News and Analysis

Coronavirus Boosts OTT Viewership and Opens New TV Ad Opportunities

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To be sure, kids are not the only ones spending more time staring at the TV screen. The coronavirus has catalyzed a golden age for TV viewership and non-traditional formats such as over-the-top viewing in particular, said Sean Buckley, COO of global video advertising platform SpotX.

SpotX announced a strategic investment in CTV and OTT-focused ad serving platform SpringServe Monday. I checked in with Buckley to find out how the partnership will benefit both companies and how the coronavirus year has affected TV viewership as well as video advertising.

Can a Pandemic Inflect Local Commerce Tech? Part II

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What about the tech adoption accelerants happening on the supply side? Tech giants who provide marketing and operational tools for local businesses have been in hyperdrive over the past few months to roll out new Covid-era features.

Here are three areas where we’re seeing the most activity … and where we could correspondingly see the most local business evolution.

As Delivery Market Consolidates, Affiliate Marketing Gets Sophisticated

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Uber’s recent decision to acquire Postmates for $2.65 billion was just the beginning. As the delivery market consolidates, there will almost certainly be rising demand for pay-for-performance marketing products that help these companies strike a balance between volume and profitability.

One of the latest examples of this is the launch of Actionable Intelligence, a product by Button that gives marketers the ability to target and test high-value audience segments with personalized offers.

Commentary

Listen Up! Voice Makes Itself Heard in Delivery of Local News

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“Voice is still in its early innings, but Edison Research data on smart speakers shows that the top things people are calling for is news. That’s enough for me to know that the time to get moving on this is right now,” says Amplifi Media CEO Steve Goldstein.

LBMA Podcast: New LBMA Research, Foursquare & Tinder, Verve & Receptiv

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On this week’s edition of the Location-Based Marketing Association podcast: iQiyi, Location Sciences, Foursquare + Tinder, Google Expeditions, Verve buys Receptiv, Kohl’s + Amazon returns, London goes iZettle, and new research from The LBMA.

How Peoria Journal Star Did a Lot More With Less After Deep Cuts Shrank the Newsroom

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“We made it our mission, working with our publisher at the time, Ken Mauser, that we would reach out to the people of the South Side and make sure they had a place where they could tell us about the good things happening where they live,” Peoria Journal Star Executive Editor Dennis Anderon says of reaching out to neglected community members.

Latest Posts

How Does Google Determine the Authority of Local Entities?

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“Each of these sites that Google trusts might calculate authority in a different way, but if Google can verify the relationship to the local entity, they can apply that authority to the ranking of the local listing,” writes Mike Blumenthal to David Mihm.

6 Ways Merchants Can Prepare For the Rise in Voice Search

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Forty-two percent of U.S. consumers already say they’ve used voice assistants in the last three months, and industry forecasters are predicting that 20% of all user interactions with smartphones will take place through these assistants within the next three years. Here are six ways that local businesses can start preparing.

Street Fight Daily: Retailers Emphasize Mobile Web Over Apps, Verizon and Yahoo Close Revised Deal

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… The Mobile Web is Quietly Killing Off Retail Apps… Why Verizon Decided to Still Buy Yahoo After Big Data Breaches… ‘More Options and Misunderstandings’: Media Buying on Snapchat Confuses Advertisers…

Openings and New Hires at Lyft, DAC Group and Placed

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Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. This week’s edition includes moves and new openings at Navads, Brandify and Foursquare.

Street Culture: Sitter.me Puts Company Culture of Trust and Respect First

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“The culture starts at the top and stays with the top and there is nothing more important than leading by example in that respect,” says CEO Kristen Stiles. Her company, Sitter.me, connects parents with local babysitters.

Street Fight Daily: Google Home Enables Retail Purchases, IBM and Visa Partner for IoT Payments

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Home Can Now Buy You Stuff from Over 50 U.S. Retailers… Visa, IBM Team for Consumer Payments through IoT Devices… Facebook Isn’t Going After LinkedIn, It’s Chasing a Much Bigger Jobs Market…

How 30A’s Multiple Revenue Streams Elevate the Local Site to New Heights

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Founder and CEO Mike Ragsdale explains why diversification is such an important element of 30A’s fast growth into what is now a multimillion-dollar operation. He also explains how community news sites that don’t have a tropical beachfront to boast about can create their own unique, revenue-generating brands.

Street Fight Daily: Yahoo and Verizon Near Cheaper Deal, Facebook Adds Job Postings for Brands

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Yahoo and Verizon Are Said to Be Near a Cheaper Deal… Facebook Swipes at LinkedIn by Letting Brands Post Job Openings on Pages… Snap Sets Valuation at $19.5 to $22.5 Billion as IPO Approaches…

Where Home Phones Meet Voice-Assisted Search

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Similar to the shift from desktop to mobile, local marketers need to consider how the shift to voice-activated devices will impact their strategy. The smart home hub offers a new device on which consumers will interact with local businesses.

As E-Commerce Looks for a Local Edge, In-Person Return Services Expand

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This morning e-commerce fashion marketplace Tradesy is announcing an extended partnership with Happy Returns, a consumer returns startup that offers in-person returns for online retailers. Tradesy found that customers overwhelmingly preferred to return their online purchases in-person rather than by mail.