Street Fight Daily: Apple Opens Listings, Yelp Adds Hotel Bookings

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

 Apple MapsApple Launches “Maps Connect,” Self-Service Local Listings Portal (Search Engine Land)
Apple has launched a new self-service portal to add or edit local business listings: Apple Maps Connect. It’s intended for small business owners or their authorized representatives (though not agencies) to be able to quickly and easily add content directly into Apple Maps.

With Carrier Data, Vistar Media Finds Foothold in Mobile Ad Fray (Street Fight)
Vistar, a digital out-of-home startup, wants to use carrier data to map consumer behavior in the real world. Through a partnership with AirSage, Vistar has developed a system which it says can allow marketers to analyze where nearly 110 million of consumers live, work and shop in an anonymized and privacy-sensitive way.

Yelp Leaps Into Hotel Bookings With New Hipmunk Partnership (Skift)
With the Priceline Group and TripAdvisor entering the restaurant booking space, Yelp is getting more aggressive in the hotel sector through a new partnership with Hipmunk. Hipmunk became the only hotel provider on the Yelp platform, enabling Yelp users to book hotel stays on Yelp without leaving the website or Yelp apps.

Wooing Restuarants, Retail Software Startup LightSpeed Buys Belgian Competitor (Street Fight)
Point-of-sale startup Lightspeed said Wednesday it has purchased a belgian competitor, POSIOS, to help the firm enter the food service vertical and expand internationally. The deal underscores the potential for consolidation within a small business software segment that has seen an intense influx of capital and redrawing of product lines.

Uber Drivers Across The Country Are Protesting Today — Here’s Why (Business Insider)
Several times this year, drivers have organized and protested the company’s practices, in cities like New York, Santa Monica and San Francisco. The next step for the drivers is a multi-city protest, which will take place in front of Uber’s various offices, in cities across the countru even across the pond in London.

Life360 Acquires Two-Month-Old HelloWorl (TechCrunch)
Location-sharing startup HelloWorld is announcing that it has been acquired by Life360 for an undisclosed seven-figure sum. That’s a pretty fantastic exit, given the fact that the startup was born out of a Y Combinator hackathon in August and built by 5 recent- and soon-to-be-grads.

Here It Comes: Nokia’s Excellent Mapping Software Arrives On Android (GigaOm)
Slowly but surely, Nokia’s HERE Maps has worked its way to Android phones. It was a Samsung Galaxy exclusive but is now available for any phone running Android 4.1 and up. You won’t find it in the Google Play Store though.

My Day Interviewing For The Service Economy Startup From Hell (Billfold)
Amanda Tomas: A new start-up company called Handybook called me quickly after I hit submit on their online application. The interview was a harrowing tale of casual racism, misogyny and how the sausage gets made in the Instant Gratification Economy.

It’s Time to Wire Your Business for Indoor Location-Based Search (Entrepreneur)
Brett Relander: Indoor location-based search is here to stay, with the level of integration between hand-held devices and search technology steadily increasing. Smartphones will get smarter and better at alerting users to valuable information upon entering a business.

Flint Scores $9.4 Million To Help More Small Business Stay Brick-and-mortarless (VentureBeat)
Flint Mobile announced it has landed a $9.4 million round to help businesses keep their equipment inventory low. The company offers an iOS or Android app that can accept credit cards without a card reader. Credit card numbers are scanned, and additional card verification info is entered manually.

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