Street Fight Daily: Yelp and OpenTable End Partnership, Google’s Plans For Accelerated Mobile Pages
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Yelp, OpenTable Part Ways amid Heightened Competition (Reuters)
Yelp and OpenTable have quietly ended a long-running partnership as the one-time allies increasingly eye each other’s businesses. The companies parted ways in April under mounting competition, with OpenTable facing new rivals to its reservation business and Yelp dogged with questions about stalling growth. Both companies are trying to take charge of the entire customer experience.
For Small Businesses, the Tide Is Turning (Street Fight)
With a high percentage of retail consumer spending occurring in the last six weeks of the year, the fourth quarter is a good time to take the temperature of business owners. Recent surveys from Thumbtack and Yelp indicate an overall positive outlook heading into 2016.
Inside Google’s Plan to Speed Up the Mobile Web (Poynter)
Earlier this year, Google announced an effort to speed up mobile news — and the entire mobile web — with a new initiative called Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP). Despite some uneasiness about the project from the media world, Google says it’s building a consensus that widespread adoption of AMP is the right thing for the news industry. Here, an interview with Richard Gingras, the head of news and social products at Google.
Former Ad-Tech CEO Building a Subscription Service for Avoiding Ads (TechCrunch)
A new company from ad-tech veteran Rob Leathern allows consumers to pay a subscription fee that goes to online publishers. In return, those publishers agree not to serve ads to the subscribers.
Facebook Launches Discovery to Help iOS Users Find Nearby Events (Search Engine Land)
Facebook has announced an update to its iOS app that gives people in 10 major U.S. cities the ability to browse through events in their location. Within the new discovery feature, people will see events sorted by categories such as music, food and drink, nightlife, and sports and fitness. They also will be able to switch locations to check out what’s happening in other cities.
Openings and New Hires at Citymaps, Indochino, and Urgent.ly (Street Fight)
Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. In this column, Citymaps brings on ex-Nokia HERE CEO as executive chairman, made-to-measure menswear company Indochino appoints a new CEO, and Urgent.ly beefs up with a strategic sales hire.
DoorDash Partners with b8ta for On-Demand Tech Gadget Delivery (TechCrunch)
Food delivery startup DoorDash has partnered with newly-launched retail store b8ta, which sells Internet of Things gadgets. The partnership allows residents of Palo Alto and Menlo Park to order b8ta products for on-demand delivery.
Crain, Known for Business Weeklies, Is Diving into Newsletters Based on Who and Where Readers Are (Nieman Lab)
Crain Communications is doubling down on email as a means of amplifying its reach. To serve the communities where it doesn’t currently run a dedicated magazine, newspaper, or website, the publisher has launched city-based morning email newsletters.
Online Commerce Needs an Offline Experience (TechCrunch)
Sanjit Dang: Online and offline commerce have a symbiotic relationship. People research new TVs online, then buy them in stores; they take a photo of a chandelier at a friend’s house, then order it on the web. Online shopping needs to be much closer to the individualized, emotional, and social experience of its offline counterpart.
LBMA Podcast: Absolut Bottles Become Media Platforms, Swedish Bakery Sends Real Treats in Exchange for Web Cookies (Street Fight)
On the show: Pernod Ricard turns Absolut bottles into IoT play; Swedish bakery Pågen sends real treats in exchange for web cookies; Google provides $1 million grant to Wayfindr in London; Irisys launches Gazelle 2; Jane Goodall launches Tapestry of Hope map. Plus, news from PlaceIQ and IRI, Walmart, Sears, Dwolla and Seamless, and GameStop.
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