Street Fight Daily: 12.21.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups.
Hyperlocal Industry Set for Hyper-speed Changes, More Experiments (UNY Startups)
Sean Branagan: The hyperlocal publishing industry is set for hyper-speed change in the coming months and years — a compressed version of 200+ years of journalism. Taking on this opportunity are all varieties of entrepreneurs: from small one-person operations to large, publicly traded mega-media companies, and everything in between.
2012 Will See Local TV Stations Expand Digital Footprint (Nieman Lab)
Carrie Brown Smith: As some metropolitan daily newspapers continue to slash their already drastically-reduced staffs, they no longer have quite as commanding of an edge in reporting muscle over their broadcast counterparts. In addition to the election-year advertising boon, local television, with its recognizable personalities, also has a clear opportunity in the digital space.
9 Daily Deal Acquisitions in 2011 — Good for Some Not for Others (Daily Deal Media)
Kris Ashton: A look back at the roller coaster ride of events that made up the daily deals industry in 2011. From acquisitions to patent trolls to IPOs and even some surprises, over the next two weeks we’ll share just a few of the highlights that took us through the year.
Brightkite Winds Down, Says It Will Come Back With ‘Something Better’ (Again) (TechCrunch)
Location-based ‘check-in’ service BrightKite once rivaled the likes of Foursquare and Gowalla, but never really got the traction it needed to keep on competing and win the day: the startup killed the check-in functionality about a year ago to focus on group texting. Now it appears Brightkite (which remained the name even after their 2009 merger with Limbo) is changing course again.
Location Labs Unit Scoops Up Assets of Seeker Wireless (AllThingsD)
Location Labs has acquired the assets of Seeker Wireless, a company whose technology allows feature phones to provide the kind of advanced location services more typically found on smartphones. Seeker’s technology will find its way into a newly created division of Location Labs, known as Safely, which will house the company’s privacy and safety products, including its family locator and safe-driving applications.
Can Italy’s Circleme Outflank Recommendation Rivals? (GigaOm)
Bobbie Johnson: Giuseppe D’Antonio, the CEO of Milan-based social service Circleme says the basic thrust of his service is simple: just tell Circleme about the things that you like and it can help you find more things to enjoy. Users can find films to watch, bands to listen to, restaurants to eat in and much more. A simple idea, yes, but you’d be forgiven for thinking that it also sounded very familiar.
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