News and Analysis
Yelp Revamps its Business Control Center and Releases Other Pandemic-Adaptive Features
The announcement follows massive layoffs at the company as advertising plunged along with SMB revenue in the face of coronavirus-fueled lockdowns. But a recent Brandify survey showed Yelp remains a massive presence in the local digital marketing space: 64% of US consumers are somewhat or very likely to turn to Yelp when searching for restaurants, second only to the leader across verticals, Google.
Yelp’s new features will prove especially helpful for businesses in the months, if not years during which Covid-19 continues to affect everyday habits, but a number of the changes align with digital marketing best practices that will serve Yelp clients well beyond the next 12 months. Below is a rundown.
Street Fight’s May Theme: Local Commerce’s Recovery Playbook
In our own reporting and analysis (and through the words of our contributors) this month, we’ll define the playbook for local re-entry. As business ramps back up, what will best practices be for local staples such as search marketing and reputation management?
We’ve already covered how businesses are digitizing to adapt to the challenges of commerce in a time of social distancing, embracing curbside pickup, social advertising, pop-up distribution centers, online classes, and retail tech. With an even longer-term view, we’ll examine how this period of uncertainty will shape the future of local commerce.
AARP Launches Platform Empowering Neighbors to Assist Each Other during Pandemic
Built by the team at AARP Innovation Labs over the course of just a few weeks, the Community Connections mutual aid aggregation platform gives volunteers and people in need a place to connect. It features a searchable directory of local mutual aid organizations, which are typically informal groups that provide key daily services, such as picking up groceries and delivering medications to people who are at high risk for contracting Covid-19. People can access the platform to find volunteer groups nearby, with links to those groups’ websites and locator maps.
Commentary
Will the ‘Sustained Outrage’ of One W. Virginia Newspaper Survive Auction Block’s Hammer?
The biggest heartbreaker is what happens to those families whose long-held newspapers were dedicated to publishing all the news without fear or favor. This is the story of one of those families, the Chiltons, and their paper, the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail, which the Chiltons owned for 111 years.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Target Uses Data to Boost Brands, ProPublica Aims to Fill Local News Void
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Target Capitalizes on Shopper Data, Collaborates with In-House Brands On Programmatic… Attempting To Fill A Local News Void, ProPublica Launches Illinois Unit… Major Retailer Leverages Social To Score During Holiday Season…
TownNews Founder: News Sites Will ‘Perish’ Without Latest AdTech
In 1989, Marc Wilson’s Montana news bulletin board put editorial content into the hands of other local-news publishers more quickly, abundantly, and cheaply. Today, Wilson’s TownNews.com serves 1,600 newspapers — big and small, daily and weekly — as well as pure-plays and other digital publications
Street Fight Daily: Twitter Struggles with Publishers, Retail Marketing and Measurement
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Falling Behind Snapchat and Facebook, Twitter Struggles to Attract Publishers… How Retail Marketing Changes As Measurement Tools Improve… Where the Digital Dollars Have Gone: How 15 Major Media Companies Have Invested in Digital…
PlaceIQ’s New Service Looks to Give Brands the Full Competitive Picture
As more and more brands invest in location-based marketing campaigns, there’s a crucial need to zoom out and see the big picture. In an effort to bring marketers to this full circle moment, PlaceIQ today is debuting LandMark, a new data-as-a-service capability that allows brands access to their location-based audience and insights platform.
Why Omnivore’s POS-Connection Platform Is Really an ‘App Store’ for Restaurants
The platform, which connects apps to POS systems, is making it easier for restaurants to find and test new technology. We recently caught up with founder and CEO Mike Wior to talk about the unique issues facing restaurant tech, and how Omnivore’s service can enable more experimentation and innovation.
Street Fight Daily: GoDaddy Acquires Euro Rival for $1.8 Billion, How Foursquare Tackles Attribution
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… GoDaddy Acquires Rival Host Europe Group for $1.79 Billion… How Foursquare Leverages Location for Attribution… Don’t Expect To See Amazon’s Checkout-Free Grocery Store Mirrored by Local Retailers Anytime Soon…
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