Street Fight Daily: 02.13.12
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups.
Groupon Adds ‘Thumbs Up’ Feedback on Deals (Bloomberg)
Groupon is preparing a revamped version of its website, starting with “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” buttons to help the daily coupon service do a better job tailoring offers to its 33 million active users. The company began testing a new design of the site with a small portion of users last month and plans to make it widely available in the coming weeks.
Foursquare and NFC: How the Two Can Help Each Other (GigaOm)
Though Foursquare has been thinking about expanding its identity beyond the check-in, it still needs all the check-in data to power its Explore recommendation engine. The company has been thinking about how to make the check-in process easier, and it’s now showing it can use NFC to speed up the process.
How NPR Drove Traffic to a Local Station by Geotargeting Stories on Facebook (Nieman Lab)
NPR’s Facebook page and its 2.3 million-like audience is made up of users from thousands of cities across the world. We wondered: What if we focused on just one city? The question arose after identifying a somewhat obscure Facebook feature that allows anyone with a Facebook page to customize posts by location. Last October NPR Digital Services and Digital Media used this tool to launch an experiment with member station KPLU.
YPG: Online Now 29% of Total Revenues (ScreenWerk)
Greg Sterling: Online revenue growth was 30% from 2010 to 2011 at Yellow Pages Group. Online or digital now represents 29% of YPG/Yellow Media’s total revenues. In May of last year YPG announced that “30% of YellowPages.ca traffic currently comes from mobile.”
LivingSocial’s Experience Center to Debut (Local Onliner)
Following in the footsteps of major brands such as Apple, Nike, Harley Davidson and ESPN, LivingSocial is now seeking to enhance its core brand via a retail “experience” center where book clubs, cooking classes, painting classes and performances can all take place. The effort follows a trial of a Living Social membership program with built in discounts and perks, a la Amazon Prime.
CityMaps Expanding to San Francisco (SF Chronicle)
CityMaps is hyperlocal, with the names and logos of all consumer-facing businesses on the map, even the mom-and-pop deli. If that looks too busy, users can filter the map by category and neighborhood, as well as check out places to meet or kill time near a bus or train stop. It has a social layer, too. Blinking icons signal additional information, such as a recent tweet or a daily deal being offered.
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