Street Fight Daily: Mobile Search Explodes, Facebook Ends the Free Ride
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology
In 2013 Mobile Search Exploded But the Dollars Haven’t Followed Suit (Yet) (Pando)
In 2013 we got really used to searching for things on our mobile devices. The only problem now according to Marin Software’s new ‘Mobile Search Advertising Around the Globe’ report is that while the number of paid search clicks on mobile doubled in 2013, advertising dollars didn’t keep pace.
What Real-Time Computing Means for Local Commerce (Street Fight)
Steven Jacobs: Earlier this month, SAP announced that it plans to put a version of its real-time analytics software Hana online. The computing platform is one of a number of new analytics products that use so-called in-memory processing to rapidly analyze vast amounts of data in an instant, allowing businesses to draw insights and make decisions in a matter of milliseconds.
Facebook Is Ending the Free Ride (ValleyWag)
A source professionally familiar with Facebook’s marketing strategy, who requested to remain anonymous, tells Valleywag that the social network is “in the process of” slashing “organic page reach” down to 1 or 2 percent. Small and medium-sized businesses will see their ability to self-promote basically zeroed out: the fans they’ve attracted will be pushed behind a curtain, only to be pulled back now and then when cash is on hand.
Finding the Right Point of Contact At: A Franchise Organization (Street Fight)
For hyperlocal vendors trying to generate traction in a crowded marketplace, being able to locate the best point of contact at each of the individual companies being pitched is an incredibly important part of the sales process. Here are four strategies for finding the right person to pitch at a franchise organization, from hyperlocal executives who’ve had success.
Foursquare CEO: Google and Yelp are ‘Incredibly Broken’ (VentureBeat)
Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley describes his company’s product as the next generation of mobile search — one that trumps services like Google and Yelp by using data that’s more relevant to your life. Google and Yelp are “incredibly broken,” he said, because they don’t take your personal experience into account — or the experience of your friends and like-minded strangers.
Icahn: EBay Should Sell 20% of PayPal (Wall Street Journal)
After pursuing a spinoff of eBay’s PayPal payments unit since January, the activist investor said Wednesday that he would be satisfied with a partial sale of the division to the public. The change in tactics marks Mr. Icahn’s second retreat at a well-known tech company in as many months.
The Mobile Ad Market Is Exploding Because of These Two Companies (Time)
The once-tiny mobile advertising sector is seeing huge growth, mainly thanks to the efforts of Google and Facebook. The two tech giants led a 105 percent gain in mobile ad spending in 2013, according to research firm eMarketer.
How ‘Showrooming’ Can Help, Not Hurt, Bricks and Mortar Retail (AdAge)
As more shoppers use mobile devices while they shop, brick-and-mortar retailers need to be maximizing every customer touch point throughout the store. Instead of fighting the mobile trend, leading retailers are using consumer mobile devices to their advantage.
Burger King To Let You Buy Whoppers With Your iPhone (Bloomberg)
Burger King, the second-biggest U.S. burger chain by store count, is introducing an application that will allow customers to pay for Whoppers with their smartphones as it races rivals to woo younger diners. The program will be introduced next month and should be in all of Burger King’s more than 7,000 U.S. locations in “a few months.”
Aislelabs Raises $1.5M To Bring Full Cycle Visitor Analytics To Brick-And-Mortar Retail (TechCrunch)
Toronto-based Aislelabs wants retailers to be able to see the path of their customers, from the macro level right down to their in-store experience, using a combination of technologies include GPS, Wi-Fi and Beacon proximity information. To help with that, the startup has raised an initial $1.5 million in funding from IAF, Rho Ventures, Salesforce and a number of angel investors.
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