News and Analysis
Street Fight Daily: Google Monetizes Product Searches, Amazon’s Next Whole Foods Move
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Partners with Retail Giants to Monetize Online Product Searches… Amazon Accidentally Revealed Its Next Plan for Whole Foods in a Job Posting… 10% Own an AI Device, 32% Plan to Get One, 58% Don’t Want Any…
Commentary
Why Do We Check In?
“I did not want to be mayor of my dentist’s office. Why did I even check in?” read a tweet posted last week by Digital First Media’s Steve Buttry. Buttry was echoing a thought that I’ve had a lot lately about my own habit of checking in to Foursquare: I don’t know exactly why I’m checking in, or what I get out of it — yet I do it anyway, usually several times per day.
Is Online Sports Video Content an Ideal Draw for Local Ads?
Local has long been regarded as the sleeping giant of digital advertising; a sector seemingly waiting for someone else to develop the ideal solution to help advertisers capitalize on its massive potential. In recent years, the broader media conversations have moved toward mobile and social — yet video has been proven to have the most upside for both local consumers and brand marketers…
With an Inherently Local Ad Base, Publishers Can Take the Mobile Lead
Local businesses already recognize the need to follow the eyeballs from traditional media to mobile, but they are looking for partners to facilitate the move. Publishers are that partner. They already have the relationships with local advertisers. They already are a trusted guide, their publications a reliable channel, and they’ve already bought into the value of mobile…
Latest Posts
5 Revenue Diversification Strategies for Hyperlocal Publications
Revenue diversification is a hot topic within the hyperlocal community, as publishers seek out new ways to generate income without sacrificing the quality of the products they provide. Some publishers are gaining audience share by partnering with other local media, some are focusing on mobile ad strategies, and others are competing for grants as non-profit organizations. What they all have in common is an interest in finding new ways to expand beyond traditional banner ads…
Street Fight Daily: YP Buys Sense Networks, Taskrabbit Delivers Cold Medicine
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.… YP, a Mobile Search Firm, Buys Sense Networks (New York Times)… Walgreens Taps TaskRabbit to Deliver Cold Medicine to Shut-Ins (Mashable)… Facebook WiFi Comes to Some Netgear Routers, Allowing Small Businesses to Offer Free WiFi access (The Next Web)…
Why HouseCall Thinks Taxi Apps Are Just The Tip Of The Iceberg
Last year, four engineers from Qualcomm, who were responsible for the company’s location sensor product Gimbal, left the company to start HouseCall, a system that helps users find and book local providers who service home-related projects like plumbing or audio/visual installation. The company has built a similar marketplace model as Seamless in the food delivery sector, providing enterprise software for free to merchants and then selling leads generated by its consumer product…
5 Platforms For Location Data Analysis
Location data analysis platforms track the spatial behavior of consumers based on previous ad exposures. Although competing platforms work slightly differently from one another, each with its own features and limitations, the overall effect is that marketers can finally determine whether mobile ad exposures are actually luring customers inside their physical stores. Here are five examples of platforms that marketers can use for location data analysis…
Street Fight Daily: Cox Buys Back Stake In AutoTrader, LivingSocial Sells Groupon Stock
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.… Cox to Buy Back Stake in AutoTrader (Wall Street Journal)… LivingSocial Selling its Groupon Stock (Chicago Tribune)… No Mention of Patch in AOL Chief Executive’s End-of-Year Memo (Romenesko)…
How Community News Sites Can Get the Most Out of Facebook
To get specific about how publishers can maximize their presence on the biggest social media platform, I went to Jake Batsell, who is writing a forthcoming book on audience engagement. Here’s what he told me, based on more than a hundred interviews and visits to many old and new media community news operations…
Street Fight Daily: Groupon’s Big Acquisition Closes, Shopify Revamps iOS App
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology.… Groupon Finalizes $260 Million Deal for Ticket Monster, LivingSocial’s Korean Business (Recode)… Uber Driver Hits, Kills Six-year-old Girl. Is “Not our Problem” Still an Appropriate Response? (Pando)… Shopify Revamps Its iOS App With A Focus On Payments And Store Management (TechCrunch)…
Google’s Local Social Conundrum
Google’s attempt at ushering in the Facebook-ization of search, local and otherwise, depends on a major shift in perception and engagement. It may be difficult to bring about such a shift with a “build it and they will come” approach — given the current volume of content, the emphasis on social turns Google’s rich local result set into a desert.
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