Street Fight Daily: Yelp Surges, Google Monetizes Third-party Maps
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.
Yelp Surges as Growth Potential Counters Lockup Expiry (Businessweek)
Yelp Inc. surged as much as 23 percent as investor confidence in its growth prospects outshined concern over stock sales by some of the largest investors in the online review website. Shareholders who used so-called short sales to benefit from an expected drop in Yelp’s stock after the lockup expiration later bought back those shares — in what’s known as a short covering — when the decline failed to materialize.
Google Launches New Ad Formats To Help Developers Monetize Google Maps (TechCrunch)
In a move to entice developers to continue to use its mapping solution, Google is launching new ad units for Google Maps that bring Google’s standard AdSense link units to its maps on third-party sites. These new ad formats join Google’s long-established Maps Ad Unit, which the company introduced back in 2009.
Square Extends Its Retail Reach, Now Sells Its Card Reader at 1k AT&T Stores, 20k total (The Next Web)
Square‘s card reader has rapidly become one of the go to payment solutions for small businesses across the country, and now the startup is expanding its accessibility thanks to a new deal with AT&T. As of today, as many as 1,000 AT&T stores are stocking up on Jack Dorsey’s tablet-powered device, which brings Square’s overall retail presence past 20,000 total stores.
Focus and Web-only Content: How the Deseret News Supports a Local Newsroom with a National Strategy (Nieman Journalism Lab)
The Salt Lake City company is breaking out of the newspaper mold by building online-only products that aim at an audience beyond Utah’s borders. And they’re doing pretty well: Digital revenue grew at over 50 percent annually for the past three years, and is now more than 25 percent of total revenue.
One Sign Fears About Google Moving Into Travel Were Overblown (AllThingsD)
Google Maps was both the top travel app and top mobile site in June, accounting for 78 percent of all time spent in the travel category. Even though the study was limited to mobile behaviors, the findings suggest the exact opposite of what some feared just months ago — that Google would dominate flight bookings and local search after spending big bucks to acquire ITA Software, the airline data company, and, to a lesser extent, Zagat, the reviews company.
Placed Wants to Redefine Mobile Web Analytics with Location (GigaOm)
Placed is broadening its horizons by letting mobile web developers take advantage of its unique approach to location analytics. Previously available for mobile apps, Placed cross-references location data against a massive database to paint a picture of where apps or sites are being used most.
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