News and Analysis

Street Fight Daily: Prime Day, Amazon’s Power, and Local; Google’s Mobile Speed Update and SMBs

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BIG MOVES AND TOP TAKES IN LOCAL… Prime Day Showcases the Power of an E-Commerce Empire—And What It Means for Local… Why Google’s Mobile Speed Update Smells Like Trouble for Small Businesses… Simpli.fi Reaches Next Level in Precise Location Targeting…

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.

Commentary

Focus Turns to Attribution in Mobile Local Ad Tech

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The promise of mobile local advertising continues to invoke the “closed loop” idea. The device’s portability and location awareness means that it goes to the store with you – enabling all new ad performance tracking opportunities. Nothing terribly new there. But it seems like the tech and media worlds are finally acknowledging that 93% U.S. retail spending happens offline. And an increasing share of that — to the tune of about $1.5 trillion — is influenced online and on mobile. So connecting those dots is the name of the game…

Why Attribution Is the ‘New Black’ in Local Marketing

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Advertising performance measurement has never been a simple process, but cross-platform consumer media usage, mobile, and advanced targeting technologies have made the process of linking ad engagement to a consumer purchase action even more challenging. The next generation of proper attribution has become essential for the ad tech industry and marketers looking to make ROI-driven advertising decisions…

What Legacy Local Media Can Learn From the Red Sox

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In advance of 2013, the Red Sox again fired the team’s manager, changed the executive suite, and reinvented the workforce. The new goal: replace high-cost and complaining “superstars” with a talented new group who bought into the new model. The organization became more horizontal and the salary of the team dropped by 20%. Meanwhile, over the course of the year, productivity increased by 40%…

Latest Posts

Exit Interview: Thinknear Founder Eli Portnoy Leaves Telenav

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Two years after Telenav acquired Thinknear, the startup’s founder Eli Portnoy has left the company. We caught up with Portnoy to talk about some of the surprises in the mobile advertising industry over the past few years, whether location merits its own sandbox, and how his views about the small businesses market have evolved…

Alignable Growing a Social Network for Small Businesses

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Founded by the co-founders of Constant Contact and Invisalign, Alignable allows small businesses owners to share information, ask questions, and seek answers from other merchants nearby and business owners in similar industries across the country. Think Nextdoor — but with worried store owners instead of overbearing parents.

Street Fight Daily: Local’s SEO Bible, Google Eyes Delivery

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…Local SEO Bible: The 2014 Local Search Ranking Factors (LocalSearchInsider)… Google Adopts Delivery-Service Model, Targets Amazon (Nasdaq)… Retailers Pin Hopes on Holidays After Sluggish Summer Sales (AdAge)…

Why comScore Wants to Measure the Real World

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Earlier this week, Comscore announced a new partnership with Datalogix, the payment data startup that has already inked deals with Facebook and Twitter. Street Fight caught up with Comscore’s Andrew Lipsman to discuss the developments that opened the door for offline attribution and whether ApplePay will make a difference for the company…

Openings and New Hires at Lee, ShopKeep, Yext and SalesPredict

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Every two weeks, Search Influence’s Kelly Benish — who knows practically everyone in hyperlocal — covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. In this week’s edition, new jobs and hires at Flint, Telmetrics, Sonata, Happenings Media, and Placed…

LBMA Podcast: Urban Airship and Beacons, MapQuest Commutes

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On the show: Urban Airship and Gimbal cozy up to beacons; MoPub and Juice Mobile team up; Estimote maps the indoors; AirPatrol secures two patents; xAd teams with Captivate Networks; and special guest is SchneiderMike from Skyhook Wireless…

Street Fight Daily: Amazon Opens A Store, Google Rolls Back Pigeon?

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technologyAmazon to Open First Physical Store in Manhattan (CNBC)… Pigeon Rolled Back? Law Firm Study Says Yes (SearchEngineLand)… Supply-Side Challenges Of The On-Demand Economy (TechCrunch)…

Mike Shapiro’s TAP Gets New Branding and a Network Strategy

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The six-year-old Alternative Press (TAP) network of community news sites in suburban New Jersey and Pennsylvania has a new name — TAPinto.net — and a new look. It also has a new strategy aimed at leveraging content and audience reach across TAPinto’s sites, 32 of which are franchisees…

Poncho, a Weather App That Speaks for Itself

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The year-old company only has six full-time employees, but it has accrued “tens of thousands of subscribers” due in part to word of mouth and an effective referral program. And according to the founder of Poncho, Kuan Huang, that user base is engaged, with an email open rate of 50%…

Street Fight Daily: Square Orders Ahead, StubHub’s Editorial Strategy

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technologySquare Rolls Out Order App, Targets Coffee Shops (Bloomberg)… Stubhub Hires Its First Editor-in-Chief, Looks to Become a Destination For Sports and Music Fans (PandoDaily)… Pull Over, Google Maps: Nokia Here Maps Zooms on to Samsung Galaxy Phones (GigaOm)…