Street Fight Daily: Facebook’s Messenger Could Be the Next PayPal, Uber Won’t Go Public Anytime Soon
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Report: Facebook Messenger Might Become Your New Mobile Wallet (Marketing Land)
Facebook is seemingly planing to make its Messenger a way for people to buy things in brick-and-mortar stores. According to a report, the source code for Facebook’s Messenger app “includes commands allowing a user to ‘pay in person’ or ‘pay directly in Messenger when you pick up the item’ with ‘no cash needed.'”
Uber IPO Uber-Unlikely (CNBC)
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said he does not expect his company to go public anytime soon, a statement set to sadden investment bankers across the globe. “I’m going to make sure it happens as late as possible,” he said. Kalanick, who has raised around $10 billion dollars for the company over the last 18 months, said that he doesn’t need public capital markets and wants to hold on to the flexibility offered by private funding.
Augmenting the Local Shopping Reality (Street Fight)
“I believe we are now at the tipping point where both AR and VR are set to become accepted into the mainstream and in a few years will play an integral part in all our lives,” says Amplified Robot’s Steve Dann in a conversation with Street Fight columnist Rick Robinson.
Searching for Google CEO Sundar Pichai (BuzzFeed)
You may not know him by name just yet, but he’s one of the most powerful people alive. Google’s new CEO Sundar Pichai wants to bring the internet to the rest of the world, all while winning back your trust.
Case Study: Law Firm Uses Social Channels to Amplify Messaging to Prospects (Street Fight)
“Marketing for law firms generally is something that not even 20 years ago was considered somewhat taboo,” Mike Mellor says. “The folks in law firms have had some catching up to do in regards to driving cultural change and getting attorneys comfortable with the concept of marketing and new business development.”
Yahoo Wants Bidders to Submit Offers to Buy the Company in the Next 2 Weeks (Business Insider)
The deadline for anyone interested in making an offer to buy Yahoo’s core business is set on April 11, giving potential bidders just two weeks to submit their preliminary proposals. There are roughly 40 companies and firms — including AT&T, Verizon, and Microsoft — that have signed nondisclosure agreements with Yahoo to review materials about its business.
The Downfall of the Walled Garden: Here’s Why iAd Failed (TechCrunch)
Ragnar Kruse: Apple could have funneled more money and resources toward its iAd initiative, but it didn’t because the walled garden model is endemic when it comes to mobile advertising. While Apple essentially proved the value of ruling with an iron fist on the product end of its business — maintaining stringent control over the operating system, content, apps, and media that touch every one of its products — this approach didn’t yield the same benefits for mobile advertising.
U.S. Advertisers Are Investing Heavily in Programmatic, but Obstacles Remain (eMarketer)
Programmatic advertising already accounts for more than half of U.S. digital display ad spending. Rapid growth and adoption of programmatic advertising in areas such as video and mobile are trends in their own right, but they aren’t the only advancements buyers and sellers need to know about when it comes to ad automation.
Google Is Completely Redesigning AdWords (Search Engine Land)
At more than 15 years old, AdWords is looking like a bit of an old fogey, with an aging facade that looks to be creaking under the weight of hundreds of features. Google has announced the start of a major redesign process aimed at rejuvenating its interface, the first touch-up for AdWords since 2008.
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