Street Fight: Uber Raises $1.2B, Apple Acquires Local Search Engine
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology
Uber Gets an Uber-Valuation (Wall Street Journal)
Uber’s whopping valuation of $18.2 billion is a bet by some of the world’s top investors that the car-hailing smartphone app can grow by expanding world-wide and branching into new arenas, like logistics. The five-year-old company said on Friday that it has raised $1.2 billion from a consortium of investors led by mutual-fund giant Fidelity Investments.
Apple Acquires Spotsetter, A Social Search Engine For Places (TechCrunch)
Spotsetter, a social search engine using big data to offer personalized recommendations as to places to go, has been quietly snapped up by Apple. The technology, which involves layering social data on top of a maps interface could be used to beef up Apple Maps with features competitor Google lacks.
7 Analytics Tools to Track Local Campaigns (Street Fight)
To determine the actual value of local campaigns, marketers need access to raw data. Unfortunately, obtaining this information isn’t always as straightforward as it seems. Here are seven platforms that businesses can use to measure the effectiveness of their local campaigns.
Jim Brady Plans News Org in Philly Called Brother.ly (Poynter)
Jim Brady plans to create a Philadelphia-based “news service that will seek to cultivate audiences currently disengaged from traditional news products.” Brady was until recently the editor-in-chief of Digital First Media, which he left after it dismantled its Thunderdome project.
Millennial Media Ramps Up Its Location-Based Mojo (AdExchanger)
Millennial Media is beefing up its location data prowess. The mobile ad network is rolling out an audience location ad suite dubbed “Point” and is teaming up with mapping and geo-analytics mainstay Esri.
Apple Is Launching A Vast Project To Map The Inside Of Every Large Building It Can (BusinessInsider)
Apple has embarked on an ambitious program to use the sensors in its iPhones to map the large indoor areas of stores, offices, event spaces and commercial buildings. Apple is using a range of technologies in addition to iBeacon to create its indoor maps.
Weather Company Sells Mobile Advertisers On In-Store Visits (AdAge)
The Weather Company is looking to tie its mobile ads to something concrete, or at least made of metaphorical bricks: a real-world store. The company is partnering with Placed Attribution to help advertisers see the amount of people their mobile campaigns are sending to physical locations.
Facebook’s Dan Levy On Small Biz Outreach (TechCrunch)
Facebook just began a series of small business-focused local events, and at Tuesday’s kickoff in New York, I had a chance to speak to the company’s director of small business Dan Levy. One of the key things that businesses need to understand, he said, was that, “If you know how to use Facebook as a person, you can use it as a business.”
Walmart Uses Rivals’ Discounts to Fuel New Loyalty Program (AdAge)
Walmart is using a new digital extension of its longstanding guarantee to match competitors’ advertised prices to address a question that’s dogged it for years: How can it launch a loyalty program without the promotional deals it’s long shunned as part of its everyday-low-price philosophy?
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