News and Analysis
Square Announces SDK, Opening Its Platform Directly to Developers for First Time
Recognizing and looking to capitalize on the fact that some businesses may have needs its own software does not exhaust, Square announced on Thursday the release of the Square Reader SDK, which will allow developers serving brands and SMBs around the world to redesign the check-out experience in exactly the right way for their specific businesses.
Commentary
The Art of Local Marketing: Becoming Selfie-Aware
The jury is still out on the new Foursquare’s scalability and I’ve grown to like it. But it’s no Yelp killer. For one thing, Yelp has 1000+ local ad sales reps — one of its biggest and most underrated assets. I’ve long been bullish on Yelp for that and other reasons. And in the past month, a few things have shed more light on Yelp’s potential direction…
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Amazon Folds Mobile Wallet, Yahoo’s Search Bump
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…Amazon To Fold Its Mobile Wallet App Beta On Wednesday (CNet)… Yahoo Sees Big 1.6 Percent Monthly Search Share Gain At Google’s Expense In New ComScore Data (Search Engine Land)… NYC City Council Showdown on Airbnb Rentals on the Agenda (Skift)…
Why Chilean Hyperlocal Network Mi Voz Succeeds Where Patch Failed
Over the past decade, the Chilean community news network Mi Voz has transformed the way news is produced, consumed, and sustained in the often neglected small cities and towns outside of the country’s capital, Santiago. In the process, it has also proven that a local news network can be profitable…
Street Fight Daily: Twitter Buys ZipDial, Porch Nabs $65 Million
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…Twitter Buys Indian Mobile Marketing Startup (Time)… SoftBank Emerges As The Biggest Challenger To Uber (TechCrunch)… Marketers Claim to Be More Mobile Than We Might Think (MediaPost)…
The Importance of Responsive Web Design for SMB Sites
It’s critical for local businesses to have a beautiful site that doesn’t just scale down to low resolutions, but also looks great on all devices — from a 27” desktop display to a “smart” refrigerator, and every tablet, phablet, and phone in between. That’s why for the majority of local businesses, responsive design is the best mobile strategy…
Street Fight Daily: Google Eyes Softcard, Lyft Seeks Mega-Funding
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Is In Talks With Mobile Payments Company Softcard (TechCrunch)… Lyft Seeking New Mega-Funding to Battle Uber (Recode)… Are Facebook And Yelp Losing The Support Of Small Businesses? (Pando)…
How to Get to 5 Years of Success in Hyperlocal Publishing
This month Scott Brodbeck is celebrating the fifth anniversary of ARLnow, which has expanded into a mini-network of four sites in metro Washington D.C. We caught up with Brodbeck recently to see how he’s made a journalistic and business success out of community news and where ARLnow is headed in 2015…
Street Fight Daily: Bud Light On-Demand, Google Adds Events
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… AB InBev Launches App For One-hour Home Delivery Of Beer (MarketWatch)… Google Makes It Easier To Buy Tickets For Live Events, Straight From Search Results And Maps (The Next Web)… With The Booking Now App, Booking.com (aka Goliath) Just Arrived To The Last-Minute Hotel Game (Pando)…
Why TV Remains the Heartbeat of Local Connection