News and Analysis

San Francisco Partially Bans Facial Recognition, Putting Technology’s Future in Doubt

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Civil rights and privacy activists asked, and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors delivered.

The city banned the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement and other municipal agencies on Tuesday, becoming the first in the country to do so. Other bills in the works in Massachusetts and even on Capitol Hill suggest that additional restrictions on the technology may be forthcoming. 

Local Social Network Nextdoor Raises $123 Million

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The digital advertising proposition for Nextdoor is obvious—what better way to drive customers into nearby brick-and-mortar stores than to generate buzz on a social platform centered on users’ physical location? Venture capitalists see the value proposition, as Chris Varelas, co-founder and managing partner at Riverwood, proclaimed Nextdoor as the “future of local community and commerce.”

6 Influencer Marketing Platforms for Brands

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As some of the most visual social channels, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest have become important tools for brand marketers. These are also the channels most likely to be used by so-called “influencers,” the social media stars who frequently partner with brands to promote products to their online followers. Influencer marketing has become a big business, with 31% of retailers now working with brand advocates to become influencers and 28% using paid celebrity influencers to spread the word about their products and services.

Here are six popular influencer marketing platforms being used by retailers and brands right now.

Commentary

Reimagining the Mobile Banner: In-App Ad Innovation Spares Brands from Google’s Interstitial Pinch

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The future of our work is about designing smarter ways to reach users, so we need to focus on ways to drive engagement, not distraction. And that means finding subtle things that trigger the meaningful interactions. This isn’t 1999; we’re not building banners for last century’s desktop.

So, as January 10 approaches, let’s look at some creative models from the app side of the table

Why Local Search Is Even More Important in the Age of Ad Blocking

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With so many people blocking traditional advertising, a growing proportion of internet users cannot be reached through “classic” search engine marketing. That’s why in the context of ad blocking, SEO is still king.

Foursquare’s Rosenblatt: ‘Location Is the Atomic Unit of Mobile’

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Foursquare has gone from check-in darling to an under-recognized data powerhouse. But in that transition, it’s more successful than ever. And its primary emphasis has remained the entire time: real-world consumer behavior. Meanwhile, the ad industry’s hunger for location data grows.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Uber Rebrands, Amazon Rumored to be Opening Hundreds of Physical Bookstores

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… The Inside Story of Uber’s Radical Rebranding (Wired)… Amazon Is Said to Be Planning an Expansion Into Retail Bookstores (New York Times)… Yahoo to Cut 15% of Workforce, Explore Strategic Options (Wall Street Journal)…

Cupcakes

Case Study: Bakery Takes Digital Approach to Local Marketing

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Like many local merchants, Heather Zidell has seen the number of customers finding her business through Yelp climb over the years. She decided to take the leap into paid advertising on the platform as a way to ensure that her bakery was being listed ahead of competitors.

Understanding the Context of Local Advertising’s Supply and Demand

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The current election cycle, if nothing else, has demonstrated the importance of context in the supply and demand of local media. In this type of market, the early bird gets the worm. Consumer brands are learning this lesson the hard way and getting shut out of local opportunities that otherwise might have been available.

Street Fight Daily: Alphabet Earnings Show Google Search Still On Top, Local Advertising’s ‘Context’

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Search Leads the Way as Alphabet Beats Earnings Expectations (Adweek)… Placed’s Shim: Location-Based Optimization Is the ‘SEO of 2016’ (GeoMarketing)… Yahoo Takes Declining Share of Worldwide Ad Revenues (eMarketer)…

Retale CEO Touts ‘Tremendous Potential’ of Virtual Reality for Shopping

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Retale, a mobile app that brings local circulars to consumers, is jumping right in to VR/AR, launching what it calls “the world’s first virtual reality location-based shopping companion.” Street Fight recently caught up with Retale CEO Christian Gaiser to discuss why the company is betting this technology will become a vital channel for future shoppers.

7 Ways Local Merchants Can Use Messaging Apps for Marketing

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Smartphone messaging apps were used by more than 1.4 billion consumers last year, but very few of the conversations that took place were between shoppers and local merchants. Here are seven examples of ways that local merchants can start using messaging apps to improve customer service and boost customer acquisition right away.

Street Fight Daily: Why Amazon Confuses Wall Street, Another Big Ad Tech Acquisition

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Wall Street Still Doesn’t Get Amazon (Bloomberg)… Telenor Jumps Into Ad Tech, Acquires Tapad for $360M (TechCrunch)… The Consumer Isn’t a Moron (The Next Web)…

Raise Report: Moz, Estimote, FiveStars Find Fresh Capital

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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 cash infusions for HopSkipDrive, Olo, CityMapper, and Boxed.

Openings and New Hires at Instagram, Euclid, Button, Billy Penn

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Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. This week’s edition includes new jobs for eBay vet Walt Doyle and Twitter’s SVP, and job openings at Netsertive, Foursquare, Factual, and more.

LBMA Podcast: Proxfinity, Estimote, Carrefour and Basket

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On the show: Real holograms thanks to Kino-Mo; Samsung’s TipTalk lets you talk into your finger; Down with walkie-talkies thanks to Theatro; Microsoft’s Skip means no lineups at Gerrity Supermarkets; PlaceIQ trumps that with $25M; Microsoft is acquiring InMobi; InMarket puts beacons in every RiteAid store. Our App selection is Basket from Andy Ellwood.