News and Analysis

Los Angeles Sues Over Weather Channel App’s Data-Collection Practices

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The move is representative of changing winds on attitudes toward privacy in the location data ecosystem. Following a series of New York Times Facebook and location data exposés and explainers, and with America’s own GDPR, the California Consumer Privacy Act, slated to go into effect on January 1, 2019, companies are waking up to a new reality in which selling and sharing user data to the tune of billions of dollars in revenue with little oversight is over.

What Does (Local) Innovation Look Like in 2019? An Open Question

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More specifically, what will innovation look like going forward in local marketing and retail? How will it at once address the unignorable concerns about privacy and transparency that have reached a fever pitch of late and stay true to the best of the Silicon Valley spirit, namely, introduce something both new and necessary? How do local innovators move fast without breaking= things? Is that possible?

We at Street Fight want to hear from you, our readers, about the innovation you’re excited about in local in 2019 and your concerns about business practices in the industry in years to come. Drop me a line with your predictions, concerns, and hopes for Local in 2019 at [email protected].

Voice’s Impact on Local: The Knowledge Graph, SEO, Paid Search

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We know voice will play a major role in Local in 2019, as voice recognition software gets more sophisticated, “near me” searches skyrocket, and marketers wise up to where the voice-local opportunity really lies in the near future: smartphones. In this article, let’s get more specific. Voice will affect the fundamentals of local search: the Knowledge Graph, SEO, and paid search, for example. Drawing from Street Fight lead analyst Mike Boland’s 2018 white paper on voice, I break down those changes below.

Commentary

How the Tech Emerging From CES Could Impact Local Advertisers

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While some of the consumer-facing products that made headlines won’t hit store shelves for months, there was plenty to learn from the show for anyone involved in media, software, content, and design. Here’s a look at how some of these technologies could impact advertising planning and creation right now.

How Can Local Merchants Ensure That Digital Searchers Know They’re Open?

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Knowing your hours of operation is one of the first searches that customers undertake as they navigate their options when they look for things to do and places to go. Being available to potential customers means managing your store hours as a dynamic and scale-able data asset.

Ad Tech, Local Media and the 2016 Political Campaign

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In this year’s presidential campaign, news and information consumers can be reached via a wide range of channels, and media buys can be executed in milliseconds. Now that local inventory has joined this channel, political camps have the ability to execute local campaigns on a massive scale.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Google Maps Now Suggests Restaurants, Lyft’s New Carpooling Feature

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Maps for Android Update Makes It Easier to Choose a Restaurant (The Next Web)… Lyft Line’s Express Re-Route Feature Aims to Get You Where You’re Going Faster (TechCrunch)… Sharing Economy Goes Hyperlocal With a Growing Market for Household Items (New York Times)…

Why ‘On-Demand’ Alone Isn’t Enough to Make a Viable Business

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Success in this market doesn’t come from betting that millions of consumers will change their purchase behaviors. Success in the on-demand economy employs a simple, time-tested formula: taking an existing service — one that a lot of people use — and making it better.

5 On-Demand Platforms for Medical Marijuana Delivery

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Up until now, one of the major pain points in medical marijuana consumption has been access. But on-demand platforms can keep delivery times down and safety up. Here are five examples of companies offering on-demand medical marijuana delivery.

Street Fight Daily: DoorDash Partners With 7-Eleven, How Instagram’s Latest Update Affects Advertising

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Delivery Startup DoorDash Is Promising to Send 7-Eleven Food and Drinks to Your Home in 45 Minutes or Less (Business Insider)… New, Stretched-Out Instagram Means More Ads (Mashable)… As Giant Platforms Rise, Local News is Getting Crushed (Nieman Lab)…

Will Mobile Search Dethrone Google?

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Why would Google’s market leadership be vulnerable to mobile search incursion? Innovation in search can occur at the user experience level, the core indexing and ranking algorithms, and the business model and ecosystem that supports search. Each of these faces potential mobile disruption.

6 Ways Local Merchants Can Compete in Organic Search Results

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Type in a generic search term for nearly any local service and you’re likely to see listings for national brands and retail chains. Local businesses have largely been pushed out of the first page. So local merchants have to make a change in their SEO strategies.

Street Fight Daily: Yahoo’s ReachLocal Partnership, Amazon Wants to Deliver From Farmers Markets

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Yahoo Follows Google in Building Out Local Search Marketing Reseller Program (Search Engine Land)… Amazon Is Testing Farmers Market Produce Delivery (Los Angeles Times)… Google Reportedly Kills Plan to Let Retailers Send Notifications in Maps (The Verge)…

Will Social Media Give TV a Run for Its Money in the 2016 Election?

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“Politicians already know that an election can hinge on specific regions and using social media to listen and engage in those areas can have a significant impact on the voting outcome,” says Phil Harris, CEO of Geofeedia.

Where Do My Friends Fit Into My Local Search?

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The social graph alone won’t be a silver bullet for local. It’s just not big enough. And its value to local is overstated. My friends are great for party pics and snappy news feed dialogue — they don’t yet excel at plumber reviews.

Street Fight Daily: Google’s Home Services Features Are Live, How Effective Are Digital Coupons?

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Plunges Into Home Services Market (Wall Street Journal)… Pitt Study Finds Location-Based Marketing a Mixed Bag (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)… Our Marketplace Obsession and Bubble (TechCrunch)…