Street Fight Daily: Amazon Tests New Delivery Service, Foursquare Revamps Developer Site
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Amazon Tests Its Own Delivery Service to Rival UPS and FedEx (Bloomberg)
Amazon is experimenting with a new delivery service intended to make more products available for free two-day delivery and relieve overcrowding in its warehouses. The plan would push the online retailer deeper into functions handled by UPS and FedEx. Digiday: How Amazon is readying its blitz on the ad industry.
Why Brand Success Is About Unique Experiences and Community — And a Massive Audience (Street Fight)
“Look at Amazon versus Walmart,” says GGV Capital’s Hans Tung. “Amazon innovated much faster than Walmart. The way they approach things to make things happen fast, iterate, make changes, do a quick test, change again, test again, change again – that kind of speed is what we look for.”
Foursquare Revamps Its Developer Site as API Usage Soars (TechCrunch)
The new site clarifies what the difference is between the developer offerings. The Places API is the free offering that most developers will use that serves up information on over 105 million places, while the Places database and Pilgrim SDK are designed for enterprise use.
Time to Take a Deep Breath — Local News Isn’t Becoming ‘Extinct’ (Street Fight)
Tom Grubisich: The editors in charge of the slimmed-down newsrooms of local pure-plays know how to leverage technology, data and other information to produce coverage that, in some cases, is superior to what was produced in the so-called “golden” age of print.
Will Messenger Lose Out to Snapchat and Instagram Through 2021? (AdWeek)
eMarketer lowered its growth projections for Facebook Messenger through 2021 in favor of sister application Instagram and rival Snapchat. Teens and young adults (age 18 through 24) are engaging less with Messenger and more with Snapchat and Instagram.
Uber Had a Tremendous Year in the UK Before It Lost London License (Business Insider)
Uber’s UK operation saw a massive increase in business and staff count during 2016 before London’s transport regulator refused to renew its license to operate in the capital.
Many Marketers Say Media Buyers Are Responsible for Brand Safety (eMarketer)
New data finds that a majority of advertisers are holding media buyers accountable for brand safety. But they believe communicating their brand identity to agencies and ad buying networks can help.
Google’s New Gadgets Come with Big Helping of AI (NYT)
One nagging question lingers for Google, which makes nearly all of its money from selling online advertisements: Is it finally serious about making devices?
The Open Marketplace Works for Advance Local (AdExchanger)
While many publishers and buyers are moving to closed, curated programmatic environments due to brand safety, fraud and viewability concerns, Advance Local is focused on driving yield in the open marketplace.
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