Street Fight Daily: 06.15.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups.
According to a Rice University study, most businesses don’t feel any loyalty toward a particular daily deal site, and over the next few years daily deal sites will likely “have to settle for lower shares of revenues from businesses compared to their current levels, and it will be harder and more expensive for them to find viable candidates to fill their pipelines of daily deals.” (PaidContent)
Groupon Inc. Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis’ venture firm is an investor in rival LivingSocial and has ties to its board, a relationship that could pose a conflict, according to corporate-governance experts. (Bloomberg)
AOL and American Express are teaming up to offer daily deals at local merchants, the latest example of how the daily-deal business that Groupon pioneered is attracting competitors big and small. But as big as these latest rivals are, they don’t appear to be an immediate threat to the company as it readies its initial public offering. (Chicago Business)
In less than a month after its nationwide launch on May 14th, peer to peer marketplace Zaarly has crossed $1 million in posted transactions, and commemorated them with a colorful infographic depicting the break down of the early days of Zaarly. (TechCrunch)
“There is an opportunity in the deals space for someone who does it right,” writes Rocky Agarwal. “You just have to pay really close attention to incentives and details to find the opportunities. Yield management and location-based targeting are just some of the open spaces. And this can be done without fleecing small businesses.” (TechCrunch)
BiteHunter wants to be a “Kayak for restaurants.” Since March, the website has enabled users to search through daily deals from partner sites and discounts at restaurants. On Thursday, it launched an iPhone app that does the same thing based on a user’s current location. (Mashable)
Descuento Libre wants to be the Groupon for the Latino market, but its efforts also show how culturally specific such deal sites can be. While Groupon’s average deal price has grown to over $45 thanks to higher end deals, DL plans on selling deals in the U.S. between the $15 and $32.50 price point, depending on the market. (Giga Om)
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