Street Fight Daily: Digital Advertising Booms in 2016, CloudTags Boosts Brick-and-Mortar Businesses

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

Digital Advertising Grew Double Digits Again to Hit $17.6 Billion in Q3 (AdWeek)
Marketers spent 20 percent more year over year on digital advertising in the third quarter to total $17.6 billion, per the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s report on Wednesday. 

Street Fight Staff and Friends Predict 2017’s Top Stories (Part Two) (Street Fight)
As 2016 draws to a close, we’ve once again asked Street Fight staffers and columnists to look into their crystal ball and offer prognostications for what they think will be the biggest story (or stories) in local in 2017.

CloudTags Helps Brick-and-Mortar Stores Become ‘Connected’ Businesses (eMarketer)
James Yancey, CEO and co-founder of in-store marketing technology provider CloudTags, talks about how the vendor is helping brands like Crate and Barrel and Timberland make in-store experiences more digitally connected and engaging. 

Facebook Messenger for Web Now Allows Search in Conversations (VentureBeat)
The feature works for bots, which have been a big focus area for Facebook’s Messenger platform this year. Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook-owned Instagram don’t currently have an easy way to search for text in conversations.

Ad Tech’s Biggest Winners and Losers in 2016 (Digiday)
Ad tech had a mixed year. Venture capital for the sector slowed down, while mergers and acquisitions rose. Here are the biggest winners and losers in ad tech this year.

Microsoft and Google Redefine Search Through Chatbots, Messaging (MediaPost)
When interacting with retailers, nearly one-third of consumers —28.9% — prefer to use a chatbot while 29% prefer to pick up the phone and 27% like to email. Some 37% of survey respondents ages 18 to 34 rank chat as their favorite way to contact companies when making a purchase.

Uber, Lyft Respond to Al Franken’s Discrimination Concerns (Washington Post)
The letters from Uber and Lyft, dated Nov. 30 and Dec. 16, respectively, said the companies would continue to look for ways to reduce discrimination while also releasing enough identifying information to establish trust and transparency between the driver and passenger.

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