Street Fight Daily: Facebook’s Static Local ‘Potential,’ SMBs Assess Options to Replace Websites
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Facebook’s Perennial ‘Potential’ in Local (Street Fight)
“In Facebook’s pivot to focusing on person-to-person communications and its strong emphasis on messaging, is there an implicit concession that the company will not make Facebook itself the center of its local effort?” Mike Blumenthal asks in this week’s biweekly column with David Mihm.
Gauging the Opportunity to Replace Local Merchants’ Websites (Street Fight)
David Card: We asked respondents what they used their sites for, and, considering the functions they deemed most important, whether they could replace them with a list of suggested companies and platforms. Facebook’s company pages and Google’s enriched listings topped the list.
Global Ad Spend Is Set for Monster Growth in 2018 (AdExchanger)
In a report released Monday, IPG-owned Magna Global significantly revised its global ad market growth projection from 5.2% to 6.4%, which translates to $551 billion in global ad spend. In Q1, Google and Facebook’s collective ad revenue increased an eye-popping 31% globally.
Apple Pay, Google Pay Decline in Merchant Acceptance (MediaPost)
While nearly half (47%) of merchants consider mobile very important for payments, their support for some of the best known mobile payment methods has declined, according to a new recurring study.
Mobile Apps Are Musts for Most Brands, As Long As Users Like Them (NYT)
The brand app is no longer just a gimmick to assuage smartphone-addicted millennials. It’s considered a crucial part of a company’s financial strategy.
Amazon’s Whole Foods Deal Sent Some Retailers into Google’s Waiting Arms (CNBC)
In the last year, the search giant has become an increasingly attractive partner for retailers looking for ways to compete with Amazon, allowing it to explore new business models and alliances.
Adobe Could Be the Next $10 Billion Dollar Software Company (TechCrunch)
The company announced $2.2 billion in revenue for the quarter up 24 percent year over year. That puts them on an impressive $8.8 billion run rate, within reach of becoming the next $10 billion software company (or at least on a run rate).
Just Eat Wants to Use AR to Drive Delivery Orders (Digiday)
For Just Eat, augmented reality isn’t just about people playing with trippy camera effects—it’s a way to drive sales on social networks.
