Street Fight Daily: Locu Launches Dashboard, eBay Pushes Into Services
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.
Locu’s Menu Dashboard Is a Rare Win for Developers and Merchants (PandoDaily)
Coming off the launch of its real time local data API earlier this month, San Francisco and Boston-based startup Locu is ready to formally launch its merchant dashboard product. The free tool, previously available in beta, provides owners and managers of restaurants and other services businesses with an easy-to-use Web dashboard to sync their online world with their offline one by managing price lists, menus, and services on their website, mobile site, mobile app, Facebook, and in local search directories.
EBay Is Now Selling Live Services, Launches Secretguru As A Beta Pilot In The UK (TechCrucnh)
EBay has launched a new service in the UK called Secretguru– a concierge-style service where people can buy time from professionals in areas ranging from cooking to business mentoring and beauty. The move puts eBay into the territory of collaborative consumption services like TaskRabbit, Zaarly and Care.com, and it is a sign of how it’s looking to extend its operations further into brands beyond that of eBay itself.
Toyota Unveils Super-Compact Car With Location-Based Ads (Mashable)
Toyota Tuesday demoed a new “smart” car that includes one innovative — and possibly annoying — new feature: location-based advertising. Whenever a driver passes a restaurant, the vehicle will inform them of the place’s deals, which could make driving past mini-malls a noisy ordeal.
Stephen Elop on Apple’s Map Flap and Why Location Is a Big Part of Nokia’s Future (AllThingsD)
“There (are) a whole generation of location-based applications that are just being invented,” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said. “Having a strong position in a location-based platform — the thing that defines mobility — is a very powerful place to be. But we’ve got to use it wisely.”
Apple Should Still Buy Foursquare – Now More Than Ever (ReadWriteWeb)
Foursquare has been field tested for years, and it has billions of check-ins to start with – those are strong signals. Apple needs a leg up in location right now, and Foursquare seems like the best fit.
Why Many Small Businesses Fail at Social Media (Social Media Today)
For the small business, social media needs to be about the conversation between their business and its customers, or potential customers and building a level of trust and loyalty. In their rush to do social, there are some fundamental errors that many small businesses make when they initiate a social media strategy to further their business.
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