News and Analysis
What’s Visual Search, and How Will It Play Out in 2019?
While visual search isn’t exactly catching on like fire yet, its evolution is buttressed by powerful developments of late in the tech industry. Among these: smartphones are increasingly ubiquitous, more efficient, and we’re all more accustomed to using them; investment in AI from both big companies and startups is widespread, making machine vision more effective; and augmented reality (AR), a similar modality in which tech overlays graphics onto images captured via camera lens, is taking off. Below are a few ways visual search will play out in local and retail in 2019.
Voice’s Local Impact in 2018 and 2019
Street Fight’s Mike Boland explained in a white paper on voice this year that there’s a number of misconceptions regarding how the medium will play out in local search and commerce, and there’s plenty of research out there to illuminate where voice is really headed. I outline some key insights about voice as brands and SMBs alike make plans to tackle it in the months to come.
How Predictive Analytics Reshaped Decision-Making in 2018 and Will Evolve in 2019
In this Q&A, we dig into what Sriram Parthasarathy, senior director of product architecture and predictive analytics at Logi Analytics, envisions as the future of predictive analytics and what he believes still needs to happen before AI-enabled applications move into the mainstream.
Commentary
Report: Executive Survey on Hyperlocal Tech and Tactics
What’s on the mind of technology and marketing suppliers targeting the connected local economy? They’re keen on mobile — perhaps too keen — but struggling with their own companies’ brand awareness. The dichotomy between small businesses and national chains that sell locally is profound, and presents difficult challenges in scaling to support either, let alone both, according to Street Fight Insights analysis.
The Price of Free Listings Revisited: A Hyperlocal Business Perspective
The proliferation of online directories and directory services has made the local business owner’s life harder. It means more places to manage vital information and more third-party providers that control access to directories. Between the time and effort required to manage aggregators and the volume of citations, few small business owners do it themselves. As a result, the only stakeholders that truly know what information is authentic often are left out of the conversation.
In Local Marketing, ‘Obsolete’ Is All Relative
The pace of innovation is such that many new technologies are deemed “obsolete” before small business owners get the chance to fully understand them, let alone implement them in their business. Many feel left behind the curve as a result. But obsolete is not an absolute condition when it comes to marketing techniques. Where marketing tactics and technologies are underutilized, potential for competitive gains still exists.
Latest Posts
Will Newspaper Companies Find Revival in Local Video?
Ten years from now newspapers will be delivering more local video programming than TV stations. Inconceivable? Sub out the word newspapers for “a local media company formerly known as a newspaper,” and consider the assets, cash-flow and aggressiveness of these big print companies, and you might warm up to my theory.
LBMA Podcast: Gimbal’s New Beacon, Tinder for Apple Watch
On the show: AOL/Verizon may be Millenial Media; Shape-changing interfaces; Big Gay Ice Cream uses beacons; Rubicon Global’s quest to be UBER for your trash; Waze’s RideWith ride sharing.
Street Fight Daily: Groupon Buys OrderUp, Advertisers Struggle With Google’s Mobile Update
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Groupon Acquires OrderUp Food Delivery Service (TechCrunch)… Google And Its Advertisers That Didn’t Prepare For Mobile Face Uphill Struggle (Marketing Land)… How Eddystone Will Take Beacons Further Than Ever Before (ReadWrite)…
2015 ‘Michele’s List’ Shows Strengths — And Weaknesses — of ‘Indie’ News Sites
There are encouraging and even bullish numbers in the performance of independent community news sites as reported in the 2015 “Michele’s List” survey. But other numbers indicate that “indies” are having a difficult time generating enough revenue to ensure stability.
Local Tech Businesses Diversify to Serve a Wider Range of SMB Needs — But Do They Really Know Their Customers?
In the rush to diversify their offerings, single-product local tech companies either move horizontally (reaching out to all the markets that could remotely utilize their product) or, more often, vertically (seeking to cater to all the nuanced needs of a niche market).
Street Fight Daily: Facebook and Google Embrace ‘Buy’ Buttons
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook Will Soon Add a ‘Buy’ Button So You Can Shop From Facebook (Business Insider)… Google Starts Testing Buy Button (Mashable)… 20 Years of Amazon: 20 Years of Major Disruptions (USA Today)…
Small Businesses Aren’t Afraid of Amazon — And You Shouldn’t Be Either
Yes, Amazon is a giant. But as long as you continue to innovate and keep your hand on the pulse of independent business needs, it’s not going to kill your business. Here’s why.
10 Local Digital Agencies You Should Know About
Although nearly half (49%) of franchise SMBs have been partnered with a digital agency for two or more years, independent merchants are just getting in on the action. Here are 10 digital agencies that businesses are using right now.
Street Fight Daily: Google’s iBeacon Competitor, Wi-Fi Proximity Program Launches
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Launches Eddystone, Its Platform-Agnostic iBeacon Competitor (The Next Web)… This New Wi-Fi Tech Uses Proximity To End Waiting In Long Lines (ReadWrite)… Like Google, Yahoo Wants to Reinvent Search Without the Search Bar (Ad Age)…
Courting SMBs, Facebook Integrates Its Ad Platform With Wix Email Marketing
Facebook and Wix announced a new integration this morning that will allow businesses using Wix’s email marketing app to creating a Facebook ad within the platform, automatically taking the email’s content and images and translating them into Facebook’s format.
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem