Street Fight Daily: Nokia Weighs Sale of Maps, GoDaddy Keeps Buying Startups
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Nokia Weighs Sale of Maps Business to Focus on Networks (Bloomberg)
Nokia Oyj is exploring the sale of its maps business as the Finnish equipment maker focuses on boosting growth at its wireless-network unit and improving its debt rating, according to people familiar with the matter. Nokia has reached out to potential buyers including Uber, the mobile car-booking application.
Yik Yak Makes Inroads as a More Serious News Service (Street Fight)
Tom Grubisich: In its less than two years of existence, Yik Yak has spread across the country, mostly at communities centered around college campuses. It’s true that a lot of the company’s content is sophomoric. But I think that will change, based on a new pilot that the service has launched with the University of Florida.
GoDaddy Acquires Marketplace Startup Elto To Expand Its Services For Web Pros (TechCrunch)
The company has now closed on the acquisition of Elto, a San Francisco-based startup which had been offering a marketplace that helped connect business owners and other non-technical people to web developers who could help them establish and improve their web presence.
First Data Wants to Turn Its Payment Empire Into a Local Marketing Juggernaut (Street Fight)
First Data, the payment processing giant, wants to be more than just a black box on the counter. We caught up with Peter Karpas, global head of SMB product, to talk about moving beyond the payment business, the company’s acquisition strategy, and where the world’s largest payment process fits into the future of small business.
Amazon, Google and More Are Drawn to Home Services Market (New York Times)
Some of the biggest names in e-commerce, along with a growing pool of start-ups, are vying for a chunk of the fragmented, quotidian, heretofore entirely local market of electricians, plumbers, dog walkers and other manual labor, known broadly as home services. The work may be mundane but the money and stakes are huge.
GrubHub Seamless’s Fake Ratings Problem Is Out Of Control (Business Insider)
It’s widely agreed that Yelp has better ratings than Seamless. That’s because Yelp requires users to post a review along with a rating and analyzes those reviews to weed out fakes, while Seamless, a restaurant delivery service, allows ratings not accompanied with reviews and generally seems behind the curve in spotting fakes.
As Vertical Marketplaces Rise, Craigslist Faces Its Demise (TechCrunch)
Jeremy Levine: Craigslist is one of the largest marketplaces on the Internet today, but as we see it, not for long. Over the last several years, we’ve watched businesses and consumers shift away from Craigslist and toward vertical marketplaces. The shift implies an abundance of exciting vertical marketplace investment opportunities.
Companies Know Where You Went Online — Now, They Can Follow You Around In Real Life (Washington Post)
It’s no secret that marketers and advertisers can track the sites you visit on the Internet, helping them learn about your lifestyle and tailor Web advertisements and promotional e-mails just for you. What happens, though, when that power moves offline?
Instacart Is Quietly Working With Third Parties To Outsource (Some Of) Its Deliveries (TechCrunch)
Instacart, the on-demand grocery delivery startup that is reportedly valued north of $2 billion, is growing fast in 15 markets throughout the country. As it seeks to meet that demand, it has begun experimenting with outsourcing deliveries through third-party providers, according to people familiar with the company’s plans.
Groupon Market Value Seen as High as $6 Billion With Divestments (Bloomberg)
Groupon could divest four businesses in the next two years, netting as much as $730 million, to raise cash as it expands into an e-commerce marketplace, according to Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray. Groupon has a market value of about $5 billion, though it should be closer to $6 billion because those businesses are undervalued.
Get Street Fight Daily in your inbox! Subscribe to our newsletter.
