News and Analysis

These 6 Location Data Providers Are Changing the Way Brands Target Consumers

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Location data providers power the vast majority of mobile targeting strategies we’re seeing brand marketers implement today. An incredible 80% of marketers say they plan to boost their use of location data over the next two years, and in the U.S. alone, it’s expected that location-based advertising spend will reach $38.7BN by 2022. In order to achieve those goals, marketers will have to work closely with top location data providers. Here are six companies they’ll be working with.

At Retail Conference, Google Dangles Shiny New Visual Ad Format

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The visual-first ads are here. Google announced at the retail conference Shoptalk on Wednesday that it is launching shoppable ads in image search, propelling the search giant into the center of the visual zeitgeist that has made Pinterest, Instagram, and Snapchat hot targets for advertisers.

Native Ad Industry Booms, Capitalizing on Hunger for Ads That Don’t Look Like Advertising

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Native ad firm AdYouLike is staking its reputation on the assumption that the ads you like may not look like ads. That bet appears to be paying off, as a report from the firm shows the native ad industry set to grow to $400 billion by 2025, a 372% jump from the projected size of the market in 2020.

Commentary

How Apple’s Subtle AR Play Could Impact Local: Sights and Sounds

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Apple just entered augmented reality, without anyone really noticing. Though the iPhone 7 was met with a collective ‘meh,’ the real impact is below the surface, where the world’s biggest company collides with tech’s biggest opportunity.

Taking Proximity Tech Beyond Promotional Offers

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Once a beacon program is successful with promotions, many retailers think they only need to maintain what they have. But the technology also affords retailers a number of other opportunities to reach and engage with customers beyond simply delivering offers.

Will the ‘Physical Web’ Help Retailers Reduce Annoying Ads?

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While still in its infancy, and not yet realized, the physical web will prove to be an asset to franchisees looking to connect, and engage with, potential customers from their surrounding neighborhood ­– without barraging them with untimely and irrelevant messaging.

Latest Posts

Street Fight’s Predictions for 2016: Part One

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With 2015 drawing to a close, it’s time again to look ahead to what we can expect in the hyperlocal space in 2016. We asked Street Fight staffers and weekly columnists what they thought would be the biggest story (or stories) in local in 2016. We’ll be running their outlooks in two installments, the first today and the second tomorrow.

Rating Street Fight’s 2015 Predictions

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At the end of each year, Street Fight invites staffers, friends, and luminaries from the industry to share their predictions for what’s in store for the coming year. Today, we take a look back at some of the predictions for 2015 to see who was on target and who missed the mark.

Street Fight Hyperlocal Analyst Predictions for 2016

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With 2015 drawing to a close, it’s time again to look ahead to what we can expect in the hyperlocal space in 2016. This year, we did things a little differently. We invited our regular analyst contributors to 1) weigh in on what they felt would be a “sure thing” in the coming year, 2) offer a prediction on something that might get big (but might not happen), and 3) identify something that hyperlocal marketers and merchants really don’t need to worry about. This is the first of several predictions pieces we will feature this week.

10 Ways Retailers Can Create Awareness of In-Store Mobile Channels

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Consumers increasingly prefer to communicate with businesses through their smartphones rather than face-to-face, even while they’re shopping in-store. Retailers have reacted to this shift by investing in beacons and mobile apps. But many are finding that use of these technologies is low because consumers don’t realize they exist. To understand how merchants should go about building these relationships and creating awareness of their mobile channels, we spoke with seven industry experts.

LBMA Podcast: WayRay’s Holographic Navigation System, Samsung Makes Holiday Piano Out of Tablets

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On the show: WayRay launches the world’s first holographic navigation system; Samsung fashions a holiday piano out of 112 tablets; Membo — the Yik Yak for local discovery; Moz partners with NavAds BV; Netflix socks turn your TV off if you fall asleep. Plus, news from Factual; Mondelez; Facebook and Uber; JCPenney; and Best Buy.

Street Fight Daily: Why Groupon Should Go Private, the Evolution and Future of Google Now

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Why Groupon Needs to Go Private to Rebuild Its Vision (TechCrunch)… In 2015, Google’s Personal Assistant Broke Out of Its Shell. Now It Has to Fight (Recode)… Relcy Founder Says He’s Built a Better Mobile Search Engine (Search Engine Land)…

Company Culture Priorities for 2016

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In the Street Culture column we launched in 2015, Street Fight began looking more closely at the clever, fun, and smart ways startups in the hyperlocal industry are building culture into their organizations as they scale. No two companies we spoke with were the same, but many are driving their cultures along the same tracks. Based on our interviews, here are the top four culture-focused priorities for startups to address in 2016.

Street Fight Daily: Bing, Yahoo Take Bite of Google’s Search Share, Native Ads Get FTC Guidelines

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Microsoft and Yahoo Search Share Grows, Still Trails Google by Miles (Ad Age)… The FTC Is Cracking Down on Native Advertising (Fortune)… A Former Topsy Employee Has an Interesting Theory on Why Apple Shut Down This $200 Million Acquisition (Business Insider)…

5 Keys to Small Business Success in 2016

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It’s no longer enough to just have a Facebook page or a website that’s optimized for mobile. To stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace in 2016, local merchants will need to dig in and start using hyperlocal technology to its full potential.

Top 5 Exits in Local Tech of 2015

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The local technology space saw plenty of M&A activity in 2015 and remains poised for another busy year in 2016. Rampant expansion of certain areas such as on-demand services and delivery apps makes further consolidation likely. The startup scene saw its share of healthy — if not billion-dollar — exits as well. Here’s a recap of the five of the biggest exits in the local tech industry in 2015.