Street Fight Daily: Google Maps on iOS, Amazon Pushes Local Services
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.
While Apple Regroups, Google Offers a Maps App (The New York Times)
The release of the new Google Maps app for the iPhone does put to rest most of the conspiracy theorizing that began when Apple stopped bundling Google’s mapping service with the latest operating system for the iPhone and iPad, released in September. Apple did that because it was determined to own an increasingly critical feature of its devices, but the move seemed premature, as flaws in the company’s new service led to unusual public embarrassment.
Amazon’s Latest Experiment: Installing Your TV and Other Household Items (GeekWire)
In another example of Amazon expanding its footprint in new ways, the online retail giant is now contracting with a Seattle area company to install TV mounts right in your home. The creation of a local marketplace for services marks a bold experiment for Amazon, potentially putting the company in competition with the likes of TaskRabbit or Angie’s List.
An Apple-Foursquare Hookup Could Mean The End Of Yelp Reviews In iOS (TechCrunch)
Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue sent an interesting 31st tweet today: a Foursquare check-in at Apple’s HQ. Meanwhile, Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley is spending a week in San Francisco. These two circumstantial bits of information incite speculation: could they be talking about an acquisition, or a deep software integration in iOS?
Groupon Profit Tied to DealAdvisor’s Flash-Sale Software (Bloomberg)
To secure sufficient inventory for its e-commerce business, Groupon is developing software that will help small retailers easily set up flash sales on its Groupon Goods site. The tool, called DealAdvisor, will let shopowners arrange sales for a fixed period, targeting the millions of visitors to Groupon’s pages.
Cash: Rumors of its Death are Greatly Exaggerated (Venture Beat)
Danny Shader: Here we are, fifty years after the emergence of the credit card, and all eyes are on the great payment innovators of our day: Square, PayPal, Google, WePay, Stripe, and many others who are revolutionizing or replacing “plastic.” With apologies to Mark Twain, reports of the death good ol’ cash going have been greatly exaggerated.
See The Entire Hyperlocal Marketing Business Collapsed Into One Intense M&A Target Graphic (Business Insider)
Hyper-local marketing companies all have one thing in common: They’re in the business of helping local businesses advertise themselves to local customers. An analysis of the ecosystem suggests that the business has organized itself into two types of companies: a small set of large, acquisitive players; and a large set of small, non-acquisitive players.
Citation Neighborhoods: How to Gain a Local Search Monopoly (Search Engine Watch)
With the advent of local search rising in importance over the past six years, citations have been rising in importance. There are many tools available to help you mine the citations, but it’s quite easy to categorize them into neighborhoods similarly to how links exist.
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