‘Post-Industrial Journalism’ Report Deserves an A, and an F

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A new report from Columbia’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism takes a look at everything that’s wrong with digital journalism, starting at the top and going all the way down to the hyperlocal level. The report pins antiquated journalistic practices to the wall and recommends specific fixes. But it also wrongly asserts that the Internet has permanently “wrecked” journalism’s advertising model.

Local Corp CEO: Mobile Is a Type of Traffic, Not a Type of Product

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Street Fight recently caught up with Local Corporation CEO Heath Clarke, who has helmed the company since 2001 — several lifetimes ago in Internet years. He talked about the company’s position in the hyperlocal ecosystem, the growing importance of mobile for SMBs and the future of daily deals as a category…

5 Social Gifting Apps That SMBs Can Use to Connect With Customers

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Social gifting apps allow users to send physical items or gift cards via Facebook or email, combining social media marketing and e-commerce. While some gifting platforms are aimed at national brands, a number of services are popping up that local merchants can use. Here are five…

Street Fight Daily: Google Maps on iOS, Amazon Pushes Local Services

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.While Apple Regroups, Google Offers a Maps App (The New York Times)… Amazon’s Latest Experiment: Installing Your TV and Other Household Items (GeekWire)… An Apple-Foursquare Hookup Could Mean The End Of Yelp Reviews In iOS (TechCrunch)…

Street Fight Daily: Groupon a Tough Sell, TripAdvisor Changes Hands

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.When Does Groupon — Still at More Than 80 Percent Off — Become a Deal for Someone? (AllThingsD)… TripAdvisor Shifts to Malone (The Wall Street Journal)… Verizon Responds to FCC Complaint Over Blocking of Google Wallet, Says Google Needs to Change the App (Droid-Life)…

Should the Wash Post Expand Local or Give Up the Ghost?

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Washington Post ombudsman Patrick Pexton is worried that his paper isn’t doing enough local coverage — and believes that a simple resource reallocation might fix the mix. But some think that fixing what ails the Washington Post’s local coverage is not that simple. In fact, says media blogger Alan Mutter, local coverage of this sort might not even make sense, considering the paper’s mission…

After the ‘Fiscal Cliff,’ an Opening for the ‘Journalism of Hope’

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In the coming years, the reverberations from big cuts in federal spending along with the likely new stimulus spending will continue throughout America, from Washington to the states, cities, suburbs, and rural communities – and to every one of the 50,690 census tracts. This will be a long-running story that USA Today and the Gannett local papers could own – and monetize on their websites…

How Social Search Changes the Way We Find Local Businesses

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As online maps, directories and social media evolve, consumers are finding new ways to locate local businesses — and social search has become increasingly important, as users integrate the recommendations of friends into their local searches. Street Fight recently spoke with Wajam, a company that integrates social media into online searches, about how social media is changing the way people find merchants, and what social search might mean for the future of Yelp reviews…

Street Fight Daily: Apple Maps ‘Life Threatening,’ Starbucks App for All

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Apple Redraws Maps After Australian Drivers Led Astray in the Bush (The Guardian)… Starbucks Mobile Vets Get $10M for Cardfree Mobile Payments Tool (GigaOm)… Eight Great Location-based Mobile Campaigns from 2012 (Econsultancy)…

What Would a Groupon Acquisition Mean for Google?

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Groupon’s stock price soared Friday on speculation that Google, its onetime suitor, might make an offer for the troubled local commerce firm. It’s unfounded speculation, but an interesting thought experiment nonetheless: How could Google leverage Groupon’s assets to solidify its local commerce offerings?

7 Ways SMBs Can Use Geofencing for Targeted Advertising

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Although large brands have long been reaching consumers in targeted areas through geofencing, smaller businesses have been slow to adopt this new marketing technology. Here are seven tips from the experts on how small businesses can better use geofencing to target consumers in intelligent ways…

Street Fight Daily: Square Gets a Pass, Yelp Reviewer Sued

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Square Slides Into Apple’s Passbook With Digital Gift Cards (AllThingsD)… Yelp Reviewer Gets SLAPPed With 750K Lawsuit And Order To Alter Comments (TechCrunch)… Location-Based Search Revenue Will Reach $6B by 2017 (Mobile Marketer)…

PODCAST: This Week in Location-Based Marketing — Lemon Mobile

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In this week’s episode, hosts Rob Woodbridge and Asif Khan look at apps that track your spouse; analytics companies that profile shoppers; and the state of the group buying business. Plus, special guest Terry Blake of Lemon Mobile…

Street Fight Daily: Tribune Resumes Journatic, Facebook Talks SMBs

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Tribune Resumes Limited Usage of Journatic (Chicago Tribune)… Facebook’s Dan Levy Touts Small Business Growth: Advertisers Have Nearly Doubled Since January, Promoted 2.5M Posts (TechCrunch)… BIA/Kelsey: Deals Still Aim for $5.5B by 2016 (NetNewsCheck)…

Patch Adds COO as Leadership Change Continues

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AOL’s Patch network of hyperlocal news sites has made yet another significant change at the top, naming former Westwood One operations head Steve Kalin to the newly created position of president and COO. Kalin will take responsibility for the company’s daily operations — with the advertising, finance, marketing and content functions all reporting to him…

How E-hail Apps Like Uber Could Impact the Hyperlocal Ecosystem

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It’s entirely conceivable that fast-growing ranks of Uber users would not be averse to other commerce offerings that could be paid for through the phone app. In fact, these users are probably even more used to the idea of paying over the phone than people who use Google Wallet or Apple’s Passbook, neither of which has achieved wide adoption or even viral growth…

Street FIght Daily: AT&T Launches Alerts, Foursquare’s 10.4M Users

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.AT&T Launches AT&T Alerts, A Location-Based Deal Alert Service, As The Field Grows More Crowded (TechCrunch)… Foursquare Has 10.4 Million Monthly Users (AdWeek)… Groupon’s Restaurant Tools Get A VP Of Sales (Fast Company)…

SMB Social Media Is All About Branding, Not Conversions

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SMBs may become frustrated when they can’t see tangible results from social media, but they should realize that most of their potential customers are absorbing and reacting to social media conversations and understanding brands through these interactions. Brand marketing, not the 0% conversion rates, is social media’s key strength…

Conference Notebook: Commerce and Content Collide

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Selling stuff makes most editorial folks uneasy. But as the price of online (not to mention mobile) advertising inventory drops, online shops, affiliate programs, and daily deals are becoming a key revenue strategy for local and national publishers…

Street Fight Daily: Cash Crunch at LivingSocial, Startups Tackle Local

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.LivingSocial May Be Running Dangerously Low on Cash and Time. Will Amazon Come to the Rescue? (Pando Daily)… Startups Tackle the Local Neighborhood as the Next Frontier  (GigaOm)… Google Updates iPad App to Make Search More Local (Mashable)…