Street Fight Daily: Target Partners with Techstars, Yahoo Exec Leaves for Square

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

Target Teams Up with Techstars to Create a Retail-Focused Startup Accelerator (TechCrunch)
Target is launching its own retail-focused startup accelerator in a partnership with Techstars. Ten companies will be selected to work out of the Target headquarters in Minneapolis, where they’ll be mentored by Target executives and other local entrepreneurs and business leaders.

Top Yahoo Exec Jackie Reses Heads to Square as Senior Exec (Recode)
Reses, who most recently served as Yahoo’s chief development officer, is an interesting hire for Square. She could be a candidate for heading Square Capital, which provides cash advances to small businesses. The move shines a harsh light on the continuing exodus of executives from Yahoo under CEO Marissa Mayer as her efforts to turn around the Silicon Valley icon have sputtered.

Can Facebook Win Local? (Street Fight)
Michael Boland: Facebook is known universally for its social networking features, but the company has quietly and consistently been rolling out a set of tools to make it the go-to platform for SMBs. From social buy buttons, call functionality, and Pages to messaging and free beacons, Facebook is staking its claim to online, offline, and online-to-offline marketing and commerce for SMBs.

Publishers Straddle the Apple-Google, App-Web Divide (New York Times)
The Internet was supposed to be a place where billions of potential users could be reached in one place, simply and inexpensively. But as Apple focuses on apps and Google pushes the mobile web, businesses are grappling with a fragmenting online world.

How Gannett’s Cost-Cutting and Breakthrough Video Ads Helped Land Journal Media Group (Street Fight)
Tom Grubisich: In less than six months, the newly constituted Journal Media Group did a 180-degree about-face, shifting from a strategy focused on acquisitions to being acquired by Gannett. The USA Today publisher brought two things JMG couldn’t match: the ability to consistently wring substantial cost savings out of expansion, and a digital ad strategy that promises to make advertisers, audiences, and stockholders happy.

Restaurant Search App Zomato Lays Off 300, 10% of Staff, in Shift Away from Live Data Collection (TechCrunch)
Some belt-tightening is underway at Zomato, the $1 billion+ restaurant discovery portal active in 22 countries. Zomato is laying off around 300 staffers as it looks to cut costs in weaker parts of its business and shift more focus into revenue-generating areas like reservations.

Pinterest, Last Valued at $11 Billion, Is Expected to Do About $169 Million in Sales This Year (Business Insider)
Pinterest’s financials have leaked, and its relatively low revenue figures were somewhat expected. The company only recently started to offer advertising on the site, and it’s proving to have strong influence over online shopping behavior, which is a good sign for advertisers to continue to spend money on its platform.

Angie’s List Activist Investor Pushes HomeAdvisor Merger (Indianapolis Business Journal)
The New York-based investor that’s been boosting its stake in Angie’s List in recent months, TCS Capital Management, said in a regulatory filing that it wants the company to explore a merger with HomeAdvisor.

Amazon Targets Web Freelancers Peddling Fake Customer Reviews (Bloomberg)
Amazon has filed a lawsuit against more than 1,000 unidentified people selling fake reviews on its Web store, attempting to stamp out efforts by merchants and manufacturers seeking to boost the appeal of their products.

The Next Big Competitors for Android Pay and Samsung Pay: Banks (Recode)
Capital One has become the first U.S. bank to release tap-to-pay functionality in its Android app, giving in-store shoppers a way to pay with their phones that’s powered by a financial institution they trust. Industry insiders believe other U.S. banks will follow suit, using a technology newly built into Android’s operating system that allows apps to access payment information stored in the cloud.

Google Overhauls Waze with First Major Update Since Acquisition (VentureBeat)
Waze has released a new iOS update for its traffic and navigation service that seems to further integrate the app into the Google core. Drivers will see a look that’s geared toward helping users better navigate, report accidents and road issues, and share tips.

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