Street Fight Daily: Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages Arriving This Month, eBay’s Turnaround Plan
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
With Accelerated Mobile Pages Coming This Month, Google Aims to Reinvent the Mobile Web (AdAge)
It’s a challenging time for the mobile web. Apps are dominating consumers’ time on the devices they carry, and ad blockers are spreading as people try to speed up mobile web browsing. But later this month, Google will try to hit reset on all of that. It’s finally ready to go wide with its Accelerated Mobile Pages initiative, which allows participating publishers to deliver content at lightning-quick speed through the mobile web.
How eBay Plans to Take On Amazon (Fortune)
eBay and its CEO, Devin Wenig, have a big task ahead for 2016: proving to investors that the ecommerce site is still growing after its split from PayPal last year. Wenig said that eBay is now thinking more like a retailer instead of a technology site.
CourseHorse Co-Founder: People Are Spending Locally in Adult Education (Street Fight)
CourseHorse, which recently raised $4 million in Series B funding, powers a local discovery engine connecting students and classes. Street Fight spoke to co-founder Nihal Parthasarathi about the various local opportunities in ed tech and adult education.
Verve Opens Self-Serve Location Targeting Platform Aimed at SMBs (GeoMarketing)
Mobile ad platform Verve is releasing a self-service ad program that promises local businesses the same geo-targeting capabilities that its enterprise and agency partners currently have. Verve’s platform lets SMBs select audience targeting segments that can be adjusted based on location, creative assets, and messaging, all of which is directed by a range of consumer data.
The Physical Web: How a New Type of Beacon Is Disrupting Proximity Marketing (Street Fight)
Richard Graves: The latest Eddystone-URL protocol is truly disruptive. Its web approach, called the Physical Web, follows the unstoppable trend toward lessening friction, and will ultimately be the dominant beacon technology. Marketers should be aware.
Homeyou Takes Page from Wayfair Playbook for Home Contractor Site (Xconomy)
Boston-based Homeyou’s website and mobile app match homeowners nationwide with local contractors who fit criteria for remodeling jobs. Homeyou draws some interesting parallels with another Boston company, Wayfair, the online seller of home goods that has grown into a billion-dollar publicly traded company and become a pillar in the local tech scene.
Google Will Further Block Some European Search Results (New York Times)
Google is about to change how people view its search results in Europe. The company will remove certain disputed links from all of its domains when people in Europe use its online search engine, a change that comes as Google fends off claims that it does not respect Europe’s tough privacy rules.
Ford Is Preparing for the Post-Car Ownership Era With Its New Mobile Service (Adweek)
Many millennials are eschewing car ownership, and Ford is offering a solution. Seeking to be both an auto and mobility company, Ford will launch a new mobile service in April to aid in transportation needs, regardless of whether you own one of its vehicles.
Did Airbnb Purge Potentially Illegal NYC Listings Ahead of Its Data Dump? (Recode)
Airbnb quietly removed 1,000 listings in New York City — potentially illegal rentals of entire units — off its platform in early November, just before a well-publicized release of its own data, according to a pair of independent researchers.
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