Street Fight Daily: Google Eyes Waze, Postmates Looks to NYC
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.
Google Said to Consider Buying Waze (Bloomberg)
Google is considering buying map-software provider Waze, setting up a possible bidding war with Facebook, people familiar with the matter said. Waze is fielding expressions of interest from multiple parties and is seeking more than $1 billion, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The startup might also remain independent, instead seeking to raise a round of venture capital financing.
On-Demand Delivery Startup Postmates Preparing for NYC Launch (TechCrunch)
Postmates is looking to expand its business and make mobile, on-demand deliveries a widespread thing throughout cities around the country. The company has been operating in San Francisco for a while, and launched in Seattle about three months ago. But where will it land next? All signs point to New York City.
INFOGRAPHIC: How Location Data Is Being Collected And Transforming The Mobile Industry (Business Insider)
With over 770 million GPS-enabled smartphones, location data has begun to permeate the entire mobile space. The possibilities for location-based services on mobile go beyond consumer-facing apps like FourSquare and Shopkick. It’s powering advertisements, and many other services — from weather to travel apps.
The Newsonomics of Value Exchange and Google Surveys (Nieman Lab)
Ken Doctor: Static, smaller-display advertising is increasingly out of favor, with both prices and clickthrough rates moving deeper into the bargain basement. But marketers want to market, readers want to read, and viewers want to watch, so new methods that combine the marketing of brands and offers and the go-button on media consumption are au courant.
LoyalBlocks Lands $9 Million Led By General Catalyst To Scale Out Its Mobile-Based Loyalty Program (TechCrunch)
LoyalBlocks, a startup that makes a mobile-focused technology platform for brick-and-mortar businesses looking to encourage customer loyalty, has raised $9 million in new funding.This brings the total investment into LoyalBlocks to $12.2 million.
Foursquare Partners With Gnip to Sell Its Worldwide Real-time Check-in Data (The Next Web)
Foursquare and Gnip on Thursday together announced a partnership that will see the former’s check-in data distributed to the latter’s clients. Foursquare is giving Gnip a real-time feed of the places where its users are checking in, which will naturally be anonymized for privacy purposes.
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