News and Analysis
Startups Adapt to Shifting Privacy Standards
Two steps forward, one step back. That’s what it can feel like to be a technology provider in the location marketing space right now, struggling to strike a balance between the demands of brand marketers and growing concerns over consumer privacy and data regulation.
That push and pull is challenging vendors in the location marketing space. At the same time their firms should be seeing exponential growth, data regulations—including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California’s forthcoming Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)—are establishing new rules for innovation.
But some companies are embracing the regulation as a challenge to innovate in its own right.
Vendors Rush to Bring Privacy Verification Solutions to Market
The demand for data privacy is at an all-time high, just as consumer trust in the technology space is at an all-time low. Advertisers are grappling with wasted ad spend and uncertainty over ad verification. The market is in disarray, and technology vendors are hoping they have a solution to the problem.
Just this month, the offline consumer intelligence and measurement company Cuebiq launched a new verification solution for third-party data. The solution gives advertisers verifiable proof of compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
Consumers Welcome Some Automated Business Messaging, But Humans Must Tag Along to Help
More than half of consumers are frustrated by customer-service situations in which they can only interact with automated agents, and nearly one in five even reporting feeling angry in those situations. That’s per a new survey of U.S. consumers conducted by The Harris Poll and commissioned by call tracking and analytics firm Invoca.
Commentary
Snapchat, Uber, and the Implications of Machine Learning
Machine learning and predictive analytics need to meld seamlessly with core app functionality. The technology needs to “just work,” without steep learning curves or frustrating dead ends. So I’d expect any company who experiments with machine learning for local search to start with a simple set of problems and hone the user experience.
The Accelerating Consolidation of the Digital Ad Market
“The flow of dollars from businesses of all sizes has clearly been away from lower-performance niche platforms into boosted Facebook posts,” writes David Mihm. “We can debate the value of that activity, but relative to the questionable/delayed/opaque performance of so many digital ad products, Facebook seems to have found a sweet spot.”
Just How Big a Deal Are Voice Search and Chatbots for Local?
At Street Fight Summit we raised a little controversy around the potential disruptiveness of voice search to the hyperlocal economy. Street Fight believes voice search is a critical emerging technology, a view that seemingly contrasts with that of many companies on the supply side of hyperlocal.
Latest Posts
Is Uber Paving the Way Toward Verified Consumer Reviews?
In an atmosphere where fake reviews are all too easy to create, we need tools that help distinguish real opinions from garbage. Moving beyond the limitations of data algorithms, fact-based approaches hold out the promise of grounding review services in observable truth.
Mobiquity Brings Beacons to the Movies — And Consumer Data to Hollywood
Mobiquity will be installing beacons in 300 of the theater complexes with which Screenvision is partnered. The beacons are intended to help further engage consumers with the brands that are serving up pre-roll ads on the silver screen.
Street Fight Daily: Inside Yahoo’s Restructuring, Sharing Economy Goes Small
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Yahoo Restructuring Begins Slowly With Stealth Layoffs and ‘Invest/Maintain/Kill’ List (Recode)… Consumers and Mobile Pay: We’re Aware of It, But We Don’t See the Benefit (GeoMarketing)… Is the Future of the Sharing Economy Small-Scale? (Pacific Standard)…
PlaceIQ Looking to Build a Role for Location Tech Into TV, OOH, and Even Direct Mail
Brands don’t want only to measure the persuasive powers of their mobile ads. They also want to know the efficacy of their TV, OOH, online, and even direct mail efforts, which is where PlaceIQ, with its freshly acquired $25 million, wants to deliver bigger results.
Taking ‘Local’ Right Down to the Keystroke
A new group of companies are finding ways into local services by getting in between consumers’ desires and fulfillment of their desires at the core level: where their thumbs are hitting the glass. Startups like PopKey and Slash have found what feels like a Trojan Horse into our stream of communication.
For Brick and Mortar to Beat Ecommerce, It Takes Mind, Body, and Spirit
While many onlookers think that increased comparison shopping, faster and cheaper delivery options like drones, and the convenience of shopping at home equal doom for physical stores, the reality is that the economy (like the people behind it) is largely driven by the irrational.
Street Fight Daily: Waze Partners With Lyft, Craigslist Competitor 5miles Now Valued at $300M+
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Waze to Scoop up More Data through New Partnerships (Wall Street Journal)… Mobile App 5miles Raises $30M at a $300M+ Valuation to Rival Craigslist in Classifieds (TechCrunch)… Bootler Brings Comparison Shopping to Food Delivery Services (Chicago Tribune)…
As Local Search Behavior Evolves, Marketing Spending Will Follow
Merchants and marketers have to be findable and present useful information regardless of the searcher’s context. And that’s where the mechanics of local search marketing get messy. It feels like a great opportunity for tools and managed services that help break down those silos, and measure effectiveness across or between them.
It’s Been a Long Slog, but Digital News Publishers Are Beginning to Innovate
News publishers get beat up regularly for not making a successful journalistic transition from their palmy print days to the hotly competitive digital era. And they certainly deserve it. But I think Neal Mann’s recent full-metal-jacket attack on them in Medium was way over the top.
Street Fight Daily: AOL Merges All Publishing Products, the Scope of Uber’s International Disruption
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… AOL Is Combining All of Its Publisher Products (Business Insider)… Why Uber’s Rushing Into Deliveries Could Reap $24.6B Internationally (Forbes)… For Some Sprint Customers, Watching Ads Cuts Phone Bill (Wall Street Journal)…
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