Street Fight Daily: Google Maps Eyes Yelp, Nextdoor Adds Business Lead
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology
Google Maps Added One Of Yelp’s Best Features (BusinessInsider)
A new version of Google Maps adds a number of new features that Yelp users are already familiar with, but brings them to Google’s popular navigation and discovery platform. Among the improvements, Google Maps can now help you find things to do thanks to the new Explore feature which offers local recommendations based on location and time of day.
Order Ahead, Confusion at Counter: Square’s New App, and the Problem of Leading From Behind (Street Fight)
Steven Jacobs: A clumsy experience with Square’s new app points to a deeper challenge facing the tech industry as it takes aim at the way we buy and sell goods in the real-world. As companies like Square look to not only automate existing behaviors, but introduce new ones, the gatekeepers to the future of retail are on the main streets and in the malls across America.
Nextdoor Hires Disney’s Christa Quarles as Chief Business Officer (Recode)
Neighborhood social network Nextdoor is still focused entirely on getting people to use its service, not on making money. But it’s starting to plan ahead for the day when that changes. The company, which has raised about $100 million in venture capital, recently hired Christa Quarles from Disney and named her chief business officer.
Thinknear Launches Scoring Metric for Location-Based Targeting (Street Fight)
Location-based advertising is more popular than ever, but the mobile ecosystem is littered with inaccurate data. That’s why Thinknear, the mobile advertising wing of Telenav, has unveiled Location Score Tags, a new free tool that measures the quality of the location data used in across a campaign.
Priceline, OpenTable Disclose More Drama About Sale In Shareholder Lawsuit Settlement (Skift)
The Priceline Group and OpenTable wanted to sweep away these pesky shareholder lawsuits to get on with the task at hand — closing the acquisition. In reaching a settlement, OpenTable had to open the curtain a bit more into how it went about conducting the sale process.
Sponsored Content: 951% ROI—YogaWorks Reaps Big Rewards with Perkville (Street Fight)
YogaWorks was looking for a customer rewards program that would reward member loyalty, incentivize behaviors that are beneficial to the company, and increase engagement with the brand. They wanted to see real ROI. Perkville delivered dramatic increases in retention, membership tenure, new members, social engagement, all the while narrowing platform costs and the cost of goods for rewards.
Model Number for Apple’s Mystery iBeacon Device May Hint at Upgrade to Existing Hardware (AppleInsider)
A new Apple device revealed earlier this week in certification documents filed with the FCC appears to be the first in a new line of iBeacon-specific hardware, but the mysterious product’s model number suggests that it may instead be an extension of one of Apple’s existing products.
Google Brings Ingress Location-Based Game To iPhone And iPad (TechCrunch)
Google has brought its location-based Ingress game to iOS after managing to accumulate over four million downloads on Android. Google’s Niantic Labs is likely hoping to be able to boost usage by expanding its offering to the iOS cloud, because even the Google crowd can’t deny the reach and impact of the App Store.
Bonnaroo Festival Used iBeacons to Collect Valuable Data About Concertgoers (9to5Mac)
The company behind the iBeacons deployed at the recent Bonnaroo music festival shared some numbers it gathered on concertgoers that it wouldn’t have had without its iBeacon deloyement. While users of the Bonnaroo app benefited from proximity based notifications for happenings around the event, event organizers gained new insight into how to improve the festival next year.
FiveStars Launches Automated Coupon Delivery Service For Small Businesses (TechCrunch)
Culminating what the executive team at the automated customer service management service provider FiveStars calls three years of development work, the company is launching its latest feature — AutoPilot. The new product FiveStars is selling automates the distribution of coupons and discounts based on a customers’ previous purchasing behavior at a store.
Bezos-backed Home Improvement Startup Pro.com Teams Up With Build.com for DIY Projects (VentureBeat)
Former Digg chief executive Matt Williams’ new home improvement company, Pro.com, is announcing a new partnership with home products retailer Build.com to give Build.com customers a way to find and connect with professionals to contract for the project. Pro.com will also give you an estimate for the labor cost of the project.
Hey, New York: Airbnb Wants to Get You in Bed (Verge)
Airbnb has made a huge splash in New York but it’s now facing a big backlash. Some estimate that as many as two-thirds of the hosts in New York are violating state housing law, a number that spurred an extended battle with state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that threatens to halt growth in the company’s most lucrative markets.
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