Street Fight Daily : Apple Buys Mapping Tech, Google Adds ‘Buy Button’
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Apple Acquires Coherent Navigation, a GPS Start-Up (New York Times)
Apple confirmed on Sunday that it had purchased Coherent Navigation, a Bay Area global positioning company, further bolstering Apple’s location technology and services. The company worked on high-precision navigation systems, technology that is far stronger than many consumer-grade global positioning systems.
Why Instacart Doesn’t Want to Kill Brick-and-Mortar (Street Fight)
After fits and starts, the technology industry appears to have finally started to break into the grocery business. Whereas Amazon and other ecommerce players sought to bypass these local businesses, Instacart has built its business on them — turning into a company that investors now value at over $2 billion.
Google’s ‘Buy Buttons’ Will Soon Let You Shop From Your Phone (Verge)
Google search results as you’ve come to know them on your phone could soon become the place where you buy your next bedspread. Google plans to begin testing “buy buttons” that live inside the ads it puts above its normal search results. Meanwhile, the company will let you store your credit card information to do it all over again at another time.
6 Market Research Strategies for Hyperlocal Startups (Street Fight)
While many successful hyperlocals have been systematic in their qualitative and quantitative market research measurements, others have taken a more relaxed approach by cold calling potential clients and simply asking what they’d like to see. Here are six strategies for conducting marketing research as a hyperlocal startup.
Clinkle Implodes as Employees Quit in Protest of CEO (TechCrunch)
Seven employees quit the frequently mocked payment rewards startup Clinkle simultaneously on Friday due to frustration with its 24-year-old CEO Lucas Duplan. Duplan is said to have withheld information from employees about acquisition talks with Apple that the team hoped would result in a sale in hopes of improving his financial status.
New York: The Original ‘On Demand’ Economy? (Street Fight)
Laura Rich: For many in New York, on-demand services are just a continuation of the conveniences that already existed. Uber is a better taxi, Stitch Fix is a time-shifted personal shopper, Instacart is the standing delivery order from the supermarket on your block.
Carl Icahn Is Making a $100 Million Bet That Lyft Hasn’t Lost to Uber Yet (Slate)
When you consider Uber’s stunning valuation, massive U.S. presence, and rapid international expansion, it can feel like the ride-hailing wars are already over and Uber has won. But then someone like activist investor Carl Icahn comes along and tosses $100 million at Lyft, Uber’s closest thing to a rival.
Report: Calls Have 30 to 50 Percent Conversion Rates, Most Come From Mobile (MarketingLand)
A call is, generally speaking, a better lead than a click. But how much better is striking: calls have 30 to 50 percent conversion rates while clicks top out at 1 to 2 percent. That’s according to a new Call Intelligence Index report from Invoca.
Amazon VP: ‘Anyone Working on NFC is Focusing on Last Century’s Problem’ (Mashable)
Patrick Gauthier has been on the job for only five months, but Amazon’s vice president of payments already has a lot to say. Ask him about NFC, the technology used by Apple Pay and Google Wallet to pay by smartphone, and Gauthier launches into a half-hour discussion of how most of the competition is getting payments all wrong.
Survey: Consumers Prefer Mobile Browser To Apps For Local Information (Search Engine Land)
While local businesses have alternative ways to be found in local search apps and vertical or specialized directory apps, new survey data argue that consumers want to access local business websites on mobile. Local businesses with mobile-optimized sites will have a significant advantage over those that are not optimized.
Can Yelp’s CEO Keep Turning Down Acquisition Offers? (Fortune)
The business-listings company is working with bankers like Goldman Sachs, according to a Bloomberg report from last week. But since then, there has been only quiet. Ironically, that may be just what Yelp co-founder and CEO, Jeremy Stoppelman, is hoping for.
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