News and Analysis
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…
Street Fight Daily: Facebook Feels the Impact of Its Scandals; GrubHub Acquires LevelUp
TOP STORIES IN DIGITAL MARKETING… At Last, Facebook Feels the Impact of Its Errors… GrubHub Acquires Payments and Loyalty Company LevelUp for $390 Million… Top Lesson for News Sites in SF Innovation Tour: Identify Users and Win Them Over One by One…
After Nearly Two Years in the Hot Seat, Facebook Feels the Burn
In its Q2 earnings report, the social giant reported that growth has stalled in the United States and Canada, its most valuable markets. And its overall user growth for the quarter of just 22 million users is the smallest jump since 2011, indicating that a slowdown in revenue growth will likely prove a long-term challenge in the years ahead.
Commentary
How Reviews and Ratings are Driving Local Search
Despite the tremendous amount of press we have seen on fake reviews, ongoing interest in reviews by consumers and local search providers make it clear that these services aren’t going away. As platforms give reviews more importance and improve their ability to filter out fake ones — and government officials crack down on dishonest practices — consumer trust and use of reviews can only be expected to grow. This trend will continue to increase the impact they have on local businesses…
Finding the Balance Between Relevance and Reach in SMB Content
It’s simple enough to say that creating great content or a great platform should be enough to bring users to your door; but if they have no idea you exist, getting the word out effectively is both a matter of reaching your intended user base and staying within the confines of an algorithmically defined concept of quality content. For small and medium-sized businesses, the challenge is to be present and available to customers and potential customers in multiple online venues in a way that conserves effort while remaining effective…
Is Variable Product Pricing the Next Horizon in Local Advertising?
Proximity-related factors enable predictive modeling around transaction probability. That can then be plugged into an equation to determine price sensitivity or elasticity on an individual level. What discount will get your attention? From there, it’s a matter of variable pricing to customers that are new, repeat, faraway, nearby on foot versus driving by at 60 mph, and so on. And that’s the key: though we have time-based variable pricing (a la airlines), proximity-based personalized pricing is the next phase.
Latest Posts
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…
Street Fight Daily: Uber Wars Thin Out, Jack Dorsey Denies Rumors
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Why 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)…
New Report Details Emerging Approach to Personalization on Mobile
A new white paper from Street Fight Insights offers a step-by-step introduction to the contextualization, an emerging technique aimed at merging the learnings of personalization on the web with mobility. The report, sponsored by Artisan Mobile, details the opportunities and implications of the technology for a range of industries from consumer packaged goods to brick-and-mortar retail…
Exit Interview: Thinknear Founder Eli Portnoy Leaves Telenav
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
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
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
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
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
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?
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon 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)…
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem