News and Analysis
MOLOCO Leverages Machine Learning for Ad Creative
When Dynamic Creative launches this morning, MOLOCO will become one of the first players in the industry to apply algorithms to creative, not just to make creative design and production easier, but also for more efficient production of ads across the programmatic ecosystem.
Vungle Acquires Influencer Marketing Platform JetFuel
Just this morning, the mobile performance marketing platform Vungle announced its acquisition of JetFuel, an influencer marketing platform headquartered in San Francisco. JetFuel’s platform provides app developers and other advertisers with a way to scale marketing campaigns across an expansive network of verified influencers, with a combined reach of more than 4 billion Instagram followers, 1.5 billion TikTok followers, and 100 million daily Snapchat views.
What Colorado’s Privacy Act Could Mean for Brands
Colorado’s privacy regulations are just the latest in a string of privacy rights laws in the United States and Europe designed to protect consumers’ online data and the way digital information is shared. While the CPA is similar to Virginia’s Consumer Data Protection Act and the California Consumer Privacy Act, it also differs in some key ways that will have a major impact on businesses and brand marketers more specifically.
Commentary
LBMA Vidcast: Kroger Innovates, Location Sciences Raises Capital
On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association show: Phillips 66 + Honda, Location Sciences raises capital, City of Los Angeles sues IBM/Weather Channel, Mall of America, Kroger goes unmanned for delivery, Heineken sees geo-marketing success in UK.
A Compliance-Privacy Tsunami Will Slam Into the Data Ecosystem in 2019: Big Changes to Watch
SPONSORED, by Neil Sweeney, CEO of Freckle IoT / Killi: The takeaway for 2019 will be consent management. Why is this going to be the trend? Two reasons — the first is because consent management is nonexistent in today’s technology stacks (and, no, the catch-all ‘do you accept’ button will not be sufficient moving forward for consent management). And, second: a compliance/privacy tsunami will bear down on the entire world (not just advertising) in 2019. Every trend in 2019 will tie back to a company’s ability, or inability, to check the box on consent management.
Will 2019 Be Remembered as the Year of GMB Messaging?
Mihm to Blumenthal: Absent a messaging competitor, even a handful of conversations with real customers make businesses *think* Facebook is where the party is. In reality, as you and plenty of others have found, 90% of actual leads are coming from Google. And a serious chunk of that 90% comes directly from Google My Business. Per my prediction, Google is *just* starting to push the “Message” CTA to consumers. And I think the floodgates are about to open.
Latest Posts
How Football Viewership Trends Impact Brand Advertisers
Sports bars suffered in the wake of declining NFL ratings last season, but a drop in viewership could actually benefit hardware stores, gas stations, and supermarkets, according to a new analysis just released this morning by the location intelligence company Foursquare.
Street Fight Daily: Google Makes Maps Interactive, Amazon Rolls Out ‘Instant Pickup’
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Brings Q&A to Maps, Further Entering the Local Recommendation Space… Amazon Adds ‘Instant Pickup’ in U.S. Brick-and-Mortar Push… Aiming for Transformation via Acquisition, Non-Tech Companies Buy Tech Firms…
Why Premium Media Is the Gold Standard for Brand Marketers
There are media companies and then there are the media companies that deserve brands’ business — the ones that represent a positive baseline. High-quality premium publishers and advertisers know what high-quality environments look like. Consumers know it, too.
Why Location Measurement and Attribution Are Key to Brand Visibility
Attribution “is the metric that all brands and media verticals are moving to as it solves a number of gaps in the market.” says Freckle IoT’s Neil Sweeney. He believes measuring how branding strategy is working is becoming just as important as brand visibility.
Street Fight Daily: Facebook and Amazon Fuel Local Food Transactions, Netsertive Buys Mixpo
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Americans Love Ordering Pizza on Facebook and Amazon… Netsertive Acquires Seattle Ad Tech Firm Mixpo… Hard Look at Online Pays Off in Higher Quarterly Profits for Kohl’s…
Enterprise Local Marketers Treat AI Hype as Means to an End
Our research suggests that big brands and retailers don’t have AI high on their list of local marketing priorities. But it appears that if brands are very email- and direct mail-focused, and that’s where they’re thinking of applying AI.
How 5 Brands Use Geo-Targeting to Fuel In-Store Sales
By serving mobile ads based on users’ geographic locations, brands can avoid these types of blunders and hone in on the type of hyper-specific messaging that boosts engagement and click-through rates.
Street Fight Daily: Target Acquires Grand Junction, Lyft Has Capitalized On Uber’s Woes
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Target Acquires Transportation Company Grand Junction to Expand Same-Day Delivery… Lyft Focuses on Self-Driving Cars But Confirms It’s Gotten a Boost from Uber’s Troubles… Ad Institute Challenges Google and Facebook to Improve Measurement Standards…
Can Yelp Extend Its Moment in the Sun?
“[Yelp has] not been very innovative in approaching the many needs of the SMB markets,” Mike Blumenthal writes to David Mihm. “It would seem that there could be (or should have been?) a raft of functionality that they could provide from appointments to customer follow-up that would be a natural fit.”
LinkedIn Focuses on Revving Up Its SMB Efforts
“There is a huge market of smaller companies, and it is a fast-growing segment. There is definitely momentum,” says LinkedIn’s independent agency head Ryan Wilson. “But they are often made to feel like second-class citizens. Enterprise companies have been getting all the love.”



















































AI Won’t Fix Advertising – It May Scale Its Chaotic Nature