News and Analysis
6 Touchless Payments Apps for Small Businesses
The latest wave of touchless payment solutions are designed for small merchants dealing with the fallout from the pandemic. Contactless payments went from being “nice to have” to a being an essential service for retailers in 2020, as consumers around the world discovered that they really didn’t want to touch cash or POS hardware while they were making purchases at local stores.
Digital Advertising’s 2-Sided Transparency Problem
There’s another side to digital advertising’s transparency problem: Companies don’t even know what they know about consumers. Just as consumers use dozens of apps, businesses use hundreds of applications. Most, if not all, of them collect data on employees and customers. But sifting through that data, figuring out what is necessary, and determining whether it is privacy-compliant is a Sisyphean task.
How Should Retailers Navigate the Post-Covid Landscape?
While the return of nearly unrestricted in-person shopping heralds brighter days for brands and retailers, it is also a challenge. Consumers have gotten used to digital shopping as e-commerce soared amid the pandemic. How will retailers provide that same frictionless experience to meet elevated customer expectations in-store? Amy Vale, CMO at cash-back app Dosh, weighs in.
Commentary
Google and Amazon Escalate Voice ‘Platform Wars’
Mike Boland: Any entity competing for local commerce—publishers, brands, ad-tech players—has a looming platform choice for voice. Like the platform wars between iOS and Android, it’s a matter of deciding where to apply finite resources and development muscle. Maybe the answer is “both” Google and Amazon. But for now, Google appears to have the lead.
Voice Search Readiness in 2019 and Beyond
Bernadette Coleman: 2019 is here. While the focus in recent weeks has been predictions on the digital marketing trends that are expected to emerge this year, I would argue that one of the most important measures brands need to take in 2019 is to implement a full-scale voice search readiness strategy, if they have not already.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Microsoft & Amazon Integrate Cortana/Alexa, USA Today Personalizes Homepage
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… In Surprising Move, Microsoft and Amazon Integrate Voice Assistants… USA Today’s Facebook-Like, Personalized Mobile Site Succeeds in Grabbing User Attention… For New Uber CEO, Fresh Challenges Already Emerge…
Captivate Adds Content Partners in Push for a 360-Degree Ad Solution
The company has 12 new content providers joining its digital place-based media network target consumers on screens in thousands of building elevators and lobbies across the U.S. The partners include Vox Media, Bloomberg, Billboard, Quartz, and The Hollywood Reporter, as well as Stadium sports video content.
Hearst’s Barrett on Talks With Facebook: Progress, but More Needs to Happen
The president of Hearst Newspapers Digital Media, details what he sees as the current promise of Facebook’s nascent effort to promote subscriptions for local news publishers, and assesses the state of other major, yet-to-be-resolved issues for the publishers as they weigh their future on and with the tech giant.
Swedish Location Management Company PinMeTo Secures H&M Investment
Local presence management vendor PinMeTo is celebrating an investment from the retail giant in a tactical round the company sees as a stepping stone to further expansion. “Our goal is and has been to expand globally in 2018,” says COO Andre Tiwari, “and H&M brings invaluable knowledge and support for that goal.”



















































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