Street Fight Daily: Foursquare Monetization, Square Valuation
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.
Foursquare Rolls Out Its First Big Money-Making Feature: ‘Promoted Updates’ (TechCrunch)
Foursquare is announcing today the pilot launch of “promoted updates,” which will let companies issue messages about deals or available products to Foursquare users. These new updates will come in two forms: Promoted updates, such as Gap saying, “We have new yoga pants!” — and promoted specials, such as Walgreens saying, “Foursquare customers get 10 cents off of shampoo.”
Square Expects New Financing and a Loftier Value (NYT)
Square, the mobile payments start-up best known for its pint-size credit card reader, is close to raising roughly $200 million, which would give the company an implied valuation of $3.25 billion, people briefed on the matter said. The hefty investment — the company’s third in less than two years — will help Square battle with the likes of Google, Intuit and PayPal.
Craigslist Sues Apartment Search Site PadMapper Over Listings (GigaOm)
Craigslist has followed up on earlier threats and filed a lawsuit against popular apartment listing site PadMapper. In a complaint filed in San Francisco, Craigslist is accusing PadMapper and “one stop data shop” 3taps of a slew of infractions, including copyright and trademark violations, and is demanding the court issue a preliminary injunction to stop them from using its listings.
Groupon Takes a Page Out of Facebook Studio (AdWeek)
Following a trend among notable digital firms like Facebook, Groupon today announced significant upgrades to GouponWorks, a resource that’s designed to show local merchants how the deals platform can work for their shops. Groupon Works has been enhanced to involve 525 case studies and offers 72 video testimonials from a wide range of U.S. businesses.
Google, Motorola and the Future of Location-Based Ads (eWeek)
Mobile advertising is an enormous growth area for Google, particularly with 1 million Android-based smartphones activated each day. One business, with much to gain, imagines that location-based advertising could be a smart next step for Google.
4 Strategies for News Companies as Mobile Ads Displace Desktop Exposure (Poynter)
Even without high-profile killer competitors like Monster, Craigslist and Google, news organizations are facing a potential disconnect with the growing base of smart phone advertising. Shoppers in stores, coupon clippers and online bargain hunters may find what they are looking for in visits altogether separate from checking the news.
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