News and Analysis

Last-Mile Delivery

Inside the Last-Mile Delivery Crunch

High shipping costs, late deliveries, and lost or stolen packages aren’t uncommon during the busy holiday period, but this year feels different. The so-called shippageddon that retailers are bracing for is creating new worries and new opportunities for creative brands to rise to the top.

What Does the Arrival of Approximate Location Mean for Granular Ad Targeting?

Tucked into ​​Android’s latest privacy update is a change that many marketers didn’t see coming. Smartphone owners with Android 12 or higher now have the option to ​share “approximate” location instead of precise location, restricting app developers from accessing their exact whereabouts in real-time.

Heap Journey Maps

Heap’s Journey Maps Show How Consumers Navigate Digital Experiences

Heap is rolling out a new data science tool designed to help teams understand how users navigate digital experiences. The “Journey Maps” tool is the latest addition to Heap’s suite of data science tools, designed to surface high-impact insights about user behavior on consumers’ websites and digital products.

Commentary

Good Data vs Bad: How to Decide What to Keep and What to Discard

Unfortunately, there’s no “silver bullet” for separating good data from bad. Instead, organizations should think of data quality as a habit, with “good” data clearly defined and concrete processes in place to harvest what’s valuable and discard what isn’t.

With that in mind, here are three steps to taking unfiltered data and deciding what to keep — and what to throw out — to achieve optimal data accuracy.

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

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

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?

Latest Posts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.