Street Fight Daily: Facebook Recommends Local Businesses, Google Maps Supercharges Location Sharing

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

Facebook Tests an Enhanced Local Search and Discovery Feature Offering Business Suggestions (TechCrunch)
Facebook is testing an enhanced local search feature that could see the social network creeping in on Google Maps, Foursquare and Yelp territory. Facebook users are now able to surface recommendations of nearby places — like “dinner nearby” or “bars nearby,” for example.

Google Maps Supercharges Location Sharing, Begins Drooling Over Your Data (Wired)
Today, Google Maps rolls out real-time sharing location, so you can share your whereabouts with any of your contacts, for anywhere from 15 minutes to three whole days. It’s a convenient feature that not so coincidentally makes it way more likely you’ll spend a lot more time within Google’s map ecosystem.

How Local News Publishers Can Make Revenue and Engagement a Single, Successful Strategy (Street Fight)
Tom Grubisich: Too often, local news publishers are given an either-or — either focus on growing revenue or on making deeper connections with users. Relay Media’s head of product Barb Palser believes publishers can do both at the same time. 

AT&T, Verizon Pull Ads from Google Over ‘Hate’ Videos (WSJ)
AT&T and Verizon on Wednesday joined a growing number of companies pulling much of their advertising from Google, expanding a controversy over the internet giant’s ad placements on objectionable content and deepening the financial impact on the company even after it announced measures to assuage concerns.

Voice Bots Have One Big Problem: Human Behavior (Street Fight)
Rick Robinson: We’re surely moving in the direction of voice input to bots, but unless microphones advance — allowing you to request things with a near-silent whisper (or perhaps with thoughts) — people will continue to let their fingers do the talking.

Microsoft to License Its Patents for Internet-Connected Cars to Toyota (VentureBeat)
Microsoft has agreed to license its patents for Internet-connected cars to Toyota, its first such deal with an automaker and a signal that it may be willing to partner with others.

Banks and Tech Firms Battle Over Gold: Your Data (NYT)
The big banks and Silicon Valley are waging an escalating battle over your personal financial data, including the amount you spent on dinner last week and how much you are paying for your mortgage.

Millenials Skip Online Video Ads, Consider Mobile Ads Irrelevant (MediaPost)
The latest Deloitte Digital Democracy Survey says 80% of young TV consumers will skip digital TV/video commercials — and over 70% of millennials and younger Gen-Z viewers find mobile ads “irrelevant.”

Amazon’s Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores Could Change the Industry for Good (Business Insider)
Daniel McMahon: In case you missed it, Amazon.com, the world’s largest online bookseller, has been opening brick-and-mortar stores over the past few years, with the newest opening this week in Chicago’s upscale Lakeview neighborhood.

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