News and Analysis

SMB Index: Local Stocks See Solid Gains in April

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April marked another volatile month in the public markets. But it was a relatively strong month for local stocks, as the SurePath SMB Index was up 2.8% in April, topping all major indices.

Street Fight Daily: How Agencies Can Adapt to SEO Market Changes, Amazon Preps Alexa for Brands

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… The Bifurcation of the Local SEO Services Market… Amazon Is Finally Cashing in on Alexa… Facebook Weighs Ad-Free Subscription Model…

Raise Report: BigCommerce, Poq, SoundHound Secure New Funding

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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 Uberflip, Cera, Pusher, and Rocketrip.

Commentary

How Press Association Ad Networks Can Help Newspapers Compete Online

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One would think that the Internet would help ad networks from state press and newspaper associations operate with even greater efficiency, but these groups are only in the early stages online. Still they are well-positioned to help increase CPMs and provide a way for newspapers to ensure that their ad inventory is always sold at a set value…

Information Wants to Be Free, but Local Data Is Currency

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The sizable overlap between consumer-generated information and enterprise control is experienced every day in the world of local search.Though few local search companies could exist without licensed data, once that data gets inside their walls, it becomes a foundation upon which consumer-generated data adds value to a service…

How Enhanced Targeting Will Change Local Commerce in 2013

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Restaurants are moving away from the traditional daily-deal model and demanding more targeted services. In 2013 we will see the marketing landscape dominated by three types of marketing services addressing more specific merchant goals: snipers, niche pure plays, and the cycle-conscious…

Latest Posts

Revenue Flowing Faster to New Marketing Channels, But Integration Is Key

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A recent advertising report from the IAB found that U.S. interactive advertising revenues hit an all-time high of $42.8 billion in 2013, with digital exceeding broadcast television advertising revenues ($40.1 billion) for the first time ever. But some brands who are succeeding at hyperlocal are integrating legacy channels rather than eliminating them…

Street Fight Daily: Airbnb Clashes In Court, DeliveryHero Raises $85M

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technologyNew York’s Case Against Airbnb Is Argued in Albany (New York Times)… Delivery Hero Gobbles Another $85M To Fuel A Price War With Just-Eat (TechCrunch)… Facebook’s “Nearby Friends” Must Work Against the Historical Failure of People Discovery (GigaOm)…

Locable’s Aim: To Help Sites Build Community as a Brand

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Locable is a network of 50 local and hyperlocal websites that shows its “partners” how to build community around their brand. It does this through an approach it calls “Main Street for the 21st Century.” In this recent Q & A with Street Fight, the company’s co-founder and CEO Brian Ostrovsky talks about what this approach means, and how community sites can position themselves for success…

6 Ways to Improve Business Operations Using Indoor Location Data

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In many cases, indoor location analytics platforms take the guesswork out of operations management. Rather than guessing whether expensive in-store displays are increasing conversions, and wondering how dwell times influence sales, retailers can look at the data being spit out by their analytics platforms to find their answers. Here are six ways that businesses can use indoor location tools to improve in-store operations…

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Plans Mobile Ad Network, Apple Readies Payment Push

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technologyFacebook Plans Mobile-Ad Network (Wall Street Journal)… Apple Interviewing Job Candidates for Mobile Payments Push (Recode)… Square Denies Report of Potential Sale (USA Today)…

xAd CEO: Small Businesses Still a ‘Huge, Huge Market’ for Ad Tech

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Location marketing company xAd, which started as a search advertising firm five years ago, generated over $65 million in run-rate revenue by the end of last year, half of which came from small and medium-sized businesses. Street Fight recently caught up with the company’s chief executive Dipanshu Sharma to discuss the challenges in finding recurring revenue in mobile, how location can solve that problem, and where the money would come from to build a lasting local advertising company in mobile…

8 Tools to Send Messages to Shoppers Based on In-Store Movements

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Forty-four percent of shoppers now say they’ve used their smartphones for product research while standing in a store’s aisles, which means marketers who fail to connect with customers through effective in-store messaging are losing out on engagement at a critical time in the buying process. Here are eight tools that merchants can use to send offers or promotions based on their customers’ real-time indoor movements…

Street Fight Daily: Square Discusses Sale, Facebook’s Local Ads

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technologyMobile-Payments Startup Square Discusses Possible Sale (Wall Street Journal)… Facebook ‘Nearby Friends’ Will Track Your Location History To Target You With Ads (TechCrunch)… TPG-Led Group Closes $450 Million Investment in Airbnb (Wall Street Journal)…

Putting Small Businesses on the (New) Google Map

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Google Maps is a key resource that businesses can use to get more local searchers to discover them online. But can it also help them get more leads? The simple answer is yes, but it’s a not as easy as simply claiming a listing. It’s only by taking advantage of all that Google Maps has to offer — and then tracking how traffic from your maps listing converts into leads and customers — that you can see just how powerful accurate, optimized maps listings can be…

Niche Site CHARLIE Goes Big With Underwriter Le Creuset

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After an initial stint doing publicity in the movie industry in Los Angeles, Caroline Nuttall migrated to Charleston, S.C., and fell “head over heels” for its “beauty and progressive culture.” She expressed her passion for the city by creating the local digital magazine CHARLIE, whose words, images and design capture the many faceted, old-new richness of her publication’s namesake. Here Nuttall tells Street Fight how she navigated CHARLIE to new revenue streams, including an underwriting partnership with national cookware maker Le Creuset.