Street Fight Daily: Samwer Out at Groupon, Local Online Ad Spending Hot

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce and technology.

Marc Samwer Out as Groupon’s International Boss (GigaOm)
After enduring a torrid few months, Groupon is bringing in a new chief to oversee operations outside America. Out goes Marc Samwer, the oldest of the three notorious Samwer brothers, who became head of outside the U.S. when his family sold their Groupon clone to the company in 2010. In his place comes Austrian Veit Dengler, an executive who has served time at Dell, T-Mobile, McKinsey and Procter & Gamble.

Local Online Ad Spending Is Red Hot Again (Media Life)
Kip Cassino, executive vice president at Borrell Associates, talks about how digital advertising was impacted by the recession, how traditional media companies are adjusting their web strategies, and how newspapers are making a major internet push.

Study: Most Adults Follow Local News Closely (Pew Internet)
Nearly three quarters (72%) of adults are quite attached to following local news and information, and local newspapers are by far the source they rely on for much of the local information they need. In fact, local news enthusiasts are substantially more wedded to their local newspapers than others.

Startups Walk the Line Between Serendipity and Creepy (GigaOm)
The app world is getting a reality check thanks to apps like Girls Around Me, Placeme or even Highlight. So far, when it comes to sharing data the benefits still outweigh the momentary gut check when your aunt references a party photo or your friends unexpectedly check you in to a place while you told your boss you were home sick. But in the last month one word has kept popping up to describe the current direction of social apps — creepy. Instead of SoLoMoCo or another dumb acronym, this one is an uh-oh.

BiteHunter 2.0 Makes Finding A Deal On Good Eats Faster and Easier (TechCrunch)
Now, the New York-based company has released a new version of its app and this update makes a good app even better. BiteHunter 2.0 doesn’t just introduce a new, highly visual interface for discovering restaurants with available deals around you, but it also allows you to buy the deal and make a reservation without ever leaving the app.

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