News and Analysis

Google Integrates Food Delivery into Search, Maps, Assistant

Share this:

More or less following the model of Reserve with Google, which has seamlessly integrated the process of reserving a table at a nearby restaurant into SERPs, Google is now integrating food delivery into search, Maps, and Assistant, keeping consumers on Google properties for the entire journey as they make transactions via third-party couriers.

As GDPR’s One-Year Anniversary Approaches, Where Are We Now?

Share this:

One year in, it’s clear that the full impact of GDPR still hasn’t been felt. The regulation is structured in a way that puts less pressure on large companies than smaller businesses, and that’s something that regulators will have to continue sorting out. But the changes Europe’s law portends are undeniable: Privacy legislation is coming to the United States, and the data collection practices that made many Silicon Valley pioneers rich will never be quite so unbridled again.

5 Visual Marketing Platforms for Brands

Share this:

Amazon, Alibaba, and eBay are just a few online retailers with new visual search tools, and social media platforms like Snapchat are letting users take pictures of items to buy on Amazon and Pinterest. By using enterprise-level visual marketing platforms, brands can capitalize on their visibility across the web and drive more revenue from the images and other content their customers are creating.

Here are five visual marketing platforms that brands are using right now.

Commentary

Is It Time to Redefine ‘Local’ Marketing?

Share this:

We’ve reached a pivot point where local market nuances and differences can create definable opportunity. I am not saying that the age of the big box retail or e-commerce portal are over, but if a brand does a better job at leveraging local marketing it can create a competitive advantage and differentiation point.

Making Sense of Amazon’s Push Deeper Into Local

Share this:

Clearly Amazon is positioning itself in the sales funnel aggressively, Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm. “And unlike Google their presale efforts lead directly to sales that they control. ”

Why Mobile Payments Will Heat Up in 2017

Share this:

Mobile payments have been inhibited by point-of-sale hardware upgrade requirements and the lack of a killer pitch for either users or merchants. But the movement to chip-based credit and debit cards in the U.S. could help.

Latest Posts

5 Staffing Marketplaces for On-Demand Vendors

Share this:

The on-demand economy relies on a steady stream of self-employed workers who are willing to trade steady paychecks for flexibility and autonomy. But as the number of on-demand platforms increases, it’s becoming more of a challenge for companies to hold on to qualified workers.

UrbanSitter Leverages Online Connections to Ensure Trust in Childcare

Share this:

Who can you trust to babysit your 5-year-old? For parents, finding someone reliable and trustworthy can be quite daunting. Urbansitter CEO Lynn Perkins grappled with these issues of trust and referral as she’s grown her local commerce service into a national vertical player.

When Will We Be Able to Say That Cashless Payments Have Finally ‘Arrived?’

Share this:

The ubiquity of smartphones, new payment technology platforms, and ease of use have clearly caught the eye of many technology innovators and consumers. But why is this the year that cashless payments will go mainstream?

Street Fight Daily: Pinterest Opens Ad Platform to SMBs, Thumbtack Sees $1B in Local Services Spending

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Pinterest Fully Opens Its Ad Spigot to Every Small and Medium-Sized Advertiser (Adweek)… $1B in Local Services Spending Runs Through Thumbtack (LSA Insider)… Facebook ‘Amazed by Volume of Valueless Inventory,’ Abandons New Ad Buying Platform (AdAge)…

Booker Acquires Frederick, Expands Marketing Automation for Service Businesses

Share this:

The two companies had an existing partnership in place, and Booker has already rolled out Frederick’s marketing services to 200 of its existing customers. Following the deal, Frederick will retain its brand and will continue integrations with other business management systems.

Bot Local: Making Appointments Is Getting a Lot More Fun

Share this:

Pingup is bringing its API-powered live booking capability to “a broader range of leading-edge consumer interfaces and platforms.” This means “Pingup-powered bots” will let consumers book and confirm appointments in real time with “tens of thousands of local businesses across the U.S.”

Street Fight Daily: Verizon Fined By FCC for Tracking Consumers, Will Google+ Be Resurrected?

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… FCC Drops the Hammer on Verizon Over ‘Supercookie’ Usage (The Next Web)… Founder of 4chan Joins Google, Presumably to Work on Google+ (Ars Technica)… Facebook’s Trojan Horse Commerce Strategy (Recode)…

The Physical World Is Eating the Web

Share this:

Most beacon scenarios require users to jump through a set of compatibility hoops. But Google has been quietly working on an antidote: The physical web. To sidestep some of the opt-in friction, it positions the browser as the beacon interface and it transmits beacon content using URLs.

Swipely Rebrands as Upserve, Launches Mobile App and New Tools for Restaurants

Share this:

The company announced this morning that it is changing its name to Upserve, and is expanding its suite of products aimed at helping restaurateurs optimize their sales and service and manage their business on the fly.

What the C-Suite Needs to Think About When It Comes to Delivering On-Demand

Share this:

Today over 2 billion local deliveries are made annually in the U.S. And every delivery company that wants to remain competitive in this space must be able to offer an on-demand experience to their customers — whether it has its own fleet of drivers or uses independent contractors to provide its service. In a complicated […]