News and Analysis
How to Use Generational Priorities to Optimize Ad Targeting
While many brand marketers dig deeper into audience targeting via geolocation, purchase histories, and mobile device identifiers, one of the most obvious differentiating factors between consumers is being overlooked — age.
Fixing Digital Advertising for the Privacy Era Requires a Mindset Shift
Fixing digital advertising for the privacy era requires a mindset shift, according to Alessandro De Zanche, a consultant who is helping publishers like the Financial Times and agencies like Dentsu adjust their strategies for an era of less rampant tracking.
Commentary
The Rise of First-Party Data: Why Quality Matters Over Quantity
For years, digital marketers have paid hand over fist in the digital gold rush for data. Instead of a tangible product, tech companies earn millions in revenue from the data they collect on previous, current, and future digital consumers. But digital marketers seeking to gobble up as much data as they can for their campaigns — while not stopping to consider the source of or methods used to collect it — are taking the wrong approach. The age-old mantra of “quality over quantity” has never been more relevant in online advertising, and marketers must quickly and fully embrace first-party data or risk their digital campaigns (and bottom lines) falling flat.
Are Google’s Many Broken Features Reflections of Google’s Style?
Mike to David: To some extent, the Google “method” of release quickly, break often, iterate, and finally reject or accept a change collides very directly when it interfaces with the much slower-moving real world.
David: This speaks to our ongoing antitrust discussion and whether business harm is a justifiable prong on which to spear Google. Volatility is one thing, but a broken utility is another. And realistically, because of Google’s market position, small businesses have nowhere to turn when that utility is flat-out failing on fundamental levels.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Google Announces Huge Local Ad News, How Apple Can Use Maps Rebuild to Compete in Local
CUTTING-EDGE POSSIBILITIES AND POWER PLAYS IN LOCAL… Google Announces Machine Learning-Based Ads Designed for Foot Traffic, Attribution, Personalization… 10 Ways Apple Can Rebuild Maps to Become an Innovator in Local…
10 Ways Apple Can Rebuild Maps to Become an Innovator in Local
As Apple relaunches Maps, I’m eager to see underlying map data improve, but I’d be even more interested if I knew Apple had a roadmap to improve the local data layer. Here are some things Apple should do if the company truly wants to move beyond its second-place status in local.
Heard on the Street Episode 7: Defying the Hyperlocal Graveyard, with NextDoor
One of the imperatives for fledgling sites with hyperlocal aspirations that NextDoor co-founder and chief architect Prakash Janakiraman points to is dedicated focus on neighbor-to-neighbor communications and engagement. Though not as big or culturally embedded as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, NextDoor is exclusively devoted to local community interaction.
How AR Will Fundamentally Change Search, Participating in an ‘Internet of Places’
Online-to-offline (O2O) commerce is one area where AR will find a home. Just think: Is there any better technology to unlock O2O commerce than one that literally melds physical and digital worlds? AR can shorten gaps in time and space that currently separate those interactions (e.g. search) from offline outcomes.
Street Fight Daily: Prime Day, Amazon’s Power, and Local; Google’s Mobile Speed Update and SMBs
BIG MOVES AND TOP TAKES IN LOCAL… Prime Day Showcases the Power of an E-Commerce Empire—And What It Means for Local… Why Google’s Mobile Speed Update Smells Like Trouble for Small Businesses… Simpli.fi Reaches Next Level in Precise Location Targeting…
Foursquare Announces New Chief Revenue Officer, Liz Ritzcovan
Ritzcovan’s mission will center on “client centricity.” She’ll be tasked with optimizing Foursquare’s relationships with its clients as the company seeks to make the case that its suite of resources for brands looking to connect the digital and physical worlds is both comprehensive and indispensable.
Restaurant Management Platform Toast Raises a Whopping $115 Million
Restaurant management platform Toast is announcing a $115 million Series D this morning. Courtesy of T. Rowe Price Associates, the round values Toast at $1.4 billion.
Simpli.fi Reaches Next Level in Precise Location Targeting
As of this morning, advertisers using Simpli.fi’s programmatic advertising platform will have access to Addressable Geo-Fencing, a solution that Simpli.fi’s vice president of marketing Ryan Horn says is the next logical step in the localization and personalization of programmatic advertising.
Prime Day Showcases the Power of an E-Commerce Empire—And What It Means for Local
Prime Day underscores Amazon’s power in the retail market because it compels the over 100 million consumers who pay for that service to make the most of their investment by purchasing directly from Amazon. Local businesses are hardly in a position to compete.
Why Google’s Mobile Speed Update Smells Like Trouble for Small Businesses
The murky guidelines surrounding just whom and how many people and sites the mobile speed update may affect—and how exactly businesses in the line of fire are to amend unsatisfactory practices—spells potential trouble for small businesses.



















































Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem