Street Fight Daily: Microsoft Releases Tool for SMBs, Google’s Local Services Feature Rebrands

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

Microsoft 365 for SMBs Is Now Available (TechCrunch)
Microsoft 365 lets businesses subscribe to a bundle with Office 365, Windows 10 and the company’s mobile device management tools. The early focus for this program was enterprises, but a few months ago, the company also launched a preview version of Microsoft 365 for small and medium businesses.

Using Mobile Location Data to Target World Series Fans (Street Fight)
Major advertisers paid upwards of $500,000 for each 30-second TV spot during the World Series this year, but using real-time mobile location data, savvy brand marketers could have reached targeted groups of consumers for much less.

Google’s Contractor Marketplace Expands, Rebrands to ‘Local Services’ in Search (MediaPost)
Google on Tuesday announced the rollout of Local Services by Google, previously called Home Services, to 17 cities in the United States. The service will become available in 30 major cities nationwide by the end of the year. 

Location Analytics Tracks Human Movement Before Hurricane Irma (Street Fight)
In the wake of an unusually active Atlantic hurricane season, Placed looked at offline consumer behaviors in the days leading up to Hurricane Irma, which slammed into Florida in September. The results paint a picture of predictability around unpredictable situations.

Loyalty Economics: More than the Value Customers Bring to Brands (AdExchanger)
Anna Saffer: Brands need to flip the traditional loyalty economics paradigm on its head. Customers are in control, so they, not brands, should be the center of the value equation.

Defining the Customer Journey Is Top Barrier to Effective Marketing Attribution (eMarketer)
According to a survey from AdRoll, in association with Econsultancy, more than a third (35%) of marketers worldwide say defining the online customer journey is the greatest barrier to using attribution more effectively, up from the 27% who said so last year.

Uber Launches a Global Creative Review (AdWeek)
The ride-hailing giant is reportedly looking for a single agency to handle its brand campaigns around the world. The review comes several months after the company hired former Beats marketing executive Bozoma Saint John as its chief brand officer.

Why UK Publishers Aren’t Going All-In on Video (Digiday)
While publishers in the U.S. have “pivoted to video” in droves, those in the U.K. haven’t done so to the same degree, due to a smaller market, fewer VC-backed publishers and comparatively less reliance on Facebook.

Hotel Direct-Booking Pushes Have Seen Huge Success (Skift)
Deanna Ting: The bigger question, however, is whether these campaigns will still work in 2017 and beyond; offering discounted rates can only last for so long.

SMBs Averaging 8 Software Programs and Apps: Time for a Dashboard? (Local Onliner)
Peter Krasilovsky: A typical SMB might use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, PayPal, Quikbooks, Concur expenses software, bank accounts, CRM and supply chain software. Even though they would ideally work with one another, most of these operate as silos. How can SMBs effectively manage them?

Alphabet’s Driverless Cars Still Aren’t Driverless (Recode)
In a rare moment for the company, Alphabet showed a completely driverless test to more than two dozen invited reporters, including from Recode, the New York Times, Bloomberg, and Vice News.

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