Street Fight Daily: Google Wallet Opens Up, PayPal’s Big Change

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…

Mobile Payments Become Marketing Tool For Dunkin’ Donuts, Shopify, ChowNow (MediaPost)
Apple Pay, Google Wallet and PayPal are fast becoming marketing tools for brands and merchants soliciting consumer loyalty. The service continues to gain traction during recent months, with competition heating up between Apple Pay and Google Wallet as they rush to add key integrations with a variety of merchants.

What Google’s Entry Into the Home Services Space Means for Local (Street Fight)
Todd Wasserman: Google revealed earlier this week that it was readying an entry into the hotly contested home services category. Will Google have enough long-term commitment to a serious standalone product in this space to produce a real game-changer for local?

PayPal’s Big Change: It Can Work With Amazon After eBay Split (Recode)
A lot will stay the same when eBay spins PayPal off into a separate public company later this year. But at least one big change is coming: PayPal will be free to work with other big shopping marketplaces owned by eBay competitors, such as Amazon and Alibaba, after the split.

Openings and New Hires at Uber, ShopKeep and Gravy (Street Fight)
Every two weeks, 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, new jobs and hires at Soleo, Location3, Moz, and many more.

Google vs. Amazon: Does Small Business Benefit? (U.S. News)
Amazon is rapidly expanding new services and Google is hot on its heels, aiming to compete with the e-commerce giant on home service referrals and online video. The competition will mean greater convenience for consumers, but will small businesses and other video providers lose out?

University Of Florida Partners With Yik Yak On Local Content (NetNewsCheck)
The University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications has partnered with Yik Yak, a messaging app, to produce customized content for local users, the unviersity said in a statement on Thursday. The feed, called “Swamp Juice.” shares news and local/college developments.

Bing Places Adds Several Agency-Friendly Local Business Listing Tools (SearchEngineLand)
Local SEO consultants and agencies that manage business listings for clients have a number of new, agency-friendly tools at their disposal in Bing Places for Business. The first step is for consultants to register as an agency at BingPlaces.com.

Location-Based Data Firm Gravy Raises $7.6M In Round Led By Gannett (MediaPost)
Gravy, a location-based data analytics firm, on Thursday announced it has closed a $7.6 million round of Series A funding. Participating investors, included Gannett and MetTel. Gravy gathers consumer behavioral data based on “verified” location data.

ShopperTrak Partners With Shopkick For New Beacon System (RetailDive)
Analytics specialist ShopperTrak plans to provide location-based insights with shopkick, whose shopBeacon is currently a leading platform for in-store beacons and marketing messages designed to increase store traffic, conversion and ticket size.

You Can Now Use Google Maps’ Data Layers To Create More Powerful Interactive Apps (The Next Web)
Google is adding new features to its API, which will allow developers to build a new breed of interactive apps that collect geographical data input from users. You can now use interactive Data Layers to collect user reviews on the best places to visit in an area, and display heatmaps showing the popularity of various locations.

Taco Bell! Delivery! Is Happening! (Slate)
The concept of fast-food delivery might seem odd to some, but in a post-GrubHub society, in which Starbucks is planning to deliver your pumpkin spice latte in select cities and TaskRabbit allows you to pay people to perform your every tedious obligation, it’s no longer shocking.

LBMA Podcast: Amazon’s Dash Button, Gimbal COO Kevin Hunter (Street Fight)
On the show: Pac-man Easter egg from Google; MasterCard partners with KIIP; Adobe partners with Vibes Media; AirBites – the AirBnB for home-cooked meals; Tworlds shows is the grass is greener over there; KeepTrax raises a modest $1M.

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