Street Fight Daily: AOL’s CEO Reportedly Leading Verizon/Yahoo Talks, Yelp’s Earnings Leak Early
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Verizon Said to Enlist AOL CEO Armstrong to Explore Yahoo Deal (Bloomberg)
Verizon has given Tim Armstrong, chief executive officer of its AOL unit, a leading role in exploring a possible bid for Yahoo assets. As far back as December, Verizon has said “yes” when asked whether it was interested in purchasing some or all of the struggling company, and Armstrong is taking a lead in preliminary discussions as Yahoo sorts out its strategy.
Yelp’s Earnings Report Leaks, Reveals CFO Is Stepping Down (Fast Company)
Yelp CFO Rob Krolik is leaving the company, according to an earnings report that also revealed that net revenue climbed to $153.7 million — a 40 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2014 (Yelp has been profitable since late 2014). Yelp’s ad revenue jumped by 35 percent, and usage of its mobile app ballooned to 20 million unique devices per month. The company also said it will begin a $50 million advertising campaign this year.
After School, Generation Z, and the Localization of Anonymous Expression (Street Fight)
Rick Robinson: Investors have poured money into anonymous, local chat apps like After School, which connects students at every public and private high school — but they can be prime venues for online bullying. To get a little more context about this issue, we spoke with After School’s content director Michael Luchies.
Factual Enables Private Marketplace Deals with InMobi, Rubicon (GeoMarketing)
The intersecting rise of programmatic ad buying and the use of geo-data to target those placements on smartphone apps is the reason behind Factual’s expansion of its existing work with mobile ad platform InMobi. The terms of the new agreement call for Factual’s location-based audience data to be accessed within private marketplaces on the InMobi Exchange, powered by the programmatic platform Rubicon Project.
5 Proximity-Based Deal-Finding Apps for Retail Brands (Street Fight)
With distractions around every corner, savvy retailers and brands are using location-based apps to put limited-time offers in the hands of consumers who happen to be nearby. Here are five examples of proximity-based deal-finding apps available to consumers right now.
Amazon’s Treasure Truck Is On the Move (PYMNTS)
In the latest in moves to bridge the gap between online and real-world commerce, Amazon has set its Treasure Truck loose in Seattle. The truck is now open for business to the people of its home city, hitting the streets with a limited quantity of a select good that consumers can order via the Amazon mobile app.
How Foursquare’s New CEO Is Trying to Avoid Twitter’s Big Mistake (Yahoo Finance)
When Foursquare launched in 2009, people speculated that it could be the next Twitter or Facebook. Newly minted CEO Jeff Glueck said this was an unfair comparison: “That became a standard against which the company was judged. We’re now in this 1 percent of startups worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and our business is thriving.”
Marketers Are Changing Their Approach to Measuring Customer Experience (AdAge)
A new study shows how marketers are changing their approach to measuring the customer experience. Now, the top metrics being used are tied to real business outcomes, not clicks or views.
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