News and Analysis

As Privacy Regulations Shake Out, New Winners Emerge

Not even one month has passed since the implementation of California’s newest data privacy regulations, and some winners and losers are already beginning to emerge. As companies across the country work to comply with this new state law, fundamental shifts are happening and some brands are going back to an older style of data collection and usage.

How this retreat is viewed depends on who you’re talking to. Industry veterans like Dawn Colossi, chief marketing officer at FocusVision, see the return to more traditional forms of data collection as a good thing. Others in the industry have a different view on what returning to older forms of data collection will ultimately mean for technology and marketing firms.

How Viewers Watch the Super Bowl—And Its Ads

Even the Super Bowl does not make for entertaining enough television to get today’s fickle viewers to glue their eyes on the big screen and set cellphones aside. During the game, viewers also text (29%), play mobile games (28%), and browse social media apps (27%), mobile firm AdColony found in a global survey.

The numbers may even seem low; it seems fair to bet more than one in three viewers takes an eye off the game to text a friend. But AdColony manager of strategy and planning Gabriella Stano Aversa said marketers should not treat the multiscreen environment as a dilemma, seeing it rather as an opportunity.

Do Cashierless Stores Present a Privacy Risk to Consumers?

Amazon’s convenience stores rely heavily on location technology to track consumers’ movements inside buildings. Cameras analyze shopping behaviors, strategically placed microphones listen to conversations, and information about consumers’ shopping habits is stored in a central database that Amazon can reference for future operational and strategic planning.

“As cashierless stores take off, more and more personal and payment data will be transmitted through phones and mobiles devices and stored in cloud-based software platforms,” says Ruston Miles, chief strategy officer at Bluefin. “This means that hackers will have more network access to this data through vulnerable providers and merchants.”

Commentary

Foursquare Data Shows Up Today in More Places Than You’d Think

It’s remarkable to see how often Foursquare data is popping up today in the apps that garner the most consumer traffic and press attention. These votes of confidence would seem to solidify Foursquare’s position as the forefather of natively digital location data.

Report: Matching Up With Local Merchants’ Marketing Objectives

Our analysis of local merchants shows that SMBs are spending more money on digital marketing — particularly social media and email — because they find those channels most effective. But there appears to be some missing links between new customer acquisition and their favorite tactics.

Is Your Local Dealership Prepared for a New Era of Car Buying?

The automotive space is extremely competitive and with automotive sales down 13.2 percent, the competition could not be fiercer. In order to remain afloat in today’s challenging sales environment, auto marketers need to rethink how they get high-intent buyers to their stores.

Latest Posts

5 Self-Serve Platforms for Location-Based Mobile Campaigns

Although there’s still debate within the ad tech community over whether SMBs are best served by self-serve platforms, the demand is certainly there. With limited budgets and a strong desire to get the most bang for their buck, local business owners are searching for self-managed advertising and marketing solutions.

Telmetrics CEO: A Phone Call to a Business Is Really a ‘Data Call’

Andrew Osmak talks with us about how the company has been evolving under his leadership over the past six months, where he sees the white spaces in call and data analytics, and why a tracked phone number can be a more valuable data point than a form-fill on a website.

Street Fight Daily: Zenreach Emerges from Stealth with $50M, Uber Partners with DigitalGlobe

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… WiFi Startup Zenreach Emerges from Stealth with $50 Million and Peter Thiel on its Board… Uber is Partnering with a Satellite Imaging Company to Help Drivers Find You… IBM’s Watson and Macy’s Team Up to Make In-Store Shopping Assistant…

TRAY Cooks Up Ways to Make Restaurant Checkout More Mobile and Social

The startup is seeking to reinvent service businesses for both customers and proprietors by bringing a different experience to the table with cloud-based “self-service checkout made easy.” The company’s beta launched at the beginning of the year.

Placed’s Attribution Platform Expands as More Partners Demand Proof of ROI

“Based on the growth and adoption that Placed is seeing across its clients, we’d expect that by the end of 2016, attribution will be a default on status for the majority of advertisers where they have an offline conversion event,” said the company’s CEO David Shim.

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Launches Tool for App Engagement, SMBs Draw Non-Local Searches

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook Launches Dev Tool Focused on Mobile App Engagement… Case Study: 33% of Local Search Business is from Non-Locals… Yahoo Reveals Testing of Conversational Search, Virtual Assistance…

Survey: Many Opportunities to Connect Local Media With National-to-Local Marketers

National brands and retailers remain wedded to traditional media and marketing for their local branches, franchises, and resellers. However, they are increasing their spending on digital channels, and over half of them feel it’s important to associate their campaigns with local media and content.

Pokémon Go and Local: Why Now?

The lesson from the phenomenon isn’t for local tech companies to try and build the next Pokémon Go — but rather to build a similarly justifiable value exchange for sharing location. Advertisers and ad networks should likewise work with apps that have that higher likelihood of user opt-in.

Street Fight Daily: Yahoo Hits Major Roadblock, Amazon Eyes Food Delivery in London

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Yahoo’s Recent Revenue Driver, Mavens, Hits Major Growth Roadblock… Amazon Eyeing Up London Restaurant Delivery Launch… Facebook Woos Publishers Back with Instant Articles Feature…

Openings and New Hires at Acquisio, Newsday, SproutLoud and GroupM

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 Unacast, Yelp, Niantic and more.