News and Analysis
Uber, Lyft, DoorDash Fight Gig Economy Law in California
Ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft are teaming up with restaurant delivery service DoorDash to fight California’s AB 5, a law that would force gig-economy companies that survive on contractor labor to register their drivers (or dashers) as employees and offer them benefits, Vox reported.
The coalition, the Protect App-Based Drivers and Services campaign, is attempting to place a referendum on the 2020 California ballot that would give voters the choice to exempt ride-sharing services from the law. That would presumably include DoorDash, which is not a ride-hailing service but essentially iterated Uber’s business model, employing drivers to escort food instead of passengers from A to B on demand.
The Vertical Approach to Grocery Marketing
More than just a niche market inside the retail vertical, grocery marketing has grown to become an industry unto itself. According to eMarketer, grocery is the “least penetrated but fastest-growing category” in e-commerce. Explosive growth, fueled in part by the rising popularity of online grocers and on-demand delivery services, like Instacart, that deliver goods from brick-and-mortar stores, is behind the prediction that the grocery retail market will reach $12.24 trillion globally by 2020.
CPG brands and supermarket chains have been quick to adopt vertical-specific marketing platforms and tools. Although there are plenty of local retail marketing solutions that could be adaptable to the grocery industry, the supermarket itself is a unique environment and that makes verticalized solutions even more desirable in this arena.
Triller App Sets Its Sights on Taking Over TikTok
A US-based music video platform and TikTok rival ‘Triller’ got a $28 million investment from Proxima Media and seems to have handed a stake in its business to all three major labels.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Triller is potentially valued at $130 million. Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment each own a minority piece of the platform. In a press release announcing the $28m raise, Triller said that the new funds will fuel growth and product enhancements and that it has its sights set on overtaking competitor TikTok.
Commentary
Report: Most Local Merchants Will Increase Marketing and Shift Budgets to Digital this Year
The majority of local businesses are increasing their spending on advertising and marketing this year, and they’re shifting their dollars towards a broad variety of digital tactics. Those are two of the key findings from Street Fight’s just-released study, The Local Merchant Report 2017. Our analysis also revealed a pattern of momentum spending that makes a […]
Constructing the Enterprise Priority List for Local Search
“I think some local managers in corporations are getting pushback as to why their local traffic is falling, and if it is why should they maintain local pages? What is hard to explain is that those pages DO feed Google,” Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm. “But these locations need to be not just well structured, but easily found and crawled by Google, not hidden behind some opaque code.”
Will Social AR Be the Next Local Battlefield?
We saw it with Pokemon Go and of course Snapchat. But the real glimpse of the mobile AR future came during Facebook’s recent AR-studded F8 conference keynote. The central message repeated by Mark Zuckerberg was that the smartphone camera is the new AR platform.
Latest Posts
Homebrew VC Wants to Build Out Startups That Bring Value to Location
The firm has built up an impressive roster of investments in seed stage companies focused on the “bottom-up economy.” Co-founders Hunter Walk and Satya Patel have a particular interest in seeing businesses advance in tech and value-added location services.
Case Study: A Maryland Bakery’s Love/Hate Relationship With Facebook
Never underestimate the power of social media. That’s a lesson that Capital City Cheesecake co-owner Meaghan Murphy learned the hard way while trying to get her Maryland-based bakery/café up and running in 2010. She thought word of mouth alone would be enough to build a sustainable business.
Street Fight Daily: Amazon to Launch in $80 Billion Market, Uber Under Pressure
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon is About to Launch in a New $80 Billion Market… Should Yelp Start Worrying about Angie’s List?… Uber’s Ride-Sharing Dominance Comes Under Pressure…
Street Culture: Thirstie Holds Focus on Engagement and Slow Growth
The company’s CEO said he is witnessing many on-demand companies slowly but surely go out of business, and is more convinced than ever that offering that extra little bit of knowledge to customers is what will inspire them to spend more time with Thirstie, and return to the app on a regular basis.
Street Fight Daily: Google’s Mobile Update, Facebook’s Influence on the News
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google’s Mobile-Friendly Algorithm Boost Has Rolled Out… Facebook and the News: Trends, Filter Bubbles and Algorithmic Bias…
A Need to Survive Keeps Feuding Newspapers Together in New Marketing Venture
A month ago, four major newspaper chains proudly announced the founding of Nucleus Marketing Solutions, a partnership that would help them compete with “the platforms.” Today, one of the chains, Tribune Publishing, is threatening another, Gannett, with a “poison pill” strategy to prevent a hostile takeover.
5 On-Demand Platforms to Connect Busy Parents With Local Services
Uber-style apps for children face an uphill battle, in part because trust isn’t something the on-demand economy is known for and people aren’t as willing to entrust their children with a stranger as they are their laundry or their take-out. But creative solutions abound.
Street Fight Daily: Amazon Crushing Retail Competitors, McDonald’s Leads in QSR Foot Traffic
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google’s Answer to Amazon Echo is Named Chirp and is Coming Soon… Apple Pay Spreads Into a New Market… This Chart Shows How Amazon is Crushing Retail Competitors…
In Google/Facebook Duel, SMBs Are the Real Winners
With Google’s recent changes, Facebook may now offer small business advertisers a better way to reach low-funnel shoppers — those currently in-market for a product or service, not just those vaguely searching for the category. Google’s move could drive many businesses into Facebook’s arms.
When It Comes To OpenTable, the Restaurant Industry Has Few Reservations
Catherine Porter, the company’s SVP of strategy and business development, recently caught up with Street Fight with a sneak peek of what’s on the menu for OpenTable this year, and how simplifying the reservation process is bringing more patrons to local businesses.
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