News and Analysis
Jeff Glueck Passes the Torch as David Shim Steps up to Foursquare CEO
Shim now faces the challenge of steering a fast-growing tech business through uncertain times for data-driven companies. While location tech is a lucrative business that provides crucial insights for brick-and-mortar companies and has yet to hit peak productivity, the industry is also facing concerns of an unprecedented scale about how much it knows about the people who power its insights.
TripAdvisor Buys Listings, Menu Management Company SinglePlatform
As SinglePlatform’s name suggests, the acquisition is a sign of changing and challenging times for search-related internet businesses. Facing pressure from a Google juggernaut that is increasingly mapping out any imaginable search experience on its own properties, digital services that connect consumers with restaurants or places to visit when traveling are consolidating, aiming to offer holistic information that keeps searchers coming back.
Mobile Drives Sales on Black Friday
Data from ShopperTrak showed a 3% decline in traffic at physical stores on Thanksgiving and Black Friday even though sales were up overall. That’s because retailers with strong online shopping programs saw significant gains, with a reported $9.2 billion spent on Cyber Monday alone.
In an analysis of holiday shopping campaigns, the people-based marketing platform LiveIntent found that brands had a “robust” performance on Black Friday weekend. Total conversions during Black Friday weekend stood at 36% higher than that typical time period. Retailers that pushed mobile shopping saw the greatest gains, as LiveIntent’s analysis found that mobile drove the most traffic.
Commentary
Google Elevates Local Marketing to Prime Time
Many industry watchers and practitioners correctly perceived the GMB API as a sign of how important it is for businesses to manage their location data properly. But the progression of the API represents something even bigger: empowering businesses to elevate and measure the value of local search marketing.
Cultural Shifts Underlines Google’s Local Enterprise Play
“Google at one time talked about a suite of GMB products called the Business Builder but it got left on the cutting room floor of the forced march to Google Plus and the subsequent ugly separation,” Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm. “It’s refreshing to see a similar strategy finally coming to fruition. I think we are seeing them being slowly tied together.”
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Lyft Seeks a Buyer Without Success, Google Expands Local Business Cards
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Lyft is Said to Be Seeking a Buyer, Without Success… Google Local Business Cards or Posts About to Roll Out to Thousands of SMBs… How the Wall Street Journal Plans to Reach 3 Million Subscribers…
Case Study: Harley-Davidson Dealers Push to Grow Mobile Database
When marketers discuss the effectiveness of email and SMS campaigns, the size of a company’s customer database can play just as significant a role in the success or failure of a given campaign. That was one of the challenges faced by Calculated Risk Motorcycle Group, a management company for six Harley-Davidson dealerships.
Give Placed Your Location, and the Company Will Give You Frequent Flyer Miles
Location analytics firm Placed today is launching a new app that allows consumers to share their location data in exchange for frequent flyer miles. The Frequent Flyer app, with its explicit value exchange for consumers, has the potential to show how effective mobile ads can be in driving in-store purchases.
LBMA Podcast: Jack Daniels + Facebook, Bloom for Publishers, Mastercard + PlaceIQ
Welcome to This Week in Location Based Marketing, a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association with Asif Khan and Aubriana Lopez. On the show: Dixons Carphone, ZoneTap, LinkNYC, Brightsign + MoodMedia for Costa Coffee, Swirl + Oracle Marketing Cloud, Comqi + Panasonic.
John Oliver Delivers a Valentine (And a Warning) to Newspapers — But Will They Listen?
John Oliver’s tribute to newspapers on HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” highlighted the challenges for the country’s dailies, as well as the dangers of making online news all about clickbait. To combat this dismal future, publishers should focus on making their sites as engaging as possible, which could ultimately help sell digital subscriptions.
Street Fight’s Big 3
Street Fight Columns
Street Fight Categories
Streets Ahead: Google Chat, and Instagram Reels