News and Analysis

Plain Sight Pivots to Help Local Businesses Drive Foot Traffic

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Founded by James Chapman and backed by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, Plain Sight originally started as a way for people to explore professional connections based on location.

With local businesses closing by the thousands, Chapman says he’s envisioning the Plain Sight app as a tool for businesses to promote themselves and increase foot traffic. Businesses can use the platform to develop stronger customer loyalty by engaging with consumers directly. In addition to sharing information about how they are keeping customers safe, restaurants and other businesses can also accept free and paid reservations through the platform.

How Political Campaigns Leverage Location Data in an Era of Virtual Events

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Political ad spending is expected to reach record highs this cycle, topping $6.89 billion in the 2019/2020 election period. This cycle’s spending is 63% higher than spending in the 2015/2016 season. Tapping into location data to make that advertising more relevant has taken a bit more creativity than usual.

Ad Tech and Privacy

How Much Is Your Data Worth? A New Tool Will Help You Find Out

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Facebook, Google, Amazon, Twitter, Pinterest, and countless other technology giants have expanded their collection of consumer identity data, even as privacy regulations like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) have gone into effect. A new tool from Killi serves as an educational resource, giving people a way to calculate the value of their personal data based on the platforms they use every day.

Killi’s new tool asks consumers to enter their email addresses and select the platforms they currently use. The tool references public quarterly revenues and daily/monthly active users, as well as data aggregators like Statista, to arrive at the value amount of each consumer’s personal data.

Commentary

Why Google Decided Phone Calls Are the Key to Google Assistant’s Future Success

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Among all the new AI-driven capabilities Google could’ve bestowed on its powerful Assistant, the company decided to focus on one capability in particular: a phone call.

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.

Latest Posts

Openings and New Hires at Okanjo, Factual, Bing Maps

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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 Pandora, LotLinx, and Kobe Digital.

Street Culture: Tech Startups Amping Up Opportunities for Women

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For many locally focused tech companies — including NextDoor, SweetIQ, ibotta and G/O Digital — transparent sharing and openness at all levels is inviting a new workplace generation led by women.

Street Fight Daily: Snap Valuation Jumps to $34 Billion, SMBs Shift Marketing Spend to Digital

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Snapchat Shares Surge 44% in Market Debut… Small Businesses Shift Marketing Spend to Digital… For Quartz, Bots Are a Chance to Build a New Path for Interacting with News…

5 Ways Brick-and-Mortar Merchants Can Utilize On-Demand Services

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Businesses that sell physical goods are discovering that they can cut costs and increase services for their customers by forming partnerships with on-demand apps rather than competing on their own. Here are five examples of ways that brick-and-mortar businesses can start utilizing on-demand services.

Local News Is Struggling — But Handouts From Digital Giants Aren’t the Answer

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Two very smart thinkers about the future of American journalism have called for Facebook and other hugely prosperous digital enterprises to pay reparations for what their success is allegedly costing journalism and democracy. I’ve worked in journalism all my life, but I don’t buy these arguments.

Street Fight Daily: Lyft Seeks $500 Million in New Funding, Snap Values Itself at $24B on Eve of IPO

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Lyft Seeking At Least $500 Million in New Funding… Snap Officially Sets Stock Price at $17, Raising $3.4 Billion in IPO… Instacart to Raise $400 Million as Other On-Demand Startups Die Around It…

Foursquare Releases Pilgrim SDK, Allowing Third Parties to Access Its Location Intel

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Apps and brands can now get their hands on some of the technology Foursquare uses to pinpoint where smartphones are in real-time — and get a clearer picture of when people move from location to location.

Cheetah Ads Debuts, Racing to Make Mobile Ads Smarter Through AI

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Mobile app and content developer Cheetah Mobile has taken the wraps off its rebranding today, and is showing off the renewed focus of its mobile ad business. The move is intended to unify elements of the company — in particular utility apps and mobile content — for mobile advertising.

Street Fight Daily: Uber CEO Berates Driver on Video, Yelp Buys Nowait for $40 Million

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares… Yelp Acquires Restaurant Tech Startup Nowait in $40 Million Deal… Snap, On Cusp of IPO, Looks Set for Strong Debut…

5 Self-Service Platforms for Mobile Analytics

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The vast majority of mobile analytics platforms have traditionally been aimed at the largest developers, leaving a huge swath of the market untapped. Here are five examples of self-service mobile analytics platforms that developers in the hyperlocal space can try.