Street Fight Daily: Patch Launches Native Ads, Foursquare Looks to International Growth
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology
AOL’s Patch Creates Fictional Publication for Disney Movie Planes (AdWeek)
AOL’s hyperlocal news publisher Patch has taken native advertising to new heights by creating a branded site for the setting of Disney’s new animated movie Planes. The Propwash Junction Patch looks like any other Patch site, except that the content is entirely fictional: it has made up correspondents reporting on made up news that’s happening in the make-believe town. There are even “ads” for establishments featured in the movie.
Case Study: Switching to a Cloud-Based POS For Increased Reliability, Lower Costs (Street Fight)
As a seasoned restaurateur, Steven Cook already knew that traditional hardware-based point-of-sale systems could be overly expensive and unreliable when he opened Federal Donuts — a shop that sells cake donuts and Korean style fried chicken — in late 2011. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that there were alternative options for quick-service restaurants.
Foursquare Tunes Into International Growth, Inks Live Music Check-In Deal With Deezer To Promote Paid Subs (TechCrunch)
As Foursquare focuses on growing revenue, it has been slowly turning its game-style mobile check-in app into a platform to support location-based advertising and marketing. That strategy got an international fillip today in a new deal with music streaming service Deezer: people who use the app in the 15 countries where Deezer is active, to check in to live music events across some 15,000 venues, get a chance to also pick up a three-month Deezer Premium subscription.
Leela de Kretser Is Leaving DNAinfo (Observer)
Editorial director and publisher Leela de Kretser is leaving DNAinfo.com, founder Joe Ricketts announced Monday in an email to staff. No word on where Ms. de Kretser is going, or who will replace her at DNAinfo. Mr. Ricketts was remarkably short on details in his brief staff email, focusing more on the remaining employees than on Ms. de Kretser’s exit.
Groupon’s Stock Has Doubled Since Andrew Mason Was Fired (Mashable)
While Mason has been testing the waters to see what comes next — he has teased the idea of launching another e-commerce startup or even a news outlet — Groupon has enjoyed a resurgence among investors in recent months. Groupon’s stock topped $9 a share in early trading Tuesday, more than twice its closing price of $4.53 on February 28, moments before the company revealed that it had fired Mason.
There’s a ‘Metropolitan Revolution,’ but Where’s Hyperlocal? (Street Fight)
Tom Grubisich: Community news sites don’t always have to invest in major staffing and other resources to enhance their editorial. In three recent cases, public and nonprofit agencies and other bodies supplied virtually all the information that would generate engagement-producing stories – the kind advertisers are supposed to like. All it would take editorially is labor-efficient curating and copying and pasting.
Local Businesses Need To Expand & Refine Advertising Approach (SearchEngineLand)
With consumers leveraging a broader array of online and offline media when searching for local business information — and increasingly relying on smartphones and tablets to conduct searches — local businesses need to expand and refine their advertising approach in order to remain competitive, according to new research released today by the Local Search Association. The study suggests local businesses should strive for an integrated, wide-ranging presence across media in order to reach their target consumers wherever they search.
How To Use Big Data To Make A Fortune In The Retail Industry (Business Insider)
Major retail brands are harnessing big data as a means of generating more revenue. With every consumer purchase, stores from Target to Walgreens collect a bunch of information – products commonly bought together, shipping addresses, sometimes even customers’ social media details.
The World Gets The Geofencing Bug: Life360’s Family Locator App Explodes overseas (GigaOm)
Even though Life360’s family-focused location app was designed for use in the U.S., it was suddenly being downloaded in huge volumes in Asia. That trend quickly spread to several countries in Europe and even South America. Six months later, more than half of Life360’s user base is now overseas.
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