News and Analysis

Despite AI Advances, Consumers Crave Human Interactions

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Using the latest artificial intelligence technology, brands are finding new ways to streamline and automate the customer experience. But a new report shows that type of streamlined experience might be the exact opposite of what consumers actually want when they interact with their favorite brands.

Street Fight Daily: Mobile to Surpass Traditional Media Combined; Brands: Be Wise About AI Use for Customer Engagement

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TODAY IN LOCAL & DIGITAL MARKETING AND MEDIA… Mobile Ad Spending to Surpass All Traditional Media Combined by 2020… Despite AI Advances, Consumers Crave Human Interactions… Google Assistant, Search Add Best Buy and Nike as Shopping Partners…

AUDIENCEX Launches Fund to Accelerate MarTech Innovation, Capture Mid-Market Brands’ Attention

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AUDIENCEX announced today that it’s launching a new fund to accelerate innovation in the marketing technology space and encourage mid-market advertisers to try out the latest solutions. The advertising technology and marketing firm is committing $5 million to the fund, with $50,000 in free media and services going to each participant between now and the end of the year.

Commentary

What Merchants Need to Know About Apple Pay and Loyalty Apps

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Having provided a window into the future of Apple Pay and Wallet, Apple recently left small businesses wondering about how to adapt their mobile strategies to stay competitive. Here’s how the changes could affect merchants.

Labor Issues Aren’t the Only Hazard in Uber’s Business Model

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Uber-for-X innovators and investors be warned: several elements of Uber’s market inoculated it against three hazards associated with the single service model: Trigger Infrequency, Customer Loyalty, and Market Density.

Is the On-Demand Economy a Local Media Growth Engine — Or Its Death Knell?

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Local on-demand services continue to dominate press and investor attention. But the elephant in the room is the degree to which on-demand could displace local marketing as we know it.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Mary Meeker’s 2015 Internet Trends, Google and Apple Adjust Mobile Payments Strategies

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… KPCB’s Mary Meeker Points to Slowing Growth in Internet Trends Preso (Re/code)…
Google and Apple Adjust Strategies on Mobile Payments (New York Times)… Google Confirms That a ‘Buy’ Button Is Coming to Search Results (Business Insider)…

Exploits and Vulnerabilities Challenge the Integrity of Google Maps

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The recent run of bad luck for Google doesn’t lend itself to a simple comprehensive explanation, but each of the company’s recent issues in its own way highlights a key problem for Google: how to build and maintain an accurate local dataset on a global scale…

7 On-Demand Liquor Delivery Services

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As the on-demand economy matures, vendors are narrowing their focus with more niche products and services. One of the hottest subgroups of on-demand services right now involves liquor delivery…

Street Fight Daily: Mobile Web Market to Triple, Facebook Adds Critics’ Restaurant Reviews

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Mobile Web Market Will Triple in Size to $850B by 2018 (VentureBeat) Mobile phones and mobile networks will be growing just 10 percent and five percent per year, respectively, by 2018, but mobile web services will continue growing like crazy. Mobile commerce […]

Why Local Search Is the Key to Groupon’s Turnaround

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As Groupon look to wean the company off an increasingly challenging email marketing strategy and reposition it as a go-to marketplace, the Chicago-based company has invested considerably in building the infrastructure to compete for the hundreds of millions of local shoppers who pass through Google each day…

Local Media Consortium’s ‘Legacy’ Members Make Big Moves in Content and Revenue

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The LMC recently agreed to two deals that will give the 1,600 digital operations of its 61 members more tools and better opportunities to assemble audiences that are bigger and more engaged and can be served up to advertisers in a variety of pick-and-choose consumer profiles…

Street Fight Daily: Tech ‘Bubble’ Speculation, Uber Looks to Go Driverless

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…

Overvalued in Silicon Valley, but Don’t Say ‘Tech Bubble’ (New York Times)…
Uber Hard at Work on Effort to Replace Drivers With Machines (Pando)… How Everyone Gets the ‘Sharing’ Economy Wrong (Wall Street Journal)…

Conference Notebook: As Brands Warm to Mobile, Conversations Turn to Cross-Device

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“As a marketer, we want to hit people at the right time at the right place,” said Ajay Kapoor, head of brand function at Procter & Gamble. “But when I think of active versus passive understanding … mobile is great, but you have to be engaged.”

Openings and New Hires at Square, Google, Foursquare, Nextdoor and UpSnap

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Every two weeks, Kelly Benish — who knows practically everyone in hyperlocal — covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. In this week’s edition, new jobs and hires at eLocal, Convirza, Web.com, Soleo, Gannett, and many more…

LBMA Podcast: SocialRadar’s LocationKit, Geoconquesting in Real Life

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On the show: Fujitsu’s Ubiquitouswear; Domino’s order by tweeting an Emoji; Tunity App; JCDecaux punks Belgium Marketing Directors; Auto-cue’s car movie scenes re-enacted with augmented reality; The Doghouse Virtual Reality movie; ooVootique; Dunlopillo’s connected mattress…