News and Analysis

Foursquare Announces New Chief Revenue Officer, Liz Ritzcovan

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Ritzcovan’s mission will center on “client centricity.” She’ll be tasked with optimizing Foursquare’s relationships with its clients as the company seeks to make the case that its suite of resources for brands looking to connect the digital and physical worlds is both comprehensive and indispensable.

Restaurant Management Platform Toast Raises a Whopping $115 Million

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Restaurant management platform Toast is announcing a $115 million Series D this morning. Courtesy of T. Rowe Price Associates, the round values Toast at $1.4 billion.

Simpli.fi Reaches Next Level in Precise Location Targeting

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As of this morning, advertisers using Simpli.fi’s programmatic advertising platform will have access to Addressable Geo-Fencing, a solution that Simpli.fi’s vice president of marketing Ryan Horn says is the next logical step in the localization and personalization of programmatic advertising.

Commentary

What Local Publishers Can Learn From Starbucks

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Publishers shouldn’t think about “what thing” they should do to make money, but rather “what experience am I delivering and how can I extend that experience thoughtfully?” If something adds value for readers, adds value for advertisers, and strengthens your other efforts then you should be doing it today…

How Online Review Sites Can Regain Consumers’ Trust

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As long as there are economic incentives to create bogus reviews, unscrupulous people and businesses will continue to exploit the platforms that make it easy to deceive. For the local players seeking to help users in selecting a great business, use the offline world as a guide. Require an identity, build communities of real people sharing advice, and give legitimate customers a megaphone to honestly rate the service received…

Is Groupon’s Deal Marketplace Undermining Merchants?

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It has been my understanding that the purpose of daily deals is purely customer acquisition — to bring in new customers, not to target your existing ones. With the new marketplace focus, however, it seems as though this is no longer the case. I recently did a search for some of Groupon’s top NYC marketplace offers and I found that the company seems to be cannibalizing the local businesses’ existing customers by using Google AdWords to bid on nearly every Marketplace deal’s local business name…

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Foursquare’s First Brand Campaign, Apple Pay Arrives

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technologyFoursquare’s First Brand Campaign Takes a Foodie Approach (AdWeek)… Google Releases Penguin 3.0 — First Penguin Update In Over A Year (Search Engine Land)… Square Encircled as Apple, PayPal Aim for Mobile Payments (Businessweek)…

A Local Social Network That Stays Indoors

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New York-based MyCoop has created an online platform for neighbors to chat and broadcast messages. Each building can create a multipurpose chatroom that can be used to sell a couch before moving out or to announce a social event or to broadcast a safety alert…

LBMA Podcast: Apple’s Location Warnings, Facebook’s Local Ads

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On the show: Places from Moment.me; Towstop sends a towing lifeline; GPS signal as art; Square’s arrival prediction bet; In-mall WiFi advertising from Steps Away; and special guests are Wibe Wagemans and Roman Kikta of Indoor Atlas…

Street Fight Daily: Whisper Tracks Locations, iPads Without NFC

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…How the ‘Safest Place on the Internet’ Tracks Its Users (Guardian)… How Apple Pay Will Work With the New iPads (Mashable)… Most Airbnb Rentals In New York Are Illegal (Quartz)…

Placed Brings Location Analytics to Programmatic

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Placed has made its move into programmatic. The location analytics firm has announced a new partnership with Adelphic that will bring the company’s attribution and targeting data to the demand-side platform’s client base…

How One Gannett Paper Is Reacting After ‘Slow Slide’ From Cost Cutting

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In August of this year, the entire editorial staff at the Asheville Citizen-Times was required to apply for re-employment in a reorganization with new job descriptions. Executive Editor Josh Awtry told readers: “It would have been easier to change nothing in the way we operate … but we weren’t ready to accept that fate.” Here, Awtry details for Street Fight his team’s major changes…

Street Fight Daily: ApplePay on the iPad, Groupon’s Chairman Opens Up

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…Apple Pay Is Coming To The iPad (Business Insider)… Groupon Chairman Ted Leonsis: ‘I Kind Of Fell In Love With Company’s Challenges’ (Chicago Tribune)… Google Profit Will Depend on Wringing More From Mobile Ads (New York Times)…

Following Acquisition, Shopkick Posts Some Big Numbers

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Last Month, the retail shopping app was acquired by Korea-based wireless company SK Planet for about $200 million. This morning, Shopkick announced it has driven more than a billion dollars in revenue to its retail partners — more than half of it in the last 12 months…

Raising Social Capital Is a Key to Small Business Marketing

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One of the most tangible ways for small businesses, chambers, and trade organizations to build social capital is to raise funds for their community. Crowdfunding opens up a collaboration between the business community (the sponsors) and the nonprofits, by reframing the decision to contribute from management to the crowd…

Street Fight Daily: Uber Wars Thin Out, Jack Dorsey Denies Rumors

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technologyWhy A Taxi App With $100 Million In Funding Failed In The U.S. (Fortune)… Jack Dorsey On The Report That Square Is In Talks To Sell To PayPal — ‘FALSE’ (Business Insider)… Amazon and Rise of Mobile Challenge Google’s Search Position, Says Chairman (GigaOm)…