Street Fight Daily: Instagram Creeps Into Payments, Reviews Shape Local Offline Purchases

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

Instagram Quietly Launches Payments for Commerce (TechCrunch)
Instagram just stealthily added a native payments feature to its app for some users. Not having to leave for a separate website and enter payment information any time you want to purchase something could make Instagram a much bigger player in commerce.

Survey: 72% of Shoppers Use Online Reviews to Judge Local Businesses (Street Fight)
A survey by Netsertive found that 72% percent of consumers use online reviews to evaluate local businesses and eight-in-10 always research big items online before making their purchases in-store.

Augmented Reality Heading to 3 Billion Devices, $85 Billion in Revenue (MediaPost)
Virtual reality is on track to become a base of about 50 million units with $10 billion in revenue by 2022. However, augmented reality is looking at an installed base of more than 3 billion units worth $85 billion.

Raise Report: BigCommerce, Poq, SoundHound Secure New Funding (Street Fight)
Every two or three weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes funding for Uberflip, Cera, Pusher, and Rocketrip.

Yelp’s Chad Richard on the ‘Decentralization’ of Reservations (Local Onliner)
Yelp SVP of Business and Corporate Development Chad Richard, speaking at LSA18 this week in Chicago, said a “decentralization of reservations” plays a key role in the new marketing value chain, next to discovery and following up with ordering, retention, and loyalty. It is all part of “an immersive experience” with many entry points.

YouTube Shrugs Off Brand Safety Worries, Touts ‘Advertising-Friendly’ Content (Digiday)
With its brand safety crisis persisting, YouTube used its Brandcast this year to expand Google Preferred, the network for advertising against top-performing videos, to cable TV shows, music videos and live events.

Amazon Opens Alexa In-Skill Purchasing to All Developers for U.S. Customers (VentureBeat)
Amazon says that Alexa skills will continue to be free for customers, enabling them to assess each skill’s quality and features before making a purchase. But ISPs will enable developers to offer one-time purchases of features or content, as well as subscriptions that grant access to features or content over time. 

Apple’s Quiet Boost from Google May Slow (WSJ)
Tim Cook should consider penning a thank-you note to Google, though it would pain him to do so. The licensing fees that Google-parent Alphabet Inc. pays to Apple Inc. to direct traffic to its search business are kept under tight wraps by both companies.

LBMA Podcast: RetailLoco, Adsquare, PlaceIQ, Bluedot (Street Fight)
On this week’s podcast from the Location-Based Marketing Association: A RetailLoco Recap, Adsquare’s Footfall, PlaceIQ + IRI, Bluedot raises $5.5M from TransUrban, Waze + Carto, Amex ends Plenti, DAC Group launches ConvergenSEE.

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Joe Zappa is the Managing Editor of Street Fight. He has spearheaded the newsroom's editorial operations since 2018. Joe is an ad/martech veteran who has covered the space since 2015. You can contact him at [email protected]