News and Analysis

Google Reviews Hit with Massive Spam Attempt

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Google reviews, increasingly essential to the online search presence of brand and SMB brick-and-mortars alike, were hit by a massive spam attempt last week. At least 2 million fraudulent reviews were posted, according to ReviewFraud.org.

Kroger Pushes Boundaries with Mobile Holiday Strategies

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Feeling the pinch from online-only grocers, many brick-and-mortar supermarkets are beginning to dip their toes into mobile marketing this holiday season. Kroger, on the other hand, is jumping all the way in.

New Hires at Nextdoor, Airbnb, Applift

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Every two or three weeks, guest columnist Geoff Michener rounds up some of the latest hires in local and digital marketing. This week’s roundup also includes new hires at TapClicks, Affinio, Tealium, Vistar Media, and Motista.

Commentary

Ad Blockers: One Big Distraction from the Real Issue

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In a year of overblown topics, the grand prize goes to mobile ad blockers. The backlash is not only disproportionate to real impact but also has fueled the wrong conversation. Instead of fighting ad blockers — or fueling them in the case of biased reports — the ad industry should ask itself how it got in this position to begin with.

Is the Humble Phone Call Actually the Killer App for Local Businesses?

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It turns out reports of voice calling’s death are greatly exaggerated. Despite an explosion in data usage and mobile messaging, voice calling — facilitated by search and virtual assistants — remains a popular activity among mobile users. A lot of those calls are going to local businesses, where they are more likely to convert to revenue than web forms or emails.

6 Reasons Why Hyperlocal Tech Initiatives Continue to Elude Consumers

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Hyperlocal is a totally logical concept in the minds of technologists, analysts, and investors, but many hyperlocal tech initiatives have yet to catch fire with consumers. Part of the challenge is people are creatures of habit. Here are six reasons why hyperlocal tech will continue to elude consumers’ grasp in 2016.

Latest Posts

6 Platforms for On-Demand Doctor House Calls

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Using location-based mobile technology, vendors are modernizing the concept of physician house calls. For a price, consumers in most metropolitan areas can order up a doctor just like they would a pizza. Here are six platforms that consumers can use to bring healthcare providers to their doorsteps.

Street Fight Daily: Facebook’s New Ad Features, Retailers Will Start Testing MCX Payments App

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook Is Trying to Make It Even More Tempting for You to Buy Products from the News Feed (Business Insider)… Retailers to Begin Public Tests of MCX Mobile Payment App But Face Hurdles (Wall Street Journal)… Amazon’s Dash Buttons Hint at a Future of Interface-Free Shopping (The Verge)…

Mapsense CEO: The Rise of On-demand, Location-based Apps Is a ‘Huge’ Opportunity

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Smartphone users are familiar with consumer-facing map services such as Google Maps, which consistently ranks among the most frequently used apps. But companies depending on maps are far more numerous than map services apps. Countless mobile apps that use location services such as delivery-oriented Instacart and transportation-oriented Uber rely on mapping software, and still more […]

Revived Daily Voice Expands Into North Jersey With 22 New Sites

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Pushed to near death two-and-a-half years ago by heavy losses, regional community news network Daily Voice has resurrected itself, expanding in suburban Connecticut and New York State — and now the network is about to cross the Hudson River into northern New Jersey.

Street Fight Daily: Google Introduces New Parent Company, Amazon Launchpad’s Challenges

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Meet Alphabet, The New Conglomerate Absorbing Google (Marketing Land)… Amazon’s Next Big Challenge: Getting You to Buy Stuff You Didn’t Know You Wanted (Recode)… Startups Vie to Build an Uber for Health Care (Wall Street Journal)…

Street Fight Launches ‘Local Visionary Awards’ to Honor the Industry’s Best and Brightest

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For four-and-a-half years, Street Fight has been the go-to resource for people working in local media, marketing, commerce and tech. Building on that history, today we are launching a 10-category competition designed to honor the very best campaigns and ideas in local.

6 Reasons Why Beacon Programs Fail

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Beacons have been heralded as the future of retail, with 85% of retailers expected to use the technology by 2016. But getting a successful proximity-marketing program off the ground involves more than just setting out a few digital devices. Here are few common pitfalls and tips on how to avoid them.

Mono CEO: In Local Marketing, U.S. Is Maybe 5 Years Ahead of Europe

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Since its founding in 2007, Mono Solutions has been giving SMBs a complete package — from website building, to helping with online visibility, to engaging with customers, to doing business online. We recently caught up with the company’s CEO, Louise Lachmann, to talk about how she sees the local industry evolving.

Street Fight Daily: Crowley on Foursquare’s Future, Google Still Working on Same-Day Delivery

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Groupon Reports Profit but Still Falls Short of Expectations (Wall Street Journal)… Google Puts Exec Behind ‘Buy Button’ in Charge of Express Delivery Service (Recode)… Understanding The Future Of Mobility (TechCrunch)…

Street Culture: Flexibility Helps WeddingWire as It Scales Up

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At WeddingWire, an online marketplace serving the wedding and events industry, its expanding employee base is providing new opportunities to fine-tune company policies, according to the company’s vice president of people, Jenny Harding.