Street Fight Daily: Comcast Expands Everyblock, Bing Books With TripAdvisor
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Comcast Expands Reach Of Hyperlocal Info Service (Multichannel)
Comcast has expanded the reach of EveryBlock, a hyper-local news and information service, to the Boston area and has plans to introduce it in Houston and Florida “in the coming months.” The free, neighborhood-level service provides an interactive, personalized feed of local news and information.
Case Study: How a Hardware Store Measures Hyperlocal Marketing Success (Street Fight)
From flash sales and local delivery, to social promotions, email marketing, text message customer service, and even print newsletters, Cole Hardware uses it all. The San Francisco store takes a more-is-more approach to hyperlocal marketing.
Bing Rolls Out International Hotel Booking Feature & Updates Mobile Search Results (Search Engine Land)
Bing released two updates today, adding a new hotel booking feature in partnership with TripAdvisor, as well as updating its mobile search results to include details like deep links and time-stamps. Now when users search for a hotel on Bing.com, they will be able to see reviews and information about the hotel, select dates, and get rates – all via TripAdvisor.
Communicating With Mobile Consumers in the ‘Experience Age’ (Street Fight)
Stacy Adams: In 2015, the customer experience will be more critical than ever before, as consumers’ attention spans continue to shorten. Brands must engage consumers in the most personal, relevant and timely fashion to grab their attention.
Patent Fulfilled: Apple’s New iOS 8 Location-Based Passbook (Patently Apple)
Apple’s invention generally relates to providing location-based services on a mobile computing device using beacons via as in a Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) beacon. The service automatically works with Apple’s Passbook App which the patent filing refers to as a “ticket book.” Anywhere you read ticket book, it means Apple’s Passbook.
Square Shuffles Executive Roles as Product Portfolio Grows (Recode)
local commerce company Square shuffled some chairs in its executive suite recently, creating a clean split in responsibilities between its two top engineering execs, according to multiple sources. Gokul Rajaram has moved into a role running engineering and product teams for Square’s consumer products.
Google Moves Local My Business Phone Support To India — Expect The Call Times To Be Longer (Blumenthals)
Mike Blumenthal: Google has moved My Business Phone support to India and, at least for now, expect your call times to take longer. My experience on the call was less than ideal and it had nothing to do with the rep, who was ineffably polite, patient, well intentioned and well spoken.
Ford Dumps Microsoft in Favor of BlackBerry to Power Car Entertainment System (Recode)
Ford announced the latest version of its in-car entertainment and mapping system today. And while it touted all kinds of new features, the carmaker downplayed the really big change that took place — under the hood, if you will. The change underscores how cars are becoming a key battleground for mobile operating systems.
Uber Gets Investment From Baidu To Aid China Push (Bloomberg)
Baidu is buying a minority stake in Uber, giving the car-booking company a boost as it expands in China, according to a person familiar with the matter. Uber will receive cash and non-cash assets, including Baidu’s online resources as owner of China’s biggest Internet search engine.
LBMA Podcast: Snapchat’s Geofilters, Vistar Media CEO (Street Fight)
On the show: Barclay’s Bank enlists beacons to help customers with disabilities; Girl Scouts launch their cookie-finder app; Proxama + Exterion bring beacons to the bus; Location Guard for FireFox;Target + Google’s Art Copy & code program.
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