Street Fight Daily: Nextdoor Going International, Uber Wants to Help Book Travel
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Final Prediction of the Year: In 2016, the Local Economy Is No Longer Local (Street Fight)
Noah Elkin: As we head into 2016, the local economy isn’t really local anymore. Yes, we still shop at local stores, but the Walmart in the nearby shopping plaza isn’t the only competitor the local store needs to keep an eye on. Increasingly, it’s a host of online vendors and the growing crop of on-demand startups that have become an indelible feature of the local business landscape — both enablers and usurpers of their merchant partners.
Nextdoor, the $1.1B Social Network for Neighbors, Is Expanding Overseas (Business Insider)
After promising international expansion for the last couple of years, Nextdoor is laying the groundwork for its move abroad. The company has been testing its social network in the Netherlands, and a job listing for a United Kingdom country manager says the site plans to bring the service to that country in early 2016.
Street Fight’s 10 Most Popular Stories from 2015 (Street Fight)
Here’s a look back at some of the Street Fight stories that captured your interest this year — we look forward to bringing you more great content, research, and events in 2016.
Uber Is Thinking of Getting Into the Travel Business (Business Insider)
Uber has secured a new patent that can be used to plan trips. Referred to as “Uber Travel,” it looks like a normal flight search you might see on Expedia, but it adds Uber cars to the mix. A traveler could input their start location, date, and time alongside a destination, and Uber would recommend an itinerary for them.
In Silicon Valley Now, It’s Almost Always Winner Takes All (New Yorker)
Om Malik: Most competition in Silicon Valley now heads toward there being one monopolistic winner. This has become part of the technology cycle. Google, Facebook, and perhaps Uber are indicators of something bigger: in our connected age, data, infrastructure, and algorithms give companies a distinct advantage.
This Is Why You’re Inadvertently Watching More Facebook Ads (Quartz)
A majority of the video ads that run on Facebook are commercials that run elsewhere and have been slimmed down for the platform. Earlier this year, the social network also began using target rating point metrics — a key metric for TV ads — to determine the costs of digital video ads, making it easier for advertisers to plan, execute, and measure cross-platform campaigns.
Enter the Shoe Aisle, Feel Your Phone Buzz With a Personal Deal (New York Times)
ShopAdvisor, a four-year-old company based in Concord, Mass., has added a wrinkle to location-based mobile marketing that it hopes will be the breakthrough retailers are seeking. It offers its own mobile shopping app and specializes in creating multichannel mobile shopping platforms for media companies and retail brands, and has incorporated beacon technology in a novel way.
Instacart Raises Prices by 50%, Lays Off 12 Employees (GeekWire)
Instacart laid off 12 recruiters this month and is increasing its delivery fee and subscription membership. In a blog post, the company said the price hikes were due to “changing market conditions.”
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