News and Analysis

Report: Privacy and Walled Gardens Risk Undermining Marketing Strategy

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Marketing strategies, and the data they run on, face systemic risk in 2021. More than ever before, marketers’ access to customer data is being cut off by increased privacy restrictions from governments and private gatekeepers alike.

Retail Employee of the Future

6 Omnichannel Ad Buying Platforms for Brands

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With much of the $664 billion advertising market in flux, there’s a renewed focus on omnichannel platforms that use integrated workflows to improve efficiencies and reduce redundant work. This next generation of ad buying solutions takes into account disparate channels and audiences, enabling brand marketers to automate and optimize campaigns across ecosystems.

QR Code

6 QR Code Ordering Solutions for Restaurants

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QR codes are finding new life as businesses adapt to the ongoing pandemic. Consumers seeking out touchless payment opportunities and businesses wanting the ability to integrate more tools for tracking and analytics are embracing the technology with a level of enthusiasm we haven’t seen before.

Commentary

The Role of Location in Attribution

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Let’s face it—we are a long way from being able to show that digital campaigns, and most other advertising formats, resulted in specific in-store sales. There are simply too many unconnected data silos to stitch together meaningful and statistically relevant results. The ad seen on TV can’t inform your phone or laptop that it’s also seen the ad, while the point-of-sale system or online checkout can’t notify those previous touch points to confirm the sale occurred. So if the scale of accurate location data prevents it from being a true stand-alone solution for proving attribution, what role will it play?

Lead Gen Spam: Bad for the Consumer, Bad for Business, and Bad for the Local Ecosystem

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Blumenthal to Mihm, on lead gen spam: The real issue for me is that Google Maps is really like a public utility, and Google is not doing enough to protect the consumers of that product. There is significant harm in the deception of the consumer, the blocking out of legitimate businesses, and the possibility that the consumer public will lose trust in the whole, creaky house of cards.

The Blind Spot in Facebook’s Vision of Privacy

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Insofar as Facebook’s pivot to privacy fails to reward its users for the data that has made it one of the world’s most powerful and profitable companies, I see it as a modest change that is more reactive than proactive, more inevitable than forward-thinking. It is likely that Facebook is only beginning to lay out its moves on privacy, and more ambitious changes may lie ahead. But for now, when it comes to the most pressing, fundamental ethical challenges that are inciting political fervor and increasing the likelihood that serious regulation of Big Tech is on the way, Zuckerberg is dragging his feet. With visionaries like Lanier and Zuboff raising public awareness about Facebook’s business model, the truth may just catch up with him.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: What the Time Sale Portends for Media, Moment of Truth Approaches for Uber

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… What the Blockbuster Sale of Time Inc Means for the Media… Here’s What You Need to Know About Softbank’s Tender Offer for Uber Coming Tomorrow… As Amazon Marketing Grows, Agencies Sees an Opportunity…

Openings and New Hires at Empyr, Vistar Media, LotLinx

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Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest openings and new hires in this dynamic industry. This week’s edition includes moves and new openings at SurePath Capital Partners, Brandify, and Foursquare.

Street Fight Daily: Snap Selling New Type of Ad, Net Neutrality Repeal Could Affect Marketers

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Snapchat Is Selling a New Type of Ad in Time for the Holidays: Promoted Stories… Marketers Fear the FCC’s Plan to Kill Net Neutrality Could Affect Advertising Prices… Advertisers Express Interest in Bringing Programmatic In-House..

How the End of Network Neutrality Could Affect SMBs and the Public Interest

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For many years, the government’s assessment of the public interest was to encourage Web access to all. The current FCC, however, contends that this position is better met by eliminating the net neutrality rules — that SMBs will be able to have a variety of ISP options based on their actual needs with the end of the net neutrality rules.

Street Fight Daily: Uber Hid 2016 Data Breach from Users, Huge Ad Fraud Scheme Uncovered

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Uber Hid a 2016 Data Breach That Affected 57 Million People And Paid Off the Hackers… Fake-Ad Operation Used to Steal from Publishers Is Uncovered… The NYT Is Making All of Its Ads Available Programmatically…

Social Media Gets the Local Spending Growth, Partly by Default

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Social media is widely used — and deemed particularly effective — by SMBs. But when you dig deeper, it looks like most local marketers are using social media as substitute for display advertising (and to reach mobile audiences) rather than as a uniquely local or even “social” medium.

Sponsored Content: Optimizing Map Listings to Drive Search Results

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In this article, we will take a close look at the role that maps and map listings, such as Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Bing Maps, are playing in the local search ecosystem. We will delve into how the data from those services is driving desktop, mobile, and voice search.

Street Fight Daily: Chatting with SMBs on Messenger Booms, Good News for Brick-and-Mortars

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… 330 Million People Connected with SMBs via Messenger for First Time in 2017… Brick-and-Mortar Chains Put E-Commerce on Defensive for Once… Google Collects Android Users’ Location Data Even When Location Services Are Disabled…

How Voice Assistants Could Transform Local (Part II)

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Voice assistants continue to evolve as a medium for local search, as I examined here last month. But what does it mean for local media players and startups? If consumers are increasingly searching with voice, how do you wedge your way into that conversation?

How Facebook Turns ‘Likes’ Into Dollars Right Down to the Local Level

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Local news publishers typically know many of their community restaurateurs on a first-name basis, and are regular diners at the establishments. But they can’t offer the precise targeting capability of Facebook, whose services are, in most cases, fully automated — greatly lowering their cost.