News and Analysis

With Investment in Geo, Foursquare Focuses on Improving Data Access

When it comes to location data specifically, Senior VP of Product Josh Cohen is seeing Foursquare’s partners put more emphasis on the quality of data. The company’s partners are developing more sophisticated understandings of the range of data quality when it comes to location, which means Foursquare has to dedicate more resources to make sure new industry-wide expectations are met.

Telnet Passwords Leaked for Half a Million IoT Devices, Servers, Routers

The breach is particularly significant given the rapid expansion of smart or IoT devices. Given that consumers already struggle to secure basic electronic devices including laptops and smartphones, the Telnet breach indicates how much larger the security risk for personal devices may become in coming years as smart speakers, TVs, and fridges join the legion of devices open to hackers.

Roundtable: How Google’s Third-Party Cookie Announcement Will Disrupt Search, Ad Tech

Google indicated it is making the change to boost user privacy on the Web, and the company believes digital advertising can survive on the back of evolving, more privacy-aware data sources. Chief among those sources, at least in the case of Chrome, will be Google’s privacy sandbox, which will offer advertisers and ad tech companies personalization opportunities based on browser data without granting them direct access to user-level information.

To size up the impact of Google’s announcement on ad tech and hyperlocal marketing, we turned to a slate of industry professionals for their takes on the move.

Commentary

What Will Amazon Do With Whole Foods?

Whole Foods will represent a brand-new challenge to the company that has come to define online commerce. How can shopping in a physical store be disrupted and transformed by the same kind of thinking that created the world’s biggest virtual marketplace?

Why Location Visit Data Is Going to Be Huge for Brands

If you are not already thinking about how visits data fits into your location strategy, or you’ve yet to bring the people in-house to support that strategy (think: data scientists), now is the time. this is going to be the biggest, most critical shift in the young history of location data markets.

New Street Fight Report: Selling to Local Merchants

Street Fight’s latest report on local merchants is a companion piece to our annual survey of local small and medium-sized businesses, that focuses on vendor strategies for selling local marketing services and up-selling add-ons or suites of offerings.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Amazon Boosts Alexa Ordering, What Businesses Need to Know About Chatbots

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Shipping Could Be the Next Billion-Dollar Opportunity for E-Commerce Retailers… Survey Says Most Businesses Already Use the Internet of Things… Startups Should Be Watching as the Supreme Court Decides Samsung versus Apple…

Openings and New Hires at Adelphic, ClickBank, Web.com

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 Serviz, CBS Interactive.

Raise Report: Fresh Funding for Verve, Thrive Market, InVision

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 rounds for Condeco, Lystable, Narvar, and Farm Hill.

LBMA Podcast: Facebook, Factual, Uber and Adtile

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: Adelaide Zoo, MCX, Nesa Solutions, Tywst, Posterscope + Lamar, Verve, Broadsign + TINT, Digerati Magazine.

Street Fight Daily: 80% of News Site Traffic from Facebook/Google, Walmart Expands 2-Day Shipping

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Revamps Alexa Skills to Stay On Top of Smart Home Market… Online News Sites Get 80% of Traffic from Facebook and Google… How Uber and Lyft Have Changed the Game for All Travel Brands…

As Gannett Acquires ReachLocal, Some Lessons From Its U.K. Exit

As news filtered out earlier this week that media giant Gannett had bought ReachLocal for $156 million, it capped off several years of speculation in the local marketing industry about where the public company would end up. As a former ReachLocal employee (2010-2014) now living in Norway, I’ve watched the company as it has faced steep challenges […]

Why Local News Sponsorships Are More Relevant than Ever

Two Views of Community News — From 30,000 Feet and at Ground Level

There are plenty of bad prognostications about the future of the community news business out there. But if you look at what is actually happening company by company, site by site, the view is not universally grim. There are a number of players making serious progress in digital revenue.

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Demotes Publishers on News Feed, Yelp Launches ‘Knowledge’ Platform

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook to Change News Feed to Focus on Friends and Family, Not Publishers… Yelp Announces Expanding ‘Knowledge’ Social Analytics Platform… Google Launches Two New APIs to Improve App Intelligence and Context…

Are Community Networks the Final Frontier for Local Publishers?

What if local publishers changed their strategy to focus exclusively on engaging and connecting their community at large? It still requires the great content that they create daily, but also a powerful and relevant search experience for users, more calls to action, and a more native and engaging mobile experience.

How Much Do You Know About Your SMB Customers?

They say that what you don’t know can’t hurt you, but when it comes to landing SMB clients, that’s simply not the case. That’s why we went out to more than 500 local merchants and asked them about their experiences in local marketing. The result? The Local Merchant Report…