News and Analysis
Google Updates Search to Recommend Local Events Based on User Interests
Google is bringing the personalization zeitgeist to local event recommendations. The company reported on its blog Thursday that it is releasing a series of new features that will make it easier for users to find essential information about events of interest to them right on search engine result pages.
Commentary
Why ‘Google My Business’ Helps, But Doesn’t Fix, Local for SMBs
The company’s redesign of its SMB portal replaces both the old Google Places for Business interface and the equivalent within Google+, and consolidates several features into a friendlier interface. The features for the most part are not new, but the update does a good job of tying together the claiming and profile management process with Google+ sharing…
Mobile’s Increasingly Strong Influence in Consumer Purchase Decisions
The third annual installment of the xAd/Telmetrics Mobile Path-to-Purchase study shows that mobile is a powerful force throughout the consumer purchase cycle. Consumers are spending more research time on their mobile devices than on their PCs, and more than one-third of mobile users use their devices exclusively to research purchases…
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Street Fight Daily: Oracle Buys Datalogix, Secret Adds Location-based Sharing
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…Oracle Buys Datalogix, Beefs Up Digital Marketing Cloud (ZDNet)
Oracle on Monday said it acquired Datalogix, which provides digital marketing data as a service. The deal complements Oracle’s acquisition of BlueKai and rounds out its digital marketing suite. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but for Oracle Datalogix is a stocking stuffer that gives it yet another pillar to offer data as a service and another cloud product to sell… Secret’s Relaunch Adds Location-based Sharing (VentureBeat)
The broadcasting of public posts is now split between those from friends and those that are location-based, similarly to Yik Yak, another anonymous mobile app focused on college campuses and local communities… In China, a Rapid Jump to Mobile Advertising (New York Times)…
Street Fight Daily: Google Measures “Store Visits,” Square Resurrects Wallet
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…… Google’s Making It Easier to Figure Out if Online Ads Actually Drive In-Store Traffic (AdWeek)… Square Is Resurrecting Wallet, Its Pay-By-Name Mobile App, And Giving It Away (ReadWrite)… Can Wal-Mart Clerks Ship as Fast as Amazon Robots? (Wall Street Journal)…
From Print to Patch to His Own ‘Indie’ Site — A 25-Year Saga
Steven Jack, who was regional editor for eight Patch sites before leaving in the first round of layoffs, did what many of his terminated colleagues did — he started his own independent site. In less than a year, he has captured 31,000 unique visitors for his Only Oswego, which more than equals the town’s population…
Street Fight Daily: Angie’s List Shuffles Brass, Amazon’s One-Hour Delivery
\A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…… Amazon Brings One-Hour Delivery To NYC With Prime Now (TechCrunch)… Angie’s List Shuffles Brass, Names Third Tech Chief In Two Years (Indianapolis Business Journal)… Like Tinder, But For Creative Professionals: How Thumbtack Is Remaking The Gig Economy (Fusion)…
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