News and Analysis
Consumers Willing to Forgo Privacy, For a Price
New research indicates that consumers are actually more aware of how their personal information is being used today than they were last year, with those ages 55 and above showing the greatest level of awareness. These consumers are increasingly willing to share their personally identifiable information with brand marketers—with one caveat. They want a reward for doing it.
Alphabet Plays the Long Game, Expanding and Investing in R&D, with Focus on Video
Alphabet is investing in its future, spending record funds on R&D and pouring money into non-core businesses such as self-driving cars (Waymo) and its video platform (YouTube). While the company exceeded analyst expectations on the back of ever-strong growth from its core search business, it was actually trading down on Monday, reflecting investor anxiety over the cost and ultimately profitability of its many secondary businesses.
Google’s Soft-Power Approach to Super Bowl Ads
When it came to the Super Bowl, Google opted not to put the spotlight on flashy new products but rather to emphasize the good it can do for the world at a time when it’s “don’t be evil” slogan of yore has become prime material for parody. During the big game, ads for products as seemingly disparate as Pringles, tax software, and beer pointed to a present haunted by tech’s infiltration of domestic life and machines’ superiority to humans.
Commentary
Automating Local Commerce: Rise of the Chatbots
Bots could displace apps just as apps displaced search. “Search started with consumers typing into a box,” Pingup’s Ron Braunfeld said recently. “[AI] is all about knowing where you are, time of day, what’s in your refrigerator; and giving you the right information without having to search.”
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Snapchat Cuts Ties with Yahoo, Publishers Share Digital Advertising Strategies
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Why Snapchat Axed Yahoo from Discover (Fast Company)… What’s Actually Working in Digital Advertising? 8 Publishers on How They’re Bringing in Money (Nieman Lab)… Yelp Is Using Image Search to Change How It Finds You a Bar (Wired)…
How Gannett’s Cost-Cutting and Breakthrough Video Ads Helped Land Journal Media Group
In less than six months, the newly constituted Journal Media Group did a 180-degree about-face, shifting from a strategy focused on acquisitions to being acquired by Gannett. The USA Today publisher brought two things that JMG couldn’t match: The proven ability to consistently wring substantial cost savings out of expansion and a digital ad strategy that holds the promise of making everybody — advertisers, audiences, and stockholders — happy.
Can Facebook Win Local?
Facebook is known universally for its social networking features, but the company has quietly but consistently been rolling out a set of tools to make it the go-to platform for SMBs. From social buy buttons, call functionality, and Pages to messaging and free beacons, Facebook is staking its claim to online, offline, and online-to-offline marketing and commerce for SMBs.
Street Fight Daily: Target Partners with Techstars, Yahoo Exec Leaves for Square
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Target Teams Up with Techstars to Create a Retail-Focused Startup Accelerator (TechCrunch)… Top Yahoo Exec Jackie Reses Heads to Square as Senior Exec (Recode)… Publishers Straddle the Apple-Google, App-Web Divide (New York Times)…
6 Strategies for Improving Email Pitches to SMBs
Email is the go-to channel for pitching within the hyperlocal community, but with 81 percent of small business owners now being contacted by between one and five sales reps each week, according to a survey by Street Fight and Thrive Analytics, it’s becoming harder for digital marketing vendors to stand out from the pack. Here are six strategies vendors say they’ve successfully used to break through the clutter in local merchants’ inboxes.
LBMA Podcast: Walmart’s Simple Text Shopping Assistant, Walgreens Rewards Activity Tracking
On the show: Walmart’s Simple Text shopping assistant; Walgreens rewards customers for activity tracking; ordering pizza from the street courtesy of JCDeaux; LOCALīz from Bulzi; Droneports in Rwanda; Sunshine crowdsourced weather app; your opinion pays at Portland’s SamplingLab; using digital solutions to enhance the customer experience. Plus, news from RevTrax; Salvation Army; and eyeQ.
Street Fight Daily: IAB Accepts Blame for Rise of Ad Blockers, Analyzing Yahoo Gemini
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… The IAB Pivots on Ad Blocking and Issues a Mea Culpa: ‘We Messed Up’ (Adweek)… As Yahoo Gemini Ramps Up, How Well Is It Performing for Search Advertisers? (Search Engine Land)… First Data Slips in Trading Debut (Wall Street Journal)…
NinthDecimal Partners with TiVo to Measure TV Advertising’s Real-World Influence
In today’s digitally-focused advertising climate, overlooking TV’s influence is easy. It still accounts for the largest share of U.S. media spending, but with marketers increasingly focused on generating hard metrics-based ROI for every aspect of their campaigns, the challenge has been tying TV’s impact to real-world business results. With the launch today of a TV measurement solution in partnership with TiVo, NinthDecimal is banking on TV becoming a bigger piece of the ROI puzzle.
5 Reasons Why Your Business Needs Negative Reviews
All business owners cringe at the sight of a one- or two-star review shown publicly on any review site. The immediate feeling is often disbelief, anger, and resentment toward both the customer and the review site. There is almost nothing that makes business owners more emotional than public criticism of their work. But emotions aside, negative reviews can actually be a good thing. Here are five ways they can help your business thrive.
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