Street FIght Daily: Yelp Dismisses Google’s Local Content, Google Expands Wallet

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

Yelp Not Worried About Google’s “Struggling” Local Content Play (PandoDaily)
“Google has made an announcement or two regarding its play for local content almost every year Yelp has been around,” Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said during the company’s earnings call Thursday. “They’re trying to reenergize something that’s been struggling for a long time.”

Google Wallet Expands To Mobile Web (TechCrunch)
Google is today announcing mobile support for its Google Wallet checkout service, which expanded to include micropayments for web content earlier this month. At that time, Google said it would allow online shoppers to purchase premium digital content, ideally priced under $1.00, which also included a 30-minute money-back refund.

Coupons Boost Starbucks (The Wall Street Journal)
In August the company reintroduced its “treat receipt”—a receipt given to morning customers enabling them to get a discounted drink if they return in the afternoon—even though it hadn’t planned to offer that this year. Starbucks followed that with an offer on daily deals site LivingSocial in early September that allowed people to redeem a $5 coupon for $10 of products. That helped the company post same-store sales growth of 7% in the U.S. in the fourth quarter, driven by an increase in customer visits.

Shopkick Benefits From Having P&G Player as Major Adviser (AdAge)
Procter & Gamble has partnered with the likes of Klout and Shazam, but its most enduring relationship has been with Palo Alto’s location-based shopping app Shopkick, where it’s had an executive “embedded” for the past three years. P&G Ambassador Sonny Jandial’s continued presence at Shopkick underscores the importance to P&G of being ahead of the curve on mobile.

The Evolving Location Measurement Industry (ClickZ)
As more and more brands look to better communicate with their audience and target messaging based on location, a few questions around location data persist. Whether it is Google Maps showing you in the wrong location, geo-tagging information tied to a photo being someplace you’ve never been, or when you try to check in to Foursquare at your favorite restaurant and it’s the fifth place on the list of options to check in, location data is noisy and needs refinement.

Free WiFi for Check-Ins: Facebook Pilots New Service for Local Businesses (The Next Web)
Facebook, a company that always seems to be doing a million things at once, has begun testing a new service that allows local business owners to offer free WiFi to customers in exchange for a check-in. The company confirmed reports that it is testing a new service that offers free WiFi if a customer checks-in at that location, immediately serving the company’s Facebook Page when they do.

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