News and Analysis

TripAdvisor Wants to Become Your Social Media Network for Travel

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What started as a site for travel reviews is pivoting to become a social media hub for travelers, providing a personalized travel planning experience that combines reviews and recommendations from friends, publishers, and influencers, the company announced Monday.

Sprinklr, Snaps Launch Solution to Blend Efficiency of Chatbots & Care of Human Reps

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Primarily a customer experience management solution, Sprinklr believes its new integration will help brands more easily manage the transition between automated chatbots and human agents when dealing with complex customer care questions on Facebook Messenger, Twitter, and SMS.

GetFiveStars Expands Its Capabilities, Rebrands as GatherUp

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GetFiveStars, which helps businesses generate feedback from customers and capitalize on that feedback to better serve them, is rebranding as GatherUp. The name change intends to convey an increasingly holistic approach to customer engagement.

Commentary

Studies Find More SMBs Want to Manage Their Own Social Media

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There is compelling evidence that SMBs’ understanding and aptitude for social media is growing. More importantly, it seems that a significant number of SMBs want and may be ready to take the reins of their social media marketing.

Why We Still Search for ‘Starbucks’ on Google Maps

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With calendar integration, a generalized understanding of me generated from analyzing my geographic movements over time, and (perhaps) biosensor feedback from wearables, a mobile app may be able to predict my actual need, and suggest places that may be closer, higher rated, or otherwise more convenient than the Starbucks I now search for.

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…

Latest Posts

5 Predictive Analytics Tools for SMBs

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The idea of using predictive analytics for small business marketing is still in its infancy. But the market is growing as small business owners become more comfortable integrating these technologies into their business practices. Here are five vendors with predictive analytics tools that SMBs can use…

Street Fight Daily: Uber Plans Delivery Platform, Foursquare’s Brain Drain

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Uber Is Quietly Testing A Massive Merchant Delivery Program (TechCrunch)… Foursquare Has a New Problem: Employees are Checking Out (Mashable)… Most Shoppers Happy to Share Location Data with Retailers, But Want More Regulation on How It is Used (Internet Retailing)…

Signpost Raises $20.5M to Bring CRM to Brick-and-Mortar

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For years, startups have talked about creating a central database for a brick-and-mortar business’s customer activity. Now, a handful of investors are betting that the New York-based Signpost has the answer.

How Vendors Can Persuade SMBs to Adopt Mobile Payments

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If hyperlocal vendors are going to continue growing their networks of merchants willing to accept mobile payments, they’re going to have to find ways to get small business owners excited about the concept. Here are nine strategies for doing just that…

Sponsored Post: 3 Ways Retail Brands Are Using Technology To Beef Up In-Store Experiences

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This post is sponsored by Worldwide Business Research/Future Stores. The retail industry is in the midst of a significant shift brought about the advent of new digital capabilities and the ascendance of multichannel e-commerce platforms. The proliferation of desktop, mobile, and in-store shopping channels has transformed the way consumers interact with brands, creating a more […]

Street Fight Daily: Pinterest Opens Up, Best Buy Embraces Apple Pay

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Pinterest Woos Big Brands With Its New API (Recode)… Apple Pay Will Hit Best Buy Stores in 2015 (New York Times)… Kroger Acquires Dunnhumby Data Assets From Tesco, Forges New Venture (AdExchanger)…

Programmatic Advertising Is Zooming In on Local — Will News Sites Be Ready?

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The new Borrell Associates projections for the growth of programmatic ad revenue in local digital publishing are, in a word, big…

How Brick-and-Mortar Brands are Using the Apple Watch

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The new device has received mixed-to-positive reviews from experts. But, like the iPhone, many believe its portability and accessibility will make it materially important for local tech….

Street Fight Daily: Foursquare’s New Sales Force, Consolidation at the Counter

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Foursquare Beefs Up Sales Team (MediaPost)… Bigcommerce Set to Make First Acquisition as Rival Shopify Preps for IPO (Recode)… Apple Maps Now Using Wikipedia, YellowPages Group of Canada & Dianping As Data Sources (Apple Maps Marketing)…

Here’s How Reserve Plans to Make the Dinner Bill Disappear

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We’ve become used to the ability to make restaurant reservations with the click of a mouse or the tap of a screen, but what if the service didn’t stop there? What if it was extended to ensuring that every aspect of your dining experience was just as smooth and simple as making the reservation?