Street Fight Daily: Journatic Gives a Preview, Chalkboard Shutters
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.
The Burbs Get a First Look at Journatic (Chicago Reader)
What does Journatic have to offer the suburbs that they want and don’t have now? On Thursday, CEO Brian Timpone sent a pdf of the first TribLocal print product with Journatic’s stamp on it. Timpone says the new sites will be: “More community news, exclusively hyperlocal (vs. subregional), more public records, etc.”
Singapore-based Location Ad Service Chalkboard Closes (The Next Web)
Location-based advertising service Chalkboard has closed its doors after the Singapore-based firm shut down its service this week, with its founders admitting that the company’s progress hadn’t been in line with its ambitions. Founded by Saumil Nanavati and Bernard Leong, Chalkboard was very much a trailblaizer and had become one of the region’s best known startups, so its closure has certainly come as a surprise.
Groupon Plans for World Domination Include More ‘Hyperlocal’ Offers (Wall Street Journal)
Mason told employees that Groupon believes there are 11 million recipients of its daily email offers who read and click on the offers but haven’t yet bought a Groupon coupon. Mason told employees the Chicago company is seeking to show more of those look-but-don’t-buy Groupon email subscribers offers for businesses within five miles of where they live.
Could Zaarly Disrupt the Global Economy? (Mashable)
“We’re trying to go and build a $50 billion company — we’re going after the Craigslist and eBay marketplaces,” says founder Bo Fishback. Is Zaarly representative of the future of the global economy? Fishback says yes, citing that the most common inquiry that Zaarly fields is, “When are you coming to my country?”
Groupon Hires Ex-Amazon Exec Kal Raman for Adult Supervision (AllThingsD)
Groupon has hired Kal Raman to build out the company’s internal controls and processes, which have come under scrutiny after several recent gaffes. Raman, who has held executive roles at Amazon, eBay and Drugstore.com, will be the SVP of Americas, overseeing the company’s operations in the region.
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