News and Analysis
Location Data Firm Unacast Generates Hyperlocal Covid Recovery Metrics
Location data and analytics firm Unacast is hoping its new recovery analytics tool might guide businesses through this chaotic time. The interactive tool allows retail operations professionals, real estate developers, and property management companies to drill down to the census block level to get visibility into real-world economic recovery scenarios and plan for future investments.
Using data that compares real-time public behavior in the current environment to pre-Covid time periods, businesses can estimate recovery rates and more accurately plan for future reopenings.
6 Contactless Payment Solutions for Retailers
Retailers have dozens of ways to go when implementing contactless payments in brick-and-mortar stores. The best option usually depends on the retailer’s size and budget. Smaller businesses tend to rely more on app-based contactless payments and mobile solutions as a way to minimize the costs associated with integrating an entirely new point-of-sale system.
Here are six mobile payment and contactless payment options that retailers can use to help curb the spread of coronavirus inside their stores.
How Google’s Review Attributes Expansion Impacts Local Businesses
Businesses that understand these changes and find ways to harness review attributes stand to see major gains in search. Google’s new feature could be a big improvement for small and mid-size businesses, in particular, since it provides marketers with both comparative structured feedback and sentiment. But whether businesses benefit from Google’s decision to expand review attributes into new categories depends largely on how they capitalize on the changes.
Commentary
How Publishers Can Survive Facebook Churn: Top Expert Weighs In — Part II
“The smaller scale might be an advantage when it comes to trust,” Grzegorz Piechota told Tom Grubisich. “Local publishers can offer services Facebook will never be able to provide at a global scale such as checking all the facts, verifying all the ads, or providing a 100% guarantee of brand-safe context.”
How to Turn Alternative Data into Alpha
The need for real-time data is critical, as it enhances the speed and accuracy of key decisions and enables investors to detect any defects before making a choice.
Localized Insights Mean More Precise Campaigns and Better ROI
While creating at scale makes economic and operational sense, the danger in going with a one-size-fits-all approach is not insignificant. Evidence suggests over half of such “national” initiatives fail.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Lyft Revs Up Local Marketing, Pinterest Aggressively Adds Ad-Tech Partners
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Lyft Revs Up Its Local Marketing Efforts… Pinterest Adds 15 Ad Tech Companies to Beef Up Its Data and Measurement Game… T-Mobile Launching Device to Make Most Any Car ‘Connected’…
Snapchat, Uber, and the Implications of Machine Learning
Machine learning and predictive analytics need to meld seamlessly with core app functionality. The technology needs to “just work,” without steep learning curves or frustrating dead ends. So I’d expect any company who experiments with machine learning for local search to start with a simple set of problems and hone the user experience.
The Accelerating Consolidation of the Digital Ad Market
“The flow of dollars from businesses of all sizes has clearly been away from lower-performance niche platforms into boosted Facebook posts,” writes David Mihm. “We can debate the value of that activity, but relative to the questionable/delayed/opaque performance of so many digital ad products, Facebook seems to have found a sweet spot.”
Voice Search Profoundly Changes the Way Consumers Interact on Mobile
Sponsoered content: Business listings are an important part of voice searches, particularly when “near me” searches are involved. Localized searches may see an even more rapid shift to voice than other searches, based on consumers’ increasing comfort with using hands-free devices in the car or when their eyes are otherwise occupied while outside the home.
Street Fight Daily: Facebook-WhatsApp Data Sharing Blocked Abroad, OpenTable Scales Back
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook Runs Into Roadblock Abroad Taking User Data from WhatsApp for Targeted Ads… As OpenTable Struggles to Take Hold Abroad, Priceline Scales It Back… Uber Rival Karhoo Shuts Down After Blowing Reported $250M in Funding…
Report: Airports Could Be the Next Big Beacon Hubs
In U.S airports, we don’t see as much beacon activity as we might expect, but a new report by Unacast’s proximity marketing network service, Proxbook, indicates that by 2019, 84% of all global airports will be involved in a deployment or a trial project with beacons or other proximity sensors.
Just How Big a Deal Are Voice Search and Chatbots for Local?
At Street Fight Summit we raised a little controversy around the potential disruptiveness of voice search to the hyperlocal economy. Street Fight believes voice search is a critical emerging technology, a view that seemingly contrasts with that of many companies on the supply side of hyperlocal.
Street Fight Daily: Google Begins Mobile-First Indexing, Apple News Drives Traffic for Pubs
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Begins Mobile-First Indexing, Using Mobile Content For All Search Rankings… Apple News Drives Significant Traffic for Some Publishers, But Measurement Remains Iffy… The Economist Turns to LinkedIn over Pinterest and Tumblr…
Openings and New Hires at CallRail, GateHouse Media, Guarantee Digital
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 the IAB, Signpost, Boostability and Factual.
Raise Report: New Funding for Hollar, Culture Trip, Silvair
Every two weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes new funding for CaliberMind, OpenDataSoft, and Otonomo.
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem