Street Fight Daily: Microsoft Eyes Foursquare Investment, Nokia Unveils Connected Car
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology
Microsoft Vying With American Express for Stake in Foursquare (Bloomberg)
Microsoft and American Express are vying to take an equity stake in Foursquare Labs Inc., according to people with knowledge of the discussions. The two companies are competing to invest in Foursquare rather than cooperating on a joint bid, said one of the people, but the check-in service is also talking with other companies about a possible investment, and the talks may not lead to a deal.
How Local Sites Can Win the War on Fake Reviews (Street Fight)
Ali Alami: This week Edmunds, the auto and car dealer review site, announced that it had settled a lawsuit it had filed against Humankind, a firm accused of submitting fake reviews for a fee to about a dozen review sites on behalf of businesses. Humankind was accused of creating fake user accounts and attempting to submit glowing reviews of their clients’ car dealerships. Here are some methods for to your site or app that will catch a high percentage of fake reviews
Nokia Unveils Its Connected Car Platform: Here Auto (GigaOm)
After years of being the auto industry’s mapmaker, Nokia on Friday announced its intention to become a much bigger technological force in the vehicle. Nokia took the wraps off of Here Auto, an embedded infotainment and connected car system, which it hopes to sell to the world’s car manufacturers.
Movers & Shakers: Openings and New Hires at Topix, Angie’s List, Drawbridge, PlaceIQ and More (Street Fight)
Every two weeks, Search Influence’s Kelly Benish — who knows practically everyone in hyperlocal — covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. In this week’s edition, new hires at Topix and Local Corp., plus jobs at BuzzTown, Yahoo, Yext, WorldNow, and more.
Apple Sued Over ‘Find my iPhone’ In New Patent Campaign Against Location Apps (PaidContent)
A shell company in Texas is invoking a 1996 patent to claim a monopoly over remote location services like Apple’s “Find my Friends” and Google’s defunct “Latitude,” filing lawsuits against the two tech companies and against major phone carries like Verizon. The lawsuits, which also refer to Apple’s “Find my iPhone” service, could spell trouble not just for the corporate giants but for the many small players in the burgeoning industry for location-based smartphone apps.
With $2.5M in the Bank, Trover Eyes ‘Phase Two’ of Its Photo-Sharing Community (Street Fight)
With 130,000 monthly users, Trover’s numbers aren’t enormous, but the community is engaged and growing. And for now that’s just fine for CEO Jason Karas. He spoke with Street Fight recently about the company’s recent fundraise, how to eventually monetize the power of passion, and the strengths of a tiny team.
Mobile Coupons & the Waning Impact of Printed Circulars (MediaPost)
In a study being released later in the fall, Catalina points out that while grocery stores spend as much as 70% of their ad budgets on circulars according to Nielsen figures, they aren’t being overly effective these days. After analyzing 6 million transactions in 260 stores, the digital media firm found that more than 66% of transactions during the Memorial Day shopping period contained virtually no items that were promoted in the holiday circular. Zero. None. Nada.
Why Ecommerce Hotshot Warby Parker Needs Old School Retail (PandoDaily)
Certainly no one thought any of these bright shiny Internet companies would find themselves leasing storefronts, hiring interior designers instead of web designers, and ordering inventory instead of drop-shipping it. Lo and behold, Bonobos has opened eight showrooms. Baublebar and Etsy have perennial pop-up shops. And Warby Parker now has 16 different stores around the country which offer on-site eye exams and sell eyewear.
Deliv Partners With Mall Operator GGP To Enable Same-Day Deliveries From Its Stores (TechCrunch)
Peer-to-peer delivery startup Deliv wants to provide a new way for major retailers to offer up same-day delivery to their customers. And it just partnered with one of the biggest mall operators in the country, General Growth Properties, to begin making that vision a reality.
LBMA Podcast, Google Patents Your Gaze, QR Code’s Plight (Street Fight)
On the show: GoDaddy acquires Locu; Coors Light’s Refresh the Night campaign; Placeable emerges from LocationInsight to normalize location data for enterprises; Coca Cola uses location to help charities with Movement for a Movement campaign; Apple acquires Embark; Google chokes on Yahoo!’s dust; Chuck Martin looks at the plight of the QR code.