Commentary
The Government Shutdown and the Local Data Economy
For the most part, local search appears to demonstrate with flying colors the benefits of getting things done in the private sector. Not only is it a self-sustaining and profitable industry; it exhibits a drive to innovate that brings ever-improving services to our desktops and handheld devices at a dizzying pace. Imagine if local directories and apps were run by the same bureaucracy that manages the Postal Service, the IRS, and the Census Bureau. We’d probably still be using phone books. Yet at a fundamental level, governmental authorities still act as objective reference points when it comes to information of interest to the public…
Should Hyperlocal Publishers Accept Barter Deals?
Most of the better known hyperlocal sites we contacted told us they didn’t do trade or barter, and they didn’t want to talk about it on the record. In Dallas, hyperlocal pioneer Mike Orren said people don’t talk about it because they don’t want to attract the attention of auditors, or they don’t want competitors to know that they’ll do barter. He agreed, however, that trade is “absolutely viable” for independents…
Gauging Hummingbird’s Impact on Local SEO
Standardization of data structure on simple things like name-address-phone number (NAP) information, mapping, local business category, organization (micro-formats) are now starting to pick up steam and become increasingly important for local search and discovery. Now with Hummingbird, things are about to get even more interesting…
Latest Posts
Former Apple Geo Exec Launches Curbside, An App for In-Store Pickup
Curbside, a new company founded by the former head of Apple’s geo team, Jaron Waldman, launched a mobile commerce app yesterday in San Francisco that allows users to find products that are in stock at multiple stores in their area, purchase them with their mobile device and then pick them up at the location without ever getting out of their car…
Street Fight Daily: Video Spending Thrives, Uber Hires Former Lyft COO
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…… Video Growth Drives Display Advertising Spending To $37.6 Billion In 2019 (Forrester)… Uber Hires Former Lyft COO VanderZanden to Spur International Growth (Recode)… Will Apple’s “Location Warnings” Be Educational Or Scary? (MarketingLand)…
Why a Former Current TV Exec Believes in the Economics of Local Video
Street Fight recently caught up with Mark Goldman, the former COO of Current TV and current chief of online video platform ExtendTV, to talk about missed opportunities with Current, why he believes digital will not kill television (completely), and where he sees the local video market heading in the next few years…
Street Fight Daily: Square Raises $150M, New York’s Secret Beacons
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…… Square Raises $150 Million at a $6 Billion Valuation (New York Times)… Hundreds Of Devices Hidden Inside New York City Phone Booths (BuzzFeed)… Marriott Settles FCC Complaint About Blocking Rival Wi-Fi Networks (Recode)…
Why Entrepreneurial Publishing is Catching Fire in Local Digital
Traditional journalistic publishing models are collapsing right before our eyes as entrepreneurs — often with no standard journalistic background — are starting highly innovative and financially promising community news websites in many metro markets. In this Q & A, the University of Florida’s Randy Bennett explains how and why this new model of publishing is starting to replace the old models exemplified by the corporate businesses of “legacy” newspapers and broadcasters…
Should Local Advertising be Bracing Itself for On-Demand?
For the local advertising industry, which is still withstanding ripples with its shift from print to digital, why not look ahead to on-demand? Just because expectations among SMB owners have been conditioned towards moderate turnaround doesn’t mean an SMB wouldn’t be absolutely thrilled to have their newly purchased website and SEM package running tomorrow instead of next month…
Street Fight Daily: Groupon Goes After Groceries, Google’s ‘Physical Web’
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…… With New App, Groupon Goes After Grocery Deals (New York Times)… Google Reveals ‘The Physical Web,’ A Project To Make Internet Of Things Interaction App-Less (TechCrunch)… Here’s The Evidence That Google’s Search Results Are Horribly Biased (Business Insider)…
How to Maintain a Rational Social Marketing Strategy in a Confusing Landscape
Small business owners may find themselves perplexed by the variety of opportunities to engage socially with consumers. Of course, it would be premature to suggest that any SMB needs an Ello marketing strategy. But there’s an advantage to be gained in keeping your marketing strategy attuned to the groups actively pursuing interests relevant to your business…
Street Fight’s Big 3
Street Fight Columns
Street Fight Categories
Beyond Search: AI Visibility the New Growth Lever for MULO Brands