Street Fight Daily: Brands Leverage Apple Search Ads, Yelp Struggles Internationally

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

Big Brands Are Already Targeting Their Competitors with Apple Search Ads (AdWeek)
While iAd’s flashy banner ads ultimately failed, big brands are once again lining up to buy into the technology giant’s month-old app-install ads, Search Ads, which let marketers pay to promote their apps at the top of search results within the App Store with a listing that’s labeled as an ad. 

Openings and New Hires at CallRail, GateHouse Media, Guarantee Digital (Street Fight)
Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. This week’s edition includes moves and new openings at the IAB, Signpost, Boostability and Factual.

Yelp, Struggling Internationally, Lays Off 175 In Sales and Marketing (TechCrunch)
Yesterday, when local ratings and reviews site Yelp posted strong quarterly earnings with a surprise profit of $2.1 million, it also slipped in the news that it plans to lay off 175 people, or four percent of its workforce, mainly in its international operations in sales and marketing roles, after failing to grow its business outside of North America.

Foursquare Licenses Drawbridge’s Cross-Device Identity Data for Location Intelligence (MediaPost)
Foursquare will license Drawbridge’s Connected Consumer Graph to support products that provide insights to marketers, including Foursquare Attribution.

Raise Report: New Funding for Hollar, Culture Trip, Silvair (Street Fight)
Every two weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes new funding for CaliberMind, OpenDataSoft, and Otonomo.

Convenience Store Chain QuickChek Leverages PlaceIQ to Understand Digital Ad Spend (AdExchanger)
QuickChek used PlaceIQ to find people who had visited before but not recently, and to identify its competitors’ customers in particular geos. The results were something Rush could bring back to his boss. The visitation rate among consumers within the target was 83% higher than the control group.

In High-Tech Marketing Age, Coupons Remain Top Tactic for Loyalty (eMarketer)
More than 70% of US internet users said their purchase decisions were influenced by coupons and discounts, according to a September 2016 survey from Bazaarvoice and CMO Council. Coupons and discounts influenced far more US internet users than any other factor, according to the survey.

Borrell LOAC West: NextDoor Is Seen as ‘Hyperlocal Angie’s List’ (Local Onliner)
NextDoor, the well-funded neighborhood discussion platform, is eying deeper relationships with local merchants and service providers (and monetization). VP of Business Development Craig Donato noted that NextDoor is up to almost 116,000 neighborhoods of 500-750 households – more than double last year’s count.

Amazon Reportedly Expands Effort to Build Physical Stores Overseas (Business Insider)
Amazon is planning to open physical stores, alongside warehouses, in the Australian market by next September. This would make Australia the first non-US market to have Amazon’s brick-and-mortar store. Amazon currently has three physical bookstores and over 25 pop-up stores in the US, and sees potential for up to 2,000 grocery stores over the next decade.

Marketers Must Prepare for Platform Giants’ Measurement Mistakes (AdExchanger)
Alon Amit: Although mistakes do happen, brands and agencies still need to deal with the consequences, stay abreast of other changes made by platform providers and perform periodic checks and balances.

LBMA Podcast: Sam’s Club, Pizza Hut, and IHG’s Sasha Trifunac (Street Fight)
This Week in Location Based Marketing is a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association with Asif Khan and Aubriana Lopez. On the show: Smart Water + Proxama, Google’s OTTO, InContext + Intel Capital, Tesco, LinkNYC to UK, Sue Bee Honey & InMarket, Bank of America, and Groupon buys LivingSocial.

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