News and Analysis

Raise Report: SessionM, Perch, Pointy Secure New Funding

Every two or three weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes funding for Mention Me, Standard Cognition, Cogito, and Dialpad.

Hires and Openings at Blis, TruMeasure, and Adzuna

Every two or three weeks, Street Fight rounds up some of the latest hires and new openings in the hyperlocal marketing, tech, and media industries. This week’s edition includes moves and openings at Broadly, Cedato, Magisto, SiteSwan, and New York Magazine.

Street Fight Daily: Google Is Disrupting Local Event Discovery; Amazon Teams with Yext to Empower Local Businesses

TOP STORIES IN LOCAL & DIGITAL MARKETING… Google Updates Search to Recommend Local Events Based on User Interests… Amazon Expands Alexa’s Brain With Yext Business Services… Advertising Helps Push Amazon’s Quarterly Profit to $2.5 Billion…

Commentary

When Big Platforms Go Local

Though Amazon’s plan to have drone delivery by the end of the decade may seem far-fetched, it speaks vividly to the notion that large online platforms are working hard to localize their inventories, and even to redefine what “local” means…

Yext’s New ‘Pages’ and the Future of One-Stop Solutions for Small Businesses

The first large-scale technology company that can service small businesses in all of the following four industries will have the best opportunity to be the next leading hyperlocal superstar: 1) Website building, 2) email/loyalty marketing, 3) hyperlocal technology and 4) Online advertising, promotion and deal solutions…

As Digital Ascends, Is Legacy Media Becoming a ‘Sinkhole’ for Marketers?

One of the most insightful studies released this year by Boston Consulting Group found that the 23 million small businesses in the U.S. allocate only 3% of their advertising spend to digital. Larger companies spend more, but digital still comprises only 15% of their marketing budgets. Meanwhile, it’s clear that the effectiveness of digital media has surpassed that of legacy — and it’s no longer even close. So marketers are spending the vast majority of their budgets on media that consumers are no longer engaging with…

Latest Posts

Six Months After Spin-Off, Gimbal Continues to Grow

It’s been a busy few months for Gimbal, the beacon company formerly owned by Qualcomm. After being spun off from the tech giant in May, the company went on a hiring spree, bringing its team to more than 30 employees. Then earlier this month, the company entered into its first big partnership with push notification company Urban Airship…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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…