Street Fight Daily: Facebook Launches Updates for Local Commerce, Pinterest Lends Hand to Brands

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

Facebook Rolls Out Series of Updates to Get Hold of Local Commerce (Recode)
From deciding where to eat, to booking your next hair appointment, to buying movie tickets at the local theatre, Facebook wants to eventually control, or be involved with, every decision you make when it comes to local commerce. Here’s a laundry list of the updates it’s making to achieve that goal.

GateHouse’s Newton: ‘We Want to Own More Local Papers’ (Street Fight)
Tom Grubisich: The company recently created a division for new ventures and appointed as its CEO a publishing executive with deep experience in marketing and sales — Peter Newton, who will also continue as CEO of GateHouse’s Propel Business Services. In this Q & A, Newton talks about present and future change at GateHouse.

Pinterest Enlists Publishers, Creators to Boost Presence of Brands on Its Platform, Ad Revenue (AdWeek)
As Pinterest works to build an advertising business that rivals heavyweights like Facebook and Google, it’s launching a creative program with a handful of production shops, publishers and creators aimed at making it easier for brands to create posts for the platform.

The Fight for Leads: How Marketing Agencies Help SMBs (Street Fight)
This post is the third in the “Fight for Leads,” a series focused on lead-generation tactics in four key industry verticals: healthcare, automotive, legal and marketing agencies. Sponsored by CallRail. Rarely do local merchants have the time available, let alone sufficient knowledge and expertise, to manage every aspect of their businesses.

Yelp Rolls Out Nowait Nationally to Deepen Ties with Casual Dining Restaurants (Geomarketing)
Yelp is broadening its restaurant services beyond its reservations tools by bringing its partnership with Nowait, a mobile platform that lets consumers virtually hold their place in line at casual dining establishments.

Using AI to Measure Marketing: Q&A With Adgorithms’ Or Shani (MediaPost)
Or Shani, CEO and founder of Adgorithms,created an artificial intelligence-based marketing system he calls Albert (for Albert Einstein), leveraging A.I. to break through the complexity of digital marketing.

A Changing of the Guard at MinnPost, a Bright Spot in Sustainable Local Online News (Nieman Lab)
The steadfast Minnesota-focused nonprofit, often named by observers of digital local news efforts alongside other success stories like The Texas Tribune and Voice of San Diego, has taken a cautious path to sustainability, through a mix of memberships, major donors, corporate sponsorships, advertising, and, to a lesser extent, foundation funding.

Among Affluent Consumers, Millenials Spend Most Time Online (eMarketer)
Affluent millennials spend about twice as much time online as seniors with the same income level, according to research from July 2016. Regardless of age, however, the average affluent internet user in the US spends significant amounts of time with the internet on a regular basis.

Messaging Giant Line to Target Businesses Amid Sluggish Consumer Growth (Venture Beat)
A little more than three months after its dual IPO, mobile messaging giant Line has announced plans to enter the business communications market, as it struggles to grow its user-base in the consumer realm.

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