News and Analysis
Is Snap Building a Local Discovery Engine?
Snap wants to compete with Google Maps as a local search and discovery engine. That’s a tall order, but Snap could have an edge in socially-fueled map results. As often, it’s all about the data.
Why Audio Out-Of-Home Is Attracting Brand Marketers
“Between Covid-19 altering consumer buying behaviors and accelerating the growth of e-commerce, specifically in retail media, consumers have higher expectations than ever when it comes to customer experience,” Vibenomics CSO Paul Brenner says. “Implementing AOOH into retail media plans allows retailers to deliver a personalized, one-to-few shopping experience consumers now expect.”
MOLOCO Secures $150m in Series C Funding
The mobile app marketing company MOLOCO announced that it had raised $150 million in Series C funding. Tiger Global Management led the round.
Commentary
Going Rogue: The Value of Guerrilla Marketing
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
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
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
Local Media Consortium Not About to Retreat From Its Google and Facebook Ties
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
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
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
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
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
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…
Yelp Analysis Finds Bright Spots for Business Growth
A new economic outlook report released by Yelp this morning finds ample opportunity for growth for small businesses throughout the country, and particularly those located in Southeastern states. “The markets we often think of as being on the forefront of trends in food, retail and other sectors can also be the toughest for small-business success,” explains data editor Carl Bialik.
Cultural Shifts Underlines Google’s Local Enterprise Play
“Google at one time talked about a suite of GMB products called the Business Builder but it got left on the cutting room floor of the forced march to Google Plus and the subsequent ugly separation,” Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm. “It’s refreshing to see a similar strategy finally coming to fruition. I think we are seeing them being slowly tied together.”
Street Fight Daily: Brands Make Best of AR, Facebook Boosts Brand Intelligence
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… How Brands Are Using AR to Engage Consumers and Measure Results… Facebook Lets Brands Dive Into People’s Posts… Yext for Food Makes Menus Visible in Searches on Google, Facebook, Bing…
How Brands Are Using Hyperlocal Marketing to Reach Millennial Shoppers
Members of the millennial generation—generally defined as those born between 1982 and 2004—are more comfortable receiving targeted digital ads than consumers in other generations, and they’re warming to technologies like NFC and mobile payments. Here’s how five brands have targeted millennials with location-based strategies, along with insights into what made their tactics so successful.
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