News and Analysis

back-to-school kids

Retailers Use AI to Mine Social Data for Back-to-School Trends

Share this:

Students across the country are returning to the classroom this month — some for the first time in more than a year. While early indications show strong late-summer back-to-school sales, retailers aren’t leaving anything up to chance. Widespread confusion around health policies, safety protocols, and required supplies that can vary by school are leading retailers to rely on social media and artificial intelligence to collect information on emerging themes and trends.

G2 Brings Yelp’s Peer Advice Model to Software Reviews

Share this:

G2 is a software marketplace that publishes reviews from actual software users, rather than relying on industry analysis. The company recently raised $157 million in Series D funding from investors including Hubspot Ventures, Salesforce Investors, and LinkedIn.

Idomoo Launches Interactive Video Platform

Share this:

Could highly personalized interactive video become the primary way that businesses communicate with customers in the future? That’s what the team at Idomoo is betting on. The company is launching a fully open, enterprise-grade platform called Living Video that will enable businesses to automatically update videos in real-time based on context and user input.

Commentary

LBMA Vidcast: Factual, Walgreens, Burger King

Share this:

On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association podcast: Factual partners with Airship & Braze, Class action against all 4 U.S. mobile operators, Decathalon opens first U.S. store, Burger King delivers in Mexico City traffic jams, Para’Kito goes AR with Georgia Pacific, Walgreens teams with Narvar.

Twitter Time: Responsible Writing in Today’s Media Landscape

Share this:

If criticism of Twitter and the news media is ubiquitous, it is largely because content on those platforms so often fails to rise to the challenge of responsibility. It aims to produce outrage and push partisan narratives without interrogating its assumptions and all the facts in play. It lacks thought at a time when the endless and rapid reproduction of content in digital space demands we be more thoughtful than ever because we never know where and in how many places our words will reappear.

Chrome Cookie Changes to Affect All—Not Just the Top Line

Share this:

Google’s latest Chrome changes may sound abstract to those of us who are on the ground doing digital ad work, but they will soon come to dominate our industry. If you work in display advertising at a brand and read the announcement, I’m sure you know at some point the dynamics of the ecosystem will change. But this is going to be big — your entire set of knowledge will soon be different. You’ll need to learn how first-party data looks, is captured, and how to connect first-party data that represents intent to first-party stable identifiers like email.

Latest Posts

As the Local News Industry Struggles, Publishers Ask Readers to Pay

Share this:

The local news industry, fighting for survival, is turning its readers into customers. Sites are either charging readers for premium content — after up to 10 free visits a month — or setting up “membership” programs where readers make voluntary monthly or yearly payments.

Street Fight Daily: The Future of Facebook Video, Programmatic’s Year to Prove Itself

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… 2018 Will Be a Pivotal Year for Facebook’s Video Ambitions… Programmatic Faces a Turning Point in 2018… The Limits of Amazon…

Street Fight’s Predictions for 2018: Part Two

Share this:

As 2017 draws to a close, we’ve once again asked Street Fight staffers, columnists, and friends to look into their crystal ball and offer prognostications for what they thought will be the biggest story (or stories) in local in 2018. This is the second part of a two-part series.

LBMA Podcast: 2018 Predictions Edition

Share this:

This Week in Location Based Marketing, a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association. On the 2018 predictions show. Asif Khan, Rob Woodbridge, & Aubriana Lopez take a look at the past year and glimpse into the future.

Street Fight Daily: Uber-SoftBank Deal Clears, Swarm Offers Businesses a Path to Social Prominence

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Uber Sells Stake to SoftBank, Valuing Company at $48 Billion… Swarm Emerges as a Serious Social Tool, Capable of Boosting Reps of Brick-and-Mortars… In 2017, Amazon Will Turn to Private Label Goods…

Street Fight’s Predictions for 2018: Part One

Share this:

As 2017 draws to a close, we’ve once again asked Street Fight staffers, columnists, and friends to look into their crystal ball and offer prognostications for what they thought will be the biggest story (or stories) in local in 2018.

Street Fight Daily: Google Says Sites Can Still Opt Out of Web Crawling, The Alexa Revolution

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Good News for Yelp — Google Will Continue to Allow Sites to Opt Out of Its Web Crawling… Millions Use Alexa to Shop, and Brands Need to Start Paying Attention… Brand Safety in 2017: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going…

With Data and Local Guides, Google Maps Stays Ahead of the Rest

Share this:

Justin O’Beirne marvels that, with the AOI initiative, Google has figured out how to “create data out of data,” meaning that AOIs are a mashup of 3D modeling and data extraction from images. Looked at more broadly, this is not the only example where Google has built features on top of features within the Maps universe.

Street Fight Daily: Amazon Thrives on Last-Minute Shopping, Pubs See Gains in E-Commerce

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Last-Minute Shoppers Boost Amazon As Yearly Usage of Expedited Delivery Services Doubles… For Some Publishers, The Holidays Bring Jumps in E-Commerce Sales… Search Disruption: How Brands Will Compete with the Duopoly in 2018…

Case Study: How a Brooklyn Retailer Brings E-Commerce Shoppers In-Store

Share this:

As a local store selling gifts and other mid-century modern vintage items in Brooklyn, New York, Woods Grove has a hard time competing with national chains. But the local retailer has managed to piggyback on the success of e-commerce heavyweights like Everlane and Tradesy.