Street Fight Daily: 10.14.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups...
MapQuest’s new Vibe uses data collected from the past 10 years about cities’ most popular destinations. Vijay Bangaru, MapQuest vice president of product, writes that the concept originated out of a shift in users’ needs from “maps and directions” to “local search.” (Mashable)…
Groupon and LivingSocial succeed because consumers perceive them as great deals. But is that true? Perhaps not. Thumbtack.com called 10 vendors offering daily deals (five from Groupon and five from LivingSocial) and found eight instances where they were quoted a price over the phone that was cheaper than the advertised regular price being offered. (Business Insider)…
Street Fight Daily: 10.13.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups...
The next update to Foursquare’s iPhone app includes a new feature called Radar, which pulls suggestions from the app’s Explore feature. Depending on your location, it might suggest a nearby restaurant, or remind you that the coffee shop on your to-do list is nearby. It will also tell you when your friends are meeting nearby. (TechCrunch)…
LocalResponse, a local marketing system that pushes targeted ads to users based on their check-ins, has raised $5 million. The money will go toward expanding the sales team and building out an enterprise version of the service for brands and agencies. (GigaOm)…
GPS for Groceries: Aisle411 Might Have the Right Ingredients
Sometimes when I enter a large space with the intention of performing a specific task I quickly lose all my energy and fall to the ground. For instance looking for a moon rock at the Air and Space Museum, or a particular gift item from a cacophonous mall: Down for the count. Looking for cumin at the […]
Street Fight Daily: 10.12.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups...
Gannett’s MomsLikeMe hyperlocal parenting network will cease operating on Friday and its 100-plus town-specific sites will go dark and the content will be deleted. (PaidContent)…
AmazonLocal posted more than 300% revenue growth in September. It has expanded to 40 markets and brought in $4 million of gross revenue in September. (Business Insider)…
#SFS11 Company Profile: SCVNGR/LevelUp
SCVNGR is a mobile marketing platform that uses location-based game mechanics to improve engagement with brands. Since 2010, the company has partnered up with Dunkin’ Donuts, Swarovski, and numerous universities to build custom marketing campaigns on top of its mobile application. At the same time, the company has seen solid engagement with its rewards product aimed at small and medium size merchants…
Street Fight Daily: 10.11.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups...
Microsoft appears to be readying the formal launch of a Bing-branded daily deals website powered by white-label group buying platform service provider Tippr. This offering is notably different from Microsoft’s earlier launch of Bing Deals, which basically features links to aggregated deals from a number of partners. (TechCrunch)…
The daily deal industry has jolted a formerly sleepy corner of the $30 billion online advertising market: the local part of the paid search marketing business. Local search ads that included references to towns and cities were not in demand until daily deal companies started paying handsomely to track down people interested in neighborhood goods and services. (Reuters)…
Sponsored Post: Free Tickets to Social Media Analytics Conference
Business Insider is giving away 5 free tickets to the VentureBeat community for their Social Media Analytics conference, the place to learn how to measure your social-media impact and generate ROI.
Street Fight Daily: 10.10.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups...
All of the major players in the daily deals industry experienced significant gross revenue growth in September. Total industry gross revenue jumped 12%, from an estimated $238 million in August to $267 million in September. The number of deals offered increased by 6%. (Yipit Blog)…
Reports of the death of Groupon’s IPO plans have apparently been greatly exaggerated. The online daily deals pioneer filed an updated version of its S-1 document with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, as part of its preparation for a planned initial public offering of its stock. (GigaOm)…
Local Quotables: Richard Jones, Ellis Hamburger, Bo Fishback and more..
The best words about and around the hyperlocal industry.
Wise words from the outgoing editor of the Saddleworth News; a first-time Foursquarer questions what it’s all about; Yipit’s Vin raises the Google-Groupon question; and Ben Ilfeld comments on the new indie hyperlocal trade association formed last weekend in Chicago. More:
Street Fight Daily: 10.07.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups.
Groupon said in a regulatory filing that it plans to “significantly” reduce online marketing spending over time as such investments yield insufficient returns. (Bloomberg)
“AOL’s management may be committed to Patch for now, but the company can’t continue pouring money into an unprofitable entity forever, no matter how much Webster talks about a “long-term” investment,” writes Mathew Ingram. (GigaOm)…
Street Fight Daily: 10.06.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups...
U.K. regional newspaper publisher Northcliffe Media wants publishers to pay to be part of its hyperlocal network. The group is beginning a “franchise” model, where “franchisees” must pay Northcliffe at least £6,995 ($10810.24) plus VAT to run their own local site. For that, they would get keys to the site, the “ability to sell advertising space” themselves, a “marketing pack” and “handbook” and a whole three days’ training. (Paid Content)…
“It’s not worth trying to be comprehensive” in hyperlocal, writes publisher Richard Jones. “Focus on doing what you’re able to do and do it well, rather than trying to take on the impossible.” (Richard Jones Journalism Blog)…
Street Fight Daily: 10.05.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups...
Apple is launching a new location-sharing feature called Find My Friends, that will allow users to easily share their location with other users. The details are still coming in but users will be able to share their location with friends and find out where their friends and family are in real-time. (GigaOm)…
If enough people buy into Groupon’s IPO, it seems, they all may get a discount, writes Tom Johansmeyer. Of course, this isn’t the goal of the daily deal site, but it could be an unintended consequence. (Business Insider)…
At Chicago Summit, Local ‘Indies’ Get Down to Business
Last week’s Block by Block Community News Summit 2011 was a combination mirror and crystal ball where independent local publishers saw both what they have accomplished and what they need to do to ensure that what they created with their credit cards, sweat and tears would be around years from now…
In Jefferson’s Hometown, a Hyperlocal Focuses on Digital Democracy
Brian Wheeler is executive director of Charlottesville Tomorrow, a thriving nonprofit hyperlocal in Virginia that focuses on land use and other civic issues that are key to protecting the character of the community that was the home of Thomas Jefferson. We talked to Wheeler about his unusual definition of user engagement, and how he’s working to take it to a new level…