Street Fight Daily: Facebook’s New Mobile Ad Formats, Instacart Reclassifies Workers

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

Facebook to Outline New Ad Formats for Mobile (Wall Street Journal)
Given its strong mobile growth and its continued “mobile-first” focus, Facebook is now in the process of building new mobile ad formats and advertising opportunities it hopes will deliver more immersive experiences for consumers and greater value for its advertisers. (Subscription required.)

The Conscientious Consumer: A Disruption Opportunity in Local On-Demand (Street Fight)
Manpreet Singh: By perpetuating low pay and eroding independent repeat business for contractors, the local on-demand services industry can exacerbate stagnant wages and economic insecurity. As innovators sacrifice worker interests and gain market dominance, here are three growing vulnerabilities they should look out for.

As Uber Feels Regulatory Heat, Instacart Reclassifies Some Contractors as Employees (Recode)
Same-day delivery company Instacart announced Monday that it had started to reclassify some of its giant workforce as part-time employees in a bid to improve the selection of food delivered to its customers.

Openings and New Hires at Verve, Uber, Twitter, and Gannett (Street Fight)
Every two weeks, Street Fight covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. In today’s edition: Where2GetIt, Search Influence, Soleo and more.

Meet Spot, the Latest Startup Born from an Uber Co-founder’s Incubator (Fortune)
The mobile app finds reviews and recommendations from experts as well as friends to help users answer questions about where to go next. Users can connect using Facebook and Twitter, and the app will show recommendations made by their contacts on the social networks. You can also search by city or filter by type of place.

Case Study: Salvage Yard Appeals to Do-It-Yourself-ers with Mobile App (Street Fight)
Victory Auto Wreckers, an auto salvage yard just outside Chicago — known for running the same television commercial for four decades — made the transition from offline to online advertising and marketing, using a combination of custom mobile app, social media, and a website redesign to engage its loyal customer base.

Twitter Just Made a Stronger Case for Retailers to Buy Ads (AdWeek)
Twitter is testing product pages that take the social site’s marketing capabilities a couple steps forward. Retailers can now develop pages with pricing and other details commonly seen on e-commerce destinations such as Amazon. Consumers can look at product photos and videos, and embrace other activities that could enhance purchase consideration for online and physical stores.

Could a Small Google Tech Change Mean Tens of Millions to News Publishers? (Nieman Lab)
Ken Doctor: Whether they’d do it out of benevolence, fear of regulators, or the quest for a competitive advantage, Google could be of real service to the news industry and the broader cause of journalism. Here’s how.

Engagement With Brand Content Soared 52% Last Quarter (AdAge)
People engaged with U.S. brand content 52% more often in the first quarter of this year than they did a year ago, and their engagement is growing faster even than the rate at which brands are pumping content out, according to data on 100,000 brands from social-analytics firm Sharablee.

Alipay’s U.S. Chief Talks Expansion, Uber China Partnership and More (Fortune)
Alipay, the Alibaba payments company, is making a push into the U.S., part of a broader effort by Alibaba to help U.S. retailers and small businesses sell to the fast growing Chinese middle class. Aliplay’s president, Jingming Li, discusses offline payments, an Uber partnership, and competing with PayPal.

Consumer Data Collection Comes at a Cost (eMarketer)
When research by Sentient Decision Science for Microsoft asked U.S. internet users which incentives would motivate them to share personal information with brands, every respondent said they’d do so in exchange for cash rewards.

Get Street Fight Daily in your inbox! Subscribe to our newsletter.