Street Fight Daily: The American Version of GDPR Is Coming, Supersized Funding Rounds Becoming Common
TODAY IN LOCAL & DIGITAL MARKETING
Should Ad Tech Panic Over the California Privacy Protection Act Now or Later? (AdExchanger)
Gary Kibel: The law, which takes effect in less than 1 ½ years, Jan. 1, 2020, ushers in a GDPR-light approach here in the United States. No more buffer. No more distant regulators unable or unwilling to reach US companies on their home turf. If they haven’t already done so, the time for ad tech companies to change the way they store and process data is fast approaching.
$100 Million Was Once Big Money for a Startup. Now, It’s Common (NYT)
Start-ups raising $100 million or more from investors — known as a mega-round in Silicon Valley — used to be a rarity. But now, they are practically routine, producing a frenzy around tech companies with enough scale and momentum to absorb a large check.
Bridg Positions Itself as Marketing Arm for Offline Businesses (Street Fight)
Many brick-and-mortar businesses struggle to track and market to their customers in a way that generates additional sales. A startup called Bridg is looking to change that by launching a platform designed to help restaurants and retailers connect with “previously invisible” customers.
Uberall Partners With TripAdvisor for Multilocation Reputation Management (Street Fight)
While it has become commonplace for hotels and restaurants to check their TripAdvisor ratings on a regular basis, the process breaks down as the size of the business grows, causing brands with hundreds of locations to struggle. The digital location marketing platform Uberall is trying to change that.
Localizing Brands in 2018: A Discussion with MomentFeed’s Robert Blatt (Local Onliner)
MomentFeed CEO Robert Blatt chatted last week with Local Onliner about brands’ growing embrace of localized digital services and what he calls their “distributed engagement.”
TRUST AND SECURITY
Amazon Prime’s One-Day Delivery Claim Misled Consumers, Ad Body Says (CNBC)
The U.K.’s advertising body has ruled that Amazon cannot make some claims about next-day delivery for its Prime service after 280 people complained they didn’t receive items the day after ordering.
Uber Names Matt Olsen Chief Security Officer (Reuters)
Khosrowshahi hired Olsen, a former general counsel of the U.S. National Security Agency, in November following a breach in 2016 that exposed the data of some 57 million users of the ride-sharing service.
PUBLISHING CONSOLIDATION
Facebook Buys Vidpresso’s Team and Tech to Make Video Interactive (TechCrunch)
Zombie-like passive consumption of static video is both unhealthy for viewers and undifferentiated for the tech giants that power it. That’s set Facebook on a mission to make video interactive, full of conversation with broadcasters and fellow viewers.
Bustle Buys Flavorpill (Axios)
Bustle Digital Group (BDG) will announce today the acquisition of Flavorpill Media Inc., an online publisher and experiential brand focused on events. Terms will not be disclosed.
