News and Analysis

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

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

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.

Why Contextual Ads Are Generating More Interest

Increased attention to consumer privacy is shifting the way advertisers do business. One of these shifts is the increased embrace of contextual advertising, which shows Internet users ads based on the content of the sites they’re searching, not based on their previous digital activity.

I checked in with John Clavadetscher, president and chief commercial officer at Cooler Screens, for more on why brands are taking up contextual ads and what benefits the format offers.

Commentary

Four Years After GateHouse, Brad Dennison Has Become a Local News Rover

There’s a new nameplate in hyperlocal news publishing, and just about everything about it is boldly different, including the name—Rover. This combination digital daily and print monthly was launched in suburban Nashville last week. In this Q&A, Tom Grubisich talks with one of Rover’s architects, Brad Dennison.

Selling to Multi-Location Brands: Streaming Video Is On the Rise

Suppliers of local marketing technology and services should move streaming video up on their priorities lists and help their brand customers apply it effectively.

Your Voice-First Future is Here

Digital giants are forging a path to every consumer, looking to win a home automation arms race. You, too, should be considering how to connect in new ways with your customers because voice and speech recognition are ready for prime time.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: SMBs to Ramp Up Digital Marketing, Snap Adds Ad Targeting Based on Third-Party Data

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Mobile Driving Marketing Spend Among SMBs… Snapchat to Enable Offline Purchase Ad Targeting… Marketing-Mix Modeling: A Road of Missed Opportunities for Brands…

Is It Time to Redefine ‘Local’ Marketing?

We’ve reached a pivot point where local market nuances and differences can create definable opportunity. I am not saying that the age of the big box retail or e-commerce portal are over, but if a brand does a better job at leveraging local marketing it can create a competitive advantage and differentiation point.

SeeClickFix Grows Its Base to Over One Million Problem-Flagging Citizens

SeeClickFix has used 21st-century technology to fix 2,666,448 issues (and still counting) in municipalities and other jurisdictions around the country. In this Q & A, CEO Ben Berkowitz talks about how the company he founded eight years ago has forged partnerships with 300 governments and other entities.

Street Fight Daily: Twitter Drops Buy Button, Google Privileges Its Own Products in Ads

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Twitter Unclicks Buy Button, Signaling Unclear Future for Social Commerce… Google Uses Its Search Engine to Hawk Its Products… Snapchat is Now Pitching Brands on Sequential Video Ads…

Post in the Machine: How Blockast is Taking a Shot at Local News Collection

The local news automation camp keeps graduating hopefuls. One of these is a four-year-old startup spawned from the mind of a former Microsoft-Amazon engineer who faced a very common problem: “how do I find out what’s happening outside my home right now?”

Near CEO: Bad Data Remains a Big Challenge for Location Platforms

Near enables brands and businesses to “visualize, engage and analyze audience data including their location and behavior for data-driven decisions.” Street Fight recently caught up with Near’s founder and CEO, Anil Mathews, to talk about location intelligence in 2017 and what types of new use cases we may soon see.

Street Fight Daily: DoorDash and Postmates Test Robot Delivery, Lighting Tech Helps Retailers Sharpen Location Data

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Postmates and DoorDash Test Delivery by Robot with Starship Technologies… Retailers Leverage Lighting Communication System to Sharpen Location Data… As Alexa Becomes Ubiquitous, Amazon Must Craft a Consistent User Experience…

Making Sense of Amazon’s Push Deeper Into Local

Clearly Amazon is positioning itself in the sales funnel aggressively, Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm. “And unlike Google their presale efforts lead directly to sales that they control. ”

Sponsored Content: Using Your Website as a Customer Engagement Tool

Websites remain a foundational marketing element for companies of all sizes and they are likely the “home base” for customers finding the detailed information they desire as well as the basics, like store hours, contact information, product details and links to social channels. While on the surface it may seem like websites are the opposite of engaging—static, one-size-fits-all, impersonal—the fact is with a little bit of strategy, businesses can create a website that provides customers with a truly engaging experience with clear calls to action as part of the customer’s journey.

Why Mobile Payments Will Heat Up in 2017

Mobile payments have been inhibited by point-of-sale hardware upgrade requirements and the lack of a killer pitch for either users or merchants. But the movement to chip-based credit and debit cards in the U.S. could help.