Openings and New Hires at Main Street Hub, Yext, PlaceIQ, and CallFire
Every two weeks, Search Influence’s Kelly Benish — who knows practically everyone in hyperlocal — covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. In this week’s edition, moves and new openings at Porch, The Search Agency, VendAsta, Local Yokel Media, Colony Logic and more…
LBMA Podcast: Google’s Chromecast, Ubimo’s Gilad Amitai
Top stories of the week include: Google’s Chromecast gets Ultrasonic; Chicago’s Array of Things makes the city smarter and creepier; ReservationHop takes reservations hostage; Amscreen and Garmin partner at the Tour de France; Muuzii taps SMS for real-time translations; RetailNext and iZettle close financing rounds; Ubisoft shows us the map of the future; TAB unveils spot ratings for billboards thanks to Inrix…
Street Fight Daily: Starbucks Orders Ahead, Google’s Mobile Problem
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Starbucks Has Bigger Plans in Mobile Payments Than Most People Realize (Recode)… Google’s Quarterly Results Show Its Continuing Struggle With Mobile Advertising (New York Times)… Despite a History of Dismal Failures, Hyperlocal News Continues to Attract Believers (GigaOm)…
Surge Seen in Online Political Ads, But Which Sites Will Be Winners?
Digital platforms traditionally haven’t gotten too much in the way of political ad spending, but new projections from Borrell Associates show online outlets making a big leap this year amid the midterms, going from $14.1 million in 2010 to $211.2 million in 2014. But it’s not clear how much community news sites — many of which cover campaign news diligently — will benefit from these gains…
Street Fight Daily: Investors Cash Out of Payments, Airbnb’s New Logo
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Investors Cash Out Of Payment Technology Startups (TechCrunch)… Airbnb Unveils a Major Rebranding Effort That Paves the Way for Sharing More Homes (FastCompany)… Google AdWords Express App Aims to Boost SMB Self-Service (Screenwerk)…
Meet Cups: Endless Coffee for $45 a Month
The third biggest coffee chain in New York isn’t a chain at all. It’s Cups, an Israeli app that wants to turn the city’s independent coffee shops into Netflix-style subscription service. The app offers subscribers unlimited coffee, tea, or espresso at a growing number of small coffee shops across Manhattan and Brooklyn…
5 Platforms That Connect Online Campaigns to Offline Results
A number of major digital and data players are beginning to realize the importance of making this attribution connection, and they’re snapping up platforms that connect the dots between offline data and online marketing. Here are five examples of offline-to-online data platforms that tie the results of digital marketing campaigns to in-store transactions…
Street Fight Daily: Snapchat Adds Location Filters, Yelp Opens API
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Snapchat Adds Location-Based Photo Filters (VentureBeat)… Yelp Liberates Its API To Box Out Foursquare And Google (TechCrunch)… Clear Channel Brings Outdoor Ads to Life On Smartphones (AdAge)…
Order Ahead, Confusion at Counter: Square’s New App, and the Problem of Leading From Behind
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: technology companies, in all their glory, can only lead from behind. 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.
Thinknear Launches Scoring Metric for Location-Based Targeting
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.
951% ROI—YogaWorks Reaps Big Rewards with Perkville
YogaWorks was looking for a customer rewards program that would work well with its existing studio management software, MINDBODY Online. They wanted to 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…
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)… Nextdoor Hires Disney’s Christa Quarles as Chief Business Officer (Recode)… Model Number for Apple’s Mystery iBeacon Device May Hint at Upgrade to Existing Hardware (AppleInsider)…
Why Yelp Is Steadily Becoming a Force in Local Data Aggregation
Unlike traditional aggregators like Infogroup, Acxiom, Neustar Localeze, and Factual, which provide basic listings for a very broad range of something like 20 million businesses in the U.S., Yelp is primarily focused on popular businesses — especially reviews of, and deals at, those businesses…
Street Fight Daily: Apple Building New iBeacon Device, Square Eyes Another Acquisition
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Apple is Building a New iBeacon-powered Device, FCC filing reveals (VentureBeat)… Curated Food Delivery Startup Caviar In Talks To Be Acquired By Square For $100 Million (TechCrunch)… Pew: Only 2 Alt-Weeklies Saw Circulation Gains in 2013 (Poynter)…
Designing a New Value Proposition for Consumer Location Data
In a paper published earlier this month, a group of researchers tried to put a price tag on the personally identifiable information that flows from our mobile devices. The results shine a light on the unique challenges facing companies interested in mining location data, and the divergent paths of two tech companies that have built businesses around that information…
Street Fight Daily: TaskRabbit Pivots, Bill Gurley On Uber
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… TaskRabbit Pivots, Launches On-demand Service for Cleaning, Handiwork, Moving, & Errands (VentureBeat)… How to Miss By a Mile: An Alternative Look at Uber’s Potential Market Size (Above the Crowd)… Birchbox Is Opening Its First Retail Store, And Here’s What It Looks Like (BusinessInsider)…
How to Use Video Content to Boost Local Search Rankings
Over the past year, online video has become a powerful tool for boosting organic SEO rankings. Search engines still value video because it’s harder to make and is typically much more engaging. Here are a few tips to make sure you are getting the most value out of your branded content to compete online…