Street Fight Daily: Uber Wars Thin Out, Jack Dorsey Denies Rumors
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Why a Taxi App With $100 Million in Funding Failed in The U.S. (Fortune)
Hailo, a well-funded car sharing service, said that it plans to pull out of the North American market entirely, laying off 40 employees and citing the “astronomical marketing spend” required to pursue its mission. The company had A-list investors and strong momentum. Where did the promising e-hail app go wrong?
Following Acquisition, Shopkick Posts Some Big Numbers (Street Fight)
Last month, the retail shopping app was acquired by Korea-based wireless company SK Planet for about $200 million. This morning, Shopkick announced it has driven more than a billion dollars in revenue to its retail partners — more than half of it in the last 12 months.
Jack Dorsey On The Report That Square Is In Talks To Sell To PayPal — ‘FALSE’ (Business Insider)
Square CEO Jack Dorsey denied a report from Bank Innovation’s Ian Kar that said PayPal’s new CEO is in talks to buy the mobile payments startup. Kar’s sources said that PayPal’s new CEO Dan Schulman is exploring potential acquisitions in light of PayPal’s imminent spin-off from eBay.
Raising Social Capital Is a Key to Small Business Marketing (Street Fight)
Patrick Kitano: One of the most tangible ways for small businesses, chambers, and trade organizations to build social capital is to raise funds for their community. Crowdfunding opens up a collaboration between the business community and the nonprofits, by reframing the decision to contribute from management to the crowd.
Amazon and Rise of Mobile Challenge Google’s Search Position, Says Chairman (GigaOm)
Concerns over Google’s search dominance are unfounded at a time when desktop searches have declined to 40 percent and a growing number of people are turning to Amazon to find answers and recommendations. Those are some of the arguments that Google Chairman Eric Schmidt put forth in a speech in Berlin on Monday.
Pep Boys Talk Passbook Strategy Ahead of Rumored Apple Pay Launch Date (AdExchanger)
Pep Boys works with mobile tech company Vibes to mobilize online coupons and offers through Apple’s Passbook and Google Wallet – although it’s seen a higher rate of mobile coupon downloads with Passbook, the preinstalled iOS app that allows users to easily store items like store coupons, tickets and boarding passes.
Apple Revamps Mobile Ads With Retargeting Options (Digiday)
Apple’s release of its new mobile operating system last month came with an overlooked gift for marketers: the ability to retarget ads based on users’ in-app browsing behaviors. According to ad agencies, Apple is actively pitching the new capability as a way to effectively solve the mobile cookie problem.
Google Lets a Search Pigeon Out of the Coop and It Lands Nearby (Entrepreneur)
While Google may have withheld punitive action with the Pigeon, it is still considered the most significant update to the local search algorithm since the 2012 Venice update. The next update that comes along may not be as generous, with the possibility that many sites could experience first-hand the pain of dropping out of the SERPs overnight.
Handy Hits $1 Million a Week in Bookings as Cleaning Economy Consolidates (TechCrunch)
Two years after its launch, Handy has hit over $1 million in bookings per week. “We’ve gone from about $3 million in run rate to $52 million in run rate,” says chief operating officer, Umang Dua.
Get Street Fight Daily in your inbox! Subscribe to our newsletter.
