Street Fight Daily: 11.01.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups.
Urban Airship’s Partnership With SimpleGeo Turns Into An Acquisition (TechCrunch)
SimpleGeo has been acquired by Urban Airship for approximately $3.5 million. In July, the two companies formed a strategic partnership which was intended to provide better ways for developers to offer location-aware push notifications in their applications. It seems that it just made more sense for the companies to move forward as one rather than as two separate entities.
Groupon’s Product Expansion Masks Decline in Core Local Deals Business (Yipit Blog)
Groupon grew 8% in North American from Q2 to Q3 because of the new products it launched, but its core local deals business actually dropped 3%. Gross billings per subscriber for the overall business declined 14% during the quarter, while gross billings per subscriber for the core local deals business declined 22%.
Guardian’s N0tice Could Be Great Replacement for Local Papers (The Next Web)
Martin Bryant: N0tice has real potential to take news reporting, and news gathering, in some interesting new directions. It is essentially an online community noticeboard, upon which news, details of events, and local special offers can be posted for other users. Once it’s determined your location, the app displays local news, offers and events in both list and map views.
Infographic: Daily Deals Beloved by Consumers, Less So by Merchants (Mashable)
While daily deals sites are helping many businesses attract new customers, turning those new arrivals into repeat customers has proved unexpectedly difficult. Furthermore, consumers aren’t spending over the allotted amount of their deals. Businesses are taking a hit as a result.
Google Offers Now Aggregating Local Deals (Search Engine Watch)
Procuring a boots-on-the-ground national sales force was one of the main obstacles Facebook endured in its brief challenge to daily deals leaders Groupon and LivingSocial. While four-month-old Google Offers seems to have gotten off to a nice start, the same sales force questions still linger.
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