Street Fight Daily: Yelp Integration With Siri, Groupon Now Lags
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups.
Deeper Yelp Integration with Siri Gives Site More Visibility (ScreenWerk)
Greg Sterling: Yelp is now more visible on the iPhone, thanks to a deeper integration with Siri. Previously, when you searched for local business categories through Siri (e.g., “show me restaurants”), you received a list ordered in part by proximity and partly by ratings/reviews. As of iOS 5.1, you can now tap on the star ratings and go directly to the profile page in the Yelp app, or a mobile web page if the app isn’t installed.
GrouponNow Lags, But Other Products Gain Speed (Crain’s Chicago Business)
GrouponNow, which launched last May, still accounts for just 1 percent of North American gross billings, based on data from deal aggregator Yipit. But Groupon’s travel deals — called Groupon Getways and begun in July — now account for 10 to 15 percent of North American billings.
Online, Offline Data Ad Platforms Emerge (Mediapost)
Charging into the next phase of online advertising, a bevy of companies will begin to roll out platforms and services that integrate offline data with online to improve ad targeting across the Internet. Companies like The Weather Channel began offering data related to weather to improve product selection and ad targeting. Kenshoo, Proclivity Media, and others will soon integrate offline check-in and sales data with online search and other activities.
Yelp Mobile Will Tell You Where To Go For Dinner And What To Order (Business Insider)
While Mike Ghaffary, director of business development at Yelp, can’t comment on the future direction of Yelp due to the quiet period following its IPO, he did talk a bit about what he’s seeing in mobile consumption.
Borrell: Legacy Sales Staff Is Digital Boon (NetNewsCheck)
Legacy media companies have one big advantage over their Internet-only competitors: their sales staff. Borrell Associates CEO Gordon Borrell speaking at the research firm’s Local Online Advertising Conference: “[Pureplays] don’t have your promotion and they don’t have your sales force. We think that’s going to be the big difference in regaining ground.”
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