Street Fight Daily: 06.27.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups.
LivingSocial seems to be following Groupon’s lead in acquiring local daily deal sites to serve as a foundation for discount distribution on a global scale. The company has moved to purchase DealKeren (operational in Indonesia), its parent company Ensogo (which offers daily deals in Thailand and the Philippines) as well as GoNabit (which operates in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Lebanon, Jordan and Kuwait). (TechCrunch)
Could Offers become a massive new revenue stream for Google — the “second huge growth engine” that Google has long searched for in vain? SAI spoke to reps of merchants who have signed on to offer Google Offers in New York, as well as Google’s Eric Rosenblum, the lead engineer on Offers, and Google spokesperson Nate Tyler. (Silicon Alley Insider)
At least one Google Offers salesperson in New York is promising merchants that signing up Offers will provide “SEO benefits.” (Silicon Alley Insider)
Wiki Offline highlights nearby points of interest nearby with quick links to their Wikipedia articles. The app has articles for locations no matter where you are, you needn’t be in the heart of a city or a tourist hotspot to learn from the app. (The Next Web)
One of the very many disgruntled Patch employees SAI has been talking to over the past few weeks has leaked internal traffic reports for the 70 or sites in Patch’s Southern California region. They give a crystal clear look at how much traffic AOL is getting for all the money it’s spending. (Silicon Alley Insider)
“When done right, the daily deal can actually be very lucrative for everyone involved: Merchants, customers and the daily deal sites themselves.” writes Arash Pirzad-Allaei, co-founder of KASA Capital, in response to recent criticism of Groupon and the other daily deals services. (TechCrunch)
A survey by ForeSee of more than 22,000 shoppers who frequent the web sites of the top online merchants found that nearly two-thirds of respondents subscribed to offers from at least one daily deal operator. (Daily Deal Media)
The shift to Internet-based coupons is yet another blow to newspapers. For consumers, though, especially those toting smartphones, redeeming coupons has gotten much easier. (Mashable)
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