News and Analysis

Brands Rethink Return Policies to Build Customer Loyalty

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If generous return policies aren’t sustainable from a financial perspective, and restrictive return policies lead to high rates of customer churn, what’s the solution?

Merchants React to New Data Theft Concerns

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As more digital marketing and customer management solutions come online, security breaches are happening with increasing frequency. The threat is becoming a real issue for merchants, who are now faced with growing concerns among consumers and tightened privacy restrictions from government controllers.

Fintech Startup Fast Changes How and Where Customers Shop

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Fast’s payment button processes orders in seconds and, in the two-and-a-half years it’s been around, the company has secured $124.5 million in funding.

Commentary

Who’s Winning the Reviews Race? How Do We Define Winning?

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In their latest Street Fight conversation, Mike Blumenthal and David Mihm examine the state of the local reviews space and assess the reasons for Google’s dominance. “For me, the question of the future is whether Google’s behaviors will impact the remaining vertical sites over the next 10 years,” Mike writes.

To Understand the Tech Industry’s Responsibilities, We Must Think Differently About Humanity

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These questions would be preludes to less abstract ones that will seem more familiar to the creatures of Silicon Valley. Is Facebook responsible if people use WhatsApp and Messenger to spread false news and incite genocide? Is that just the fault of (heinous) people being (heinous) people or should the platforms be held accountable? As for privacy and data collection, what rights do people have to safeguard their information from the communications platforms they use? What does data scraped from Google search or Amazon’s facial recognition technology have to do with our identities? Can data be human?

LBMA Vidcast: Macy’s & Pinterest; PlaceIQ, PMG, and Old Navy

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On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association podcast: Trial Run Media’s ABIE, Cheek-It’s scavenger hunt, JCDeacaux + Location Sciences, Macy’s launches OUT[FITS] with Pinterest, PlaceIQ partners with PMG on Old Navy, Admetrix + Locomizer.  Research: S4M & LBMA contrast GDPR vs. CCPA

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Feed to Demote Pubs and Brands, Amazon Takes it Slow on Alexa Ads

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook to Make Major News Feed Change That Demotes Publishers and Brands… Amazon to Agencies: Alexa is the Future, But We’re Going Slow on Voice Ads… How CES Highlights the Speed of Change for Brands…

Local SEOs: Don’t Play These Google Games

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Trying to game Google today is not worth the risk. Yet every day I see examples online and talk to digital marketers, agencies and businesses who are still trying to trick Google. Whether you’re optimizing your client’s business or your own, here are a few local SEO games you should stop playing with Google.

Facebook Brings Users to Local Sites — But the Rest Is Up to the Sites

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The verdict is in: local news publishers do need Facebook, Google and other giant distribution platforms. But only to get the first part of the job done. Whether you’re a self-funded entrepreneurial pure-play publisher or a corporate chain of daily newspapers, you can’t, on your own, generate all the traffic that the platforms deliver to your site.

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Tests Feed for Local News and Events, Amazon Partners with Toyota

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook Is Testing a Feed Specifically for Local News and Events… Amazon Is Bringing Alexa to Your Toyota… AI Troubles Marketers More Than Any Other Technology…

5 Retailers Tapping Voice-Controlled Assistants for Frictionless Shopping

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According to a survey by Linc and BrandGarage, one-in-five retailers already believes voice will be an important channel within two years, and 44% of retailers that are increasing their use of AI say they’re doing so through conversational commerce interfaces, Here’s how five major retailers are harnessing the technology.

Why Location Is a Competitive Edge For National Retailers

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We recently caught up with Local SEO Guide CEO Andrew Shotland whose Local SEO Ranking Factors report finds that national brands’ migration to local search, especially multi-location retailers. Focused erstwhile on e-commerce, competitive pressure has compelled them to view their locations as an edge in local search.

Street Fight Daily: Snap’s Secret User Data Paints a Dismal Picture, Mobile Shopping on the Rise

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Snap Employees Leak Data That Doesn’t Bode Well for the Secretive Company… Mobile Shopping Saw a Steep Jump Over the Holidays… Verizon’s Oath Explores the Drivers Behind ‘Brand Love’…

6 Self-Service Location Intelligence Solutions

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By opening their platforms up as self-service solutions, location intelligence firms are hoping to provide clients with more open access and to inspire creativity in using existing tools in new and innovative ways. Here are six examples of vendors providing location intelligence capabilities to clients through a self-service model.

Street Fight Daily: Voice Takes Center Stage at CES, Pizza Hut Bets on Self-Driving Future of Delivery

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Marketers Are Racing to Reach Rapidly Growing Audiences on Echo and Google Home… Pizza Hut, Toyota Team Up for Pizza Delivery in Driverless Vehicles… Vox Media Takes a Measured Approach in Growing Its Programmatic Marketplace…

Why CMOs Will Be the Most Important Executives in 2018

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To today’s consumer, products and brands are plaited into a single entity. Thus, a company’s “product” now encompasses a consumer’s brand perception, interaction with its products, and affinity for its communities.