Street Fight Daily: 05.05.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups.
Those who use social location-based apps such as Foursquare or Facebook Places represent just 17% of the mobile population, according to a new study. Of those opting out of participating in the checkin craze, or any other social location behavior for that matter, 48% cited privacy concerns as their primary reason for not doing so. (Mashable)
During AOL’s earnings call, one of the top questions from analysts was what is AOL’s plan with Patch? The company dumped $40 million into the hyperlocal network for the second quarter in a row, and it didn’t generate much revenue. Here’s Tim Armstrong’s explanation. (Business Insider)
IAC-owned local media and advertising property CityGrid Media is acquiring social media monitoring and sentiment analysis platform BuzzLabs. The company allows publishers to leverage social content, keeps consumers better informed, and helps local businesses monitor their presence across the web. (TechCrunch)
“Today we launch a great new chapter for Patch.com,” wrote Arianna Huffington yesterday, in an introduction to the sites’ new blog platform. “It’s a vision that will utilize every possible resource to ensure accurate, relevant, and comprehensive coverage of your town.” (Patch)
Hyperlocal news sites “are a necessary evil,” says Media Matters’ Joe Strupp. “The internet gives anyone a chance to have a site and that’s both good and bad. The good is local info. The bad is that sometimes you get people without experience, no tools to properly cover [things] and no editor to guide them.” (Baristanet)
Groupon and Foursquare are at the digital crossroads of retail and local marketing. At the ARF conference recently, the companies discussed how they plan to help retailers grow volume and margin, how they obtain insights using their data and what the implications of “local” mean in a mass marketing driven economy. (ScribeMedia)
“8coupons, the largest source of local deals and daily deals, has finally launched its iPhone app, equipped with every deal imaginable – 552,061 to be exact,” says a company rep. (Daily Deal Media)
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