News and Analysis
Mobile Madness: Expert Roundup 2
Mobile has been a hot subject for the past year as marketers and technologists figure out how to map customer behavior and orchestrate marketing in the wake of Apple’s anti-tracking AppTrackingTransparency policy. In this roundup, experts from CatapultX, Ericsson Emodo, PPRO, and Mobivity weigh in on best practices for one of digital marketing’s most important devices.
Savvy Retailers Are Turning Returns Into Revenue — Here’s How
Returns are inherently expensive due to shipping and restocking fees, but some retailers are finding ways around those issues. In the process, they’re coming up with new strategies for building revenue streams from customer returns.
Google Is Using AI to Improve Business Listings — Here’s How
Google said it would be using artificial intelligence and machine learning to build a self-updating Maps product that predicts when business hours are likely to be wrong and updates listings automatically using AI-generated predictions.
Commentary
LBMA Vidcast: Snapchat Using OOH & AR; Gig Economy Under Fire
On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association podcast: Snapchat using OOH + AR, Zippin has store at Sacramento Kings stadium, Gig Economy under fire in California, Michael’s Stores + UPS, Wirecard partners with SES-imagotag, UPS gets drone fleet approval in U.S.
Adapting to New iOS13 and Android Q Location Sharing Permission Changes: What to Expect
This month, both Apple and Google released significant updates to their operating systems (OS) that will have a big impact on the way location data is shared and collected. It is just one of many ways the tech industry is trying to self-regulate and protect consumers’ information in the absence of federal-level privacy regulations.
These new location-sharing permission changes impact an app’s ability to gather the necessary data they need to build location-based app features, and while it’s too early to understand the significance of the impact, these changes give a clear indication of how the tech industry must evolve to be more transparent with consumers and provide clearer, opt-in consent through any data exchange.
Adapting and adjusting to these changes first and foremost require a high-level understanding of what specifically these updates include, and how they impact the interaction between an app and its users.
Retail as a Service: Amazon Tips its Hand
Amazon has a knack for moving into new vertical segments and then applying its logistical mastery and economies of scale to carve out margins and undercut incumbents. Then, it doubles down by scaling things up to its signature high-volume/low-margin approach. As Jeff Bezos ruthlessly admits, “Your margin is my opportunity.”
The latest place for this to unfold is retail. No, we’re not talking about Whole Foods, though that’s part it (more on that in a bit). We’re talking about Amazon’s transformation of the in-store experience — upending and streamlining logistics just like it’s done in shipping and cloud computing.
Here are some predictions for how Amazon’s disruption of retail via licensing of its Go technology will upend the industry.
Latest Posts
How Peoria Journal Star Did a Lot More With Less After Deep Cuts Shrank the Newsroom
“We made it our mission, working with our publisher at the time, Ken Mauser, that we would reach out to the people of the South Side and make sure they had a place where they could tell us about the good things happening where they live,” Peoria Journal Star Executive Editor Dennis Anderon says of reaching out to neglected community members.
Street Fight Daily: Facebook Expected to Bring Bidding to In-App Ads, Barriers to Online-Offline Attribution
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook Offers Brands In-App Ads… Performance Pricing Pitfalls: The Truth About Offline-Visit Data for Advertisers… TGI Friday’s AI-Powered Marketing Drives $150 Million…
Report: Brands Abandoning Social Media Measurement
The rise of tools like IoT and chatbots, along with reliable channels like email, have cut into the diminished albeit still powerful role of social along the customer journey, explains Mark Smith, president and CEO of Kitewheel.
Most Local Merchants Unfazed by Facebook Controversies, Though Some Signs of Trouble
By now, consequences of the negative aura surrounding Facebook’s role in customer info abuse, fake news, and Russian political meddling should have started to take hold. Yet over half of local merchants we polled said they would continue to use Facebook as they had previously, and only one in five said they may use it less.
Street Fight Daily: Local Merchants Unfazed by Facebook Controversy, Consumers Apprehensive on Voice
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Most Local Merchants Unfazed by Facebook Controversies, Though Some Signs of Trouble… Report: Brands Abandoning Social Media Measurement… Microsoft’s GitHub Deal Marks Latest Shift from Windows…
Report: 71% of Retailers Now Leverage Location Data for Advertising
Nearly eight in 10 retailers now partner with third-party data providers to collect geolocation data, and 71% are leveraging location data for advertising purposes, according to a new report sponsored by Blis.
Google’s Local Improvements—Posts Become Essential, and Mike Wins the Bet!
“Google’s made plenty of laudatory improvements to Google My Business and associated products over the past 24 months, and there does seem to be a qualitative shift in the way it’s approaching the space,” David Mihm tells Mike Blumenthal in their biweekly column.
Street Fight Daily: Apple Wants In on Digital Ad Bonanza, Microsoft Buys GitHub
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Apple Looks to Expand Advertising Business with New Network for Apps… Microsoft Has Acquired GitHub for $7.5B in Stock… The Cost of a Bad Ad…
Openings and New Hires at GasBuddy, Ansira, Mirriad
Every two weeks, Street Fight rounds up some of the latest hires and new openings in the hyperlocal marketing, tech, and media industries. This week’s edition includes changes at CARTO, PlaceIQ, Cuebiq, and Placed.
Raise Report: Alpha, Neighborhood Goods, ConDati Secure New Funding
Every two or three weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes funding for Riminder, Sentry, Platform.sh, and OnTruck.
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