Street Fight Daily: Square Buys Weebly, Shift to Mobile Fuels Search Spend
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Square Buying Spree Continues With Weebly Acquisition (VentureBeat)
As a popular website builder and web-hosting service, Weebly could serve as a key conduit for Square to not only access Weebly’s existing subscription revenue but also cross-sell Square’s own products—which include card readers, software, and payments services—to small businesses.
Shift to Mobile and Eurozone Growth Fuel Search Spend on Global Scale (Street Fight)
Global search spend increased by 11% YOY, according to digital marketing provider Marin Software’s Q1 2018 Digital Benchmark Report. The study found that the increase in search ad spend has been spurred by higher cost-per-click rates, driven by mobile spending.
Brand Battle: Shell vs Exxon Mobil (Street Fight)
Sponsored Post: To see how two gas giants — ExxonMobil and Shell — stacked up in a competitive marketplace, digital marketing company Brandify used its proprietary software to see which marketing and branding areas stood out as strengths, and which areas fell short.
Google Sharply Limits DoubleClick ID Use, Citing GDPR (AdExchanger)
Google is making it more difficult for advertisers to secure an independent view of the data generated from ad buys in its ecosystem.
Domino’s Mobile Gaming App Increases Brand Exposure Between Sales (Street Fight)
Forget special badges or gold-level status — for those who complete all six levels of its new mobile game, Domino’s is giving out free pizza.
Microsoft Personal Shopping Assistant to Roll Out Advertising Tool for Marketers (MediaPost)
Microsoft Personal Shopping Assistant, which launched for consumers in early 2017, will soon have a tool for marketers. The research and development team is working to build out an advertising option with help from retailers.
Why Retailers Are Trading Points for Experiences When It Comes to Loyalty (AdWeek)
Lisa Lacy: Retailers have an opportunity to distinguish themselves by providing personalized services with early and/or exclusive access to products, which has become a more important part of their loyalty programs as consumer interest wanes in transactional value.
Sprint and T-Mobile Have Agreed to a $26 Billion Merger (Recode)
T-Mobile and Sprint argue that the merger would enable the new entity to effectively build out a nationwide 5G network — a feat the companies claim even AT&T and Verizon could not do alone.
Snapchat’s New Shot at High-Tech Glasses Comes With a More Traditional Marketing Strategy (Digiday)
If you don’t succeed, try again. Snapchat really wants Spectacles to happen, again. But this time, Snap’s retail strategy involves a lot less hype—no fancy vending machines—and a lot more by-the-books tactics.
