Street Fight Daily: Facebook Profits Skyrocket, Gannett Expansion Faces Ad Difficulties

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…

Facebook Profit Nearly Triples on Mobile Ad Sales and New Users (New York Times)
Facebook on Wednesday reported blockbuster second-quarter earnings, with strong increases across almost every measure. Facebook said sales totaled $6.44 billion for the quarter, up 59 percent from a year ago, while profit almost tripled to $2.06 billion. The rise was driven by strong mobile ad sales, as well as a steady ascent in its number of users.

Parse.ly’s Audience Analytics Help News Sites Make Stronger Case to Advertisers (Street Fight)
Tom Grubisich: Audience analytics firms Parse.ly aims to give community news sites the same kind of in-depth information that platforms like Facebook provide about how users are responding – and not responding – to content. The company aims to help editors and reporters make decisions that can go right to the bottom line, leading to higher revenue.

Gannett’s Expansion Strategy Runs Into Bad News on the Ad Front (Poynter)
Gannett today reported $21.7 million in second-quarter revenue growth driven by the addition of the 15 papers acquired when it bought Journal Media Group. Advertising revenue was down roughly 10 percent year-to-year on a same-property basis.

Report: Beacons A Slam Dunk for Sports, Recouping Over $1B in Ticket Sales Since 2015 (Street Fight)
The Q2 2016 report by Proxbook shows that since then, there’s been a 33% increase in global sensors since the beginning of the year. And according to the new report, proximity technology has enabled sports teams and their venues to reclaim ticket revenue at a time when fewer fans are going to stadiums.

How Businesses Creating New Website Platforms Can Optimize for Search (Search Engine Land)
Clay Cazier: Many times, those choosing a new enterprise platform to serve their website to the world are not well-versed in today’s SEO requirements. Let’s recap the top elements to consider when vetting different solutions.

Groupon Rockets Up 25% After Crushing Q2 Expectations (Business Insider)
Shares of Groupon, the local-deals shopping site, are up as high as 25% to around $4.73 in after-hours trading after reporting a quarter that blew away analyst estimates. Revenues clocked in at $756 million, well above the expected $711 million.

Google Overhauls Zagat Ratings System (PC Mag)
There is no shortage of mobile restaurant review services: Yelp, OpenTable, Urbanspoon, even Instagram. But Zagat hopes its improved iOS app can stand out from the crowd. Most notably, the Google-owned company is dropping its 30-point ratings scale for a simpler, five-point one, where five is the most favorable rating.

Which Apps Smartphone Users Can’t Stay Away From (eMarketer)
Some apps, dscout found, were “touchier” than others. For example, gaming apps saw an average of 80 touches per session. Shopping apps were the second-most-touched apps. Images, as well as news and weather apps, were the least touched apps, garnering 45 or fewer screen touches per session.

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