Salespeople from hyperlocal publications are increasingly turning to turnkey ad platforms in an effort to simplify the process of selling and creating display ads for small business owners. Here are five platforms that publishers are using to streamline the sales process when working with small business advertisers.

The newish social mapping project debuted by MapQuest last October has been trying to create a neighborhood-centric "discovery" engine. The service launched in 50,000 neighborhoods across the U.S. and uses social media information about an area to generate a score for these neighborhoods.

It's become increasingly difficult for daily deal publishers to cut through the clutter and get their offers noticed. In an effort to boost the open and purchase rates on their marketing messages, a number of deal providers have turned to technology companies offering email optimization platforms for help. Here are six email optimization platforms deal companies can use to improve response rates...

"Facebook will not be all things to all people, and I think local is so hard to pull off really well that just a huge reach alone won't solve the problem. They'll get beat by more focused local players," said Scoutmob co-founder Michael Tavani...

Card-connected platforms help merchants promote customer loyalty without introducing any extra steps or hurdles to the traditional payment process. Customers swipe their cards just as they normally would, and the rewards or discounts they earn are automatically reflected on their next credit card or bank statements. Here are six card-connected programs that merchants can use to promote loyalty and customer engagement...

Fifty-four percent of smartphone users now use their phones to "pre-shop" before arriving at stores, and 51% of consumers are more likely to make purchases from retailers with mobile sites. Despite this, only 4.8% of retailers in the U.S. currently have mobile websites. In response, a number of hyperlocal companies have stepped up with platforms that SMBs can use to easily create mobile-optimized sites. Here are seven of them...

AOL's much-discussed hyperlocal network Patch is in the midst of changes at the top of its masthead. Editor-in-Chief Brian Farnham, who had been with the company for four years, announced during a conference call this week that he would be leaving. Here's a look at some of the coverage of Farnham's departure.

One of the simplest solutions for merchants just beginning to dip their toes into mobile marketing is text-based mobile coupons. Coupons that are sent via SMS are eight times more likely to be redeemed than coupons sent through email, and 90% of these messages are opened up within just three minutes of receipt. Here are six tools that local merchants can use to drive sales with targeted coupons sent to their customers' mobile phones...

Groupon took flak this week after the daily deals giant restated its fourth quarter earnings and cited inadequate resources allocated for refunds. In the wake of the restatement, the recently public company’s stock price plummeted, the SEC initiated a probe into its business practices, and it was hit with a stockholder's lawsuit. Here's a look back at some of the coverage of Groupon's troubling week...

National brands that add local context to their mobile campaigns can expect to see click-through rates that are 4% to 7% higher than typical mobile display ads, while adding something as simple as a local phone number to an ad can increase response rates by 40%. We asked two top marketers for their advice to brands thinking of going local...