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Street Fight Daily: How to Manage Google’s Local Services Ads, Instagram Building Standalone Commerce App

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TODAY IN LOCAL & DIGITAL MARKETING AND MEDIA… Social’s Hottest Platform Is Building a Standalone App for Commerce… 3 Tips for Managing Local Services Ads… Ad Tech Needs a Shared ID Solution ASAP…

Street Fight Daily: Google Misses Self-Imposed Transparency Deadline, Retail’s Apparent Comeback

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TODAY IN LOCAL & DIGITAL MARKETING AND MEDIA… Google Misses Self-Imposed Deadline to Implement IAB Consent Framework… How to Build a Quality SMS Subscriber List, Bridging the Gap Between Text and CRM… Hard Lessons Breathe New Life into Retail Stores—But Few Reap the Benefits…

Street Fight Daily: Google Bought MasterCard Data for Attribution, Free Coffee for Consumer Data?

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TODAY IN LOCAL & DIGITAL MARKETING AND MEDIA… Google and MasterCard Cut a Secret Ad Deal to Establish Attribution… Why Publishers Are Transitioning to Affiliate Marketing… Possibly Foreshadowing Retail Trend to Come, a Shop Exchanges ‘Free’ Coffee for Data…

Commentary

Why Apple Maps Is Partnering With Local Search Companies

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Last week, after I uncovered that Apple Maps had cut deals with at least ten new companies (including Yext, Location3, Yodle, et cetera) to provide business listings data, I got a few emails asking what the big deal was. Here’s what I see is going on…

A ‘Radical Transformation’ Is Brewing in SMB Phones

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For local businesses that rely on the phone for inbound leads (which is nearly all of them), the functionality of copper lines pales in comparison to what call-tracking-enabled lines have done for years. Unfortunately for business owners, the VoIP packages being sold to them also fall far short of the level of functionality that call tracking provides…

How Personalization And Security Will Coexist in Local Commerce

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The evolution of mobile technology has been very exciting to observe, especially in the local commerce space. As I covered in my last piece we are finally starting to see things come to life with the ability to pay for everyday products and services using mobile devices. But overall one has to ask if this […]

Latest Posts

4 Hot Startups Using Big Data in Local Contexts

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Technology companies, both big and small, are creating new ways for marketers and consumers to connect locally. These startups, who will be speaking at the Local Data Summit next week, are using local data to reinvent the way we travel, market and even park…

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Gaining With Small Biz, Google Tests ‘Local Chat ‘

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…Now With 2 Million Advertisers, Facebook Is Gaining a Foothold With Small Businesses (AdWeek)… Google Search Tests “Chat” Button In Local Business Box (TechCrunch)… GoDaddy Takes Another Step To IPO (USA Today)…

Amazon and Yelp Want a Piece of Online Ordering — Here’s Why There’s Still Hope for Startups

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A wave of consolidation in the food ordering industry has reignited the race to capture a $70 billion sector. But as market leaders go public and other firms barrel in on the industry, is there still room for younger companies to grow? CEO Matt Howard at EatStreet, one of the largest remaining independent ordering firms, thinks so.

5 Tools for Generating Personalized Video Ads

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Hyperlocal technology is enabling businesses to go beyond the 30-second television spots most consumers are used to seeing, with personalized online videos ads that can be targeted by customer location and demographic to drive conversions and new acquisitions. Here are five online video advertising platforms that businesses of all sizes can try…

Street Fight Daily: Google Buys Softcard, GrubHub President To Exit

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…Google Strikes Mobile Payments Deal With Big Wireless Carriers, Buys Softcard Technology (Recode)… GrubHub’s No. 2 Heading For The Exit (Crain’s Chicago Business)… Thumbtack Adds Big Name Design And Engineering Execs To Oversee Big Growth (TechCrunch)…

Study: Franchises Spend ‘Nearly Half’ of Marketing Budgets on Digital

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Franchises, equipped with the resources of a large brand but the flexibility of a small business, could help provide a critical stepping stone for vendors looking to reach SMBs. New data shows they are substantially more digitally advanced than their independent counterparts…

How Local Found Itself on a Mound of Big Data

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There is no question the hyperlocal era has brought with it a heady onslaught of data about consumer behavior and the way local businesses interact with their customers. But it’s not an easy road. There are real issues around sourcing and parsing the data; around finding the best strategies to put it to use…

For Facebook (And Others), Small Businesses Aren’t the Focus

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Facebook’s decision to throttle organic reach has drawn ire among the small business community, and led some in the technology industry to question its future. The company is making very clear that the consumer is its real focus…

Street Fight Daily: Google’s New Call Unit, Main Street Hub Raises $20M

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…Pay-Per-Call: Google Introduces “Call-Only” AdWords Units (Local Search Insider)… Main Street Hub Lands $20M To Bring Social Media Marketing To Small Business (TechCrunch)… Digital First — What Then? (Medium)…

5 Tools for Publishing Product Inventory on Social Media

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Small business owners are pulling out all the stops to drive traffic to their social media pages, but many aren’t giving enough thought as to what happens once people have agreed to “like” or “follow” their businesses online. Here are five tools that businesses can try to spur further engagement…