipely, a startup launched by former Tellme co-founder Angus Davis, has been through a couple of business models but it is now finding a sweet spot with its combination of card processing, data analytics and marketing and loyalty. In the six months since Swipely moved to this model of combining payments, analytics and marketing, it has processed $250 million in payment volume.
Placecast, SocialVibe Partner to Combine Geolocation and Virtual Currency (Street Fight)
Think Farmville meets Shopkick.That’s how representatives of digital ad provider SocialVibe and location-based mobile marketer Placecast are explaining a recent partnership to deliver virtual currency, accumulated via online browsing and gaming, to consumers looking for geotargeted retail discounts.
Towards Fewer Apps: How Google Maps Threatens Yelp, Waze, and Foursquare (Pandodaily)
With the upgrades to Maps, Google has elevated its Maps service from useful tool to a stonking juggernaut that forces us to re-do the math on what passes for a discovery and navigation utility in today’s app environment. It’s so good that it threatens the existence of at least three beloved companies that many have taken for granted as being intrinsic to our understanding of the mobile experience: Yelp, Waze, and Foursquare.
GoLocal24’s Josh Fenton on Growing and Monetizing Local News Sites (Ebyline)
Josh Fenton: There’s been a major progression in the last 24 months in the sophistication of advertisers. Advertisers now see that their target is digital and [consumers are] getting the vast majority of their news and information via smartphone, and iPad [or] laptop; and that’s where they need to get their message out.
Josh Williams On Why Facebook Acqhired His Startup Gowalla To Put A “Nearby” Lens On 250M Geo-Posts Per Month (TechCrunch)
“A location service only gets interesting when you get to a certain scale,” and Foursquare isn’t there yet, says Josh Williams. “Now we’re seeing 250 million of our users tagging locations on a monthly basis — a bit over 800 location tags per second.”
Vermont Alt Weekly Cashes in on Listings (NetNewsCheck)
Burlington, Vt., alt weekly Seven Days is making a mobile play to tap into the state’s considerable tourist trade with its recently launched BurlApp. The directory app offers listings for restaurants, retail, lodgings, local services, attractions and more.
Get Street Fight Daily in your inbox! Subscribe to our newsletter.