News and Analysis

Peer39 Uses First-Party Audience Data to Power Contextual Ads

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Peer39 became one of the latest entrants in the contextual AI space just this morning, launching first-party contextual onboarding to turn advertiser intelligence into future-proof targeting categories. In practice, this means advertisers that can no longer track customers across the Web with cookies can use first-party information about them to serve them ads based on their interests.

Frictionless Payments Evolve Post-Pandemic

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From tethered to cordless, handheld to hands-free. As payment processing hardware continues to evolve, retailers are beginning to experiment with allowing customers to actually become their own point-of-sale systems.

Innovation Brief: AT&T, Cloudflare & Twitter

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M7 Innovations’ Matt Maher discusses AT&T’s new powerhouse, Cloudflare’s latest authentication solution, and Twitter subscriptions. 

Commentary

Going Rogue: The Value of Guerrilla Marketing

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The appeal of guerrilla marketing for the entrepreneur lies in the creative freedom to express the essence of a brand that is not bound by the restraints of size, decorum or editorial slant of traditional advertising, as well as the option for a low-cost campaign with the potential to go viral. Guerrilla marketing can be a bit like rolling the dice on a five and turning it into thousands—if it gets picked up and goes viral, you’ve accomplished a national or even international marketing campaign for the cost of something local.

Here are some tips for crafting a low-cost guerrilla marketing campaign for startups.

Consumers Are Realizing the Value of Their Data. Here’s How Online Marketers Should Respond

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It’s critical for marketers to invest in the right tools and technologies to abide by data-acquisition best practices that are not only compliant with regulations but also ensure consumer trust. At Blis, we conducted a study that digs into what extent consumers are starting to see their own behaviors, and predilections, as a currency. What we found is that marketers have a prime opportunity this year to rebuild trust and transparency with consumers.

The Ethical Stakes of Data Collection and Ad Targeting

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With politicians and everyday political partisans on both the Left and Right peeved at Big Tech (the Left for tech’s role in economic inequality and election hacking, the Right for perceived anti-conservative bias, and thinkers across the spectrum for privacy concerns), it is time for Zuckerberg and his peers to get smarter about the arguments for and against data-driven ad targeting and the business models that rely on it. Facile paeans to relevance are not going to cut it—not with the scrutiny Facebook and the rest of the tech industry are now receiving. Tech executives should be as clear-eyed as their fiercest critics about the ethical underpinnings of their businesses. Only then can innovative, far-reaching conversations about the future of advertising, data collection, privacy, and Big Tech begin.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Google Takes Over Local Bookings, Snap Goes Programmatic

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Reserve with Google Booking Service to Open Beyond U.S. and Include Restaurants… Snap Turns to Programmatic Ads for Snapchat Shows… The Most Successful E-Commerce Brands Build for Mainstream America…

Street Culture: Life at Boxed Means “Do The Right Thing”

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Wholesale ecommerce retailer Boxed is taking its position as team leader seriously. The company pays for its employees’ kids to go to college. It looked at the industry-wide “pink tax” and started a campaign against the higher prices. It even started contributing $20,000 to pay for employees’ weddings.

Raise Report: Hiya, HappyOrNot, Standard Cognition Score New Funding

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Every two weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes funding for Omnyway, Crosser, and Allset.

Street Fight Daily: Lyft Raises $1 Billion & Eyes IPO, Subscriptions Come to Instant Articles

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Lyft Is Said to Explore IPO as It Raises $1 Billion Led by Alphabet… Facebook to Test News Subscription Sign-Up Via Instant Articles… AI Can’t Devise Your Creative, But It Can Handle the Where, What, and When…

Local Media Consortium Not About to Retreat From Its Google and Facebook Ties

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Questions are being raised about whether news publishers should keep expanding their relationships with Google and Facebook, and even whether they should pull out altogether. But you don’t hear that talk from the Local Media Consortium, which represents more than 70 newspaper, broadcasting and other local media companies.

So Long Local Search — Hello Machine-Directed Discovery

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Whatever you thought you knew about getting your business found online and on mobile, or whatever you are currently learning, is already obsolete. The way consumers interact with search technology today is on its way out. Why? Autonomous cars, artificial intelligence and voice commands are all transforming search into something we can only begin to imagine.

Street Fight Daily: Walmart Still Hungry for Startups, Kohl’s Makes Deal With Devil

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… To Keep Up with Tech Competitors, Walmart Says It Will Acquire More Startups… Amazon’s Invasion of Kohl’s Has Begun… Facebook Is Officially Rolling Out Explore, Its Alternative News Feed…

The New Local Ecosystem: An Interview With Darren Shaw

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As of this year, the task of updating the Local Search Ecosystem has been handed to Darren Shaw of Whitespark, who also inherited David Mihm’s other well-known brainchild, the Local Search Ranking Factors report. Last week, Darren released Local Search Ecosystem 2017, a bold departure in visual design and a much-needed update to the last edition, from 2014.

Google Elevates Local Marketing to Prime Time

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Many industry watchers and practitioners correctly perceived the GMB API as a sign of how important it is for businesses to manage their location data properly. But the progression of the API represents something even bigger: empowering businesses to elevate and measure the value of local search marketing.

Street Fight Daily: The Importance of Attribution, Newspapers & Retailers Share Connected Fate

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Investing in the Right Measurement Tools Makes a Big Business Impact… Retail Blues Worsen, Hitting Newspapers Hard… Snapchat Ramps Up Content Deals…