News and Analysis

Street Fight Daily: Direct Brands Own the Future, Facebook’s New Branded-Content Rules

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… IAB Study Shows Consumer Economy Growth Shifting to ‘Direct Brands’… Facebook’s New Branded-Content Guidelines Spark Turmoil for Some Pubs… Amazon Laying Off Corporate Employees in Rare Cutback…

Facebook Is Shedding Those Coveted Gen-Z Users

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Less than half of the American internet population between ages 12 and 17 will use the social network this year, a drop from the past few years.

Follow-Up Thoughts on the SMB Marketing/Operations Universe

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“Regardless of the right package, the key for both agencies and small businesses is to choose best-of-breed components in each galaxy that integrate with each other so that you can add relevant and profitable services over time,” David Mihm says to Mike Blumenthal in their bi-weekly column.

Commentary

Placing Facebook’s New Location Plans

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Almost exactly a year ago, Facebook Places launched with much fanfare and the requisite “______ Killer” claims. In this case, the proposed victim was Foursquare, having pioneered the check-in feature that was now central to Facebook’s new LBS play…

Ex-‘Rocky’ Editor Weighs in on YourHub

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Street Fight Columnist Tom Grubisich’s recent piece about the trials and tribulations of the Denver Post’s YourHub hyperlocal network sparked plenty of debate among readers in our comments and over social media. Among those throwing the topic back and forth on our pages was John Temple, the former editor of the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News, and one of those behind the original incarnation of YourHub…

Is the Local Deals Industry Heading for Segmentation?

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Some companies are betting on a major specialization of the deals market. Signpost CEO Stuart Wall believes that the “stack” — a term used to describe the spectrum of companies in a single industry — is dividing into three major segments: distribution, exchanges, and merchant specialists…

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Groupon’s Big Redesign, Local Ad Tech Moves Outdoors

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technologyGroupon Builds New Website, Eyeing Marketplace Growth (USAToday)… Vistar And Verve Link DOOH, Mobile Screens, Create Location-Based Programmatic Platform (MediaPost)… Square Market Is Attracting Sellers That Have Never Taken A Reader Payment (GigaOm)…

Hyperlocals and Scale: How a ‘No-No’ Can Be Turned Into a Win-Win

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“Local doesn’t scale” is the mantra of many independent community news sites. Based on the recent wrenching experiences of some major corporate hyperlocal networks, that may be the case on some level. But what about the view from other end of the telescope — of advertisers everywhere seeking to target consumers down to the neighborhood level?

How Hyperlocal Publishers Can Strengthen Relationships With Advertisers

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One of the key takeaways from the Street Fight Summit in New York was that the future of local lies in partnerships. Forging relationships with local businesses is absolutely necessary for any hyperlocal publisher hoping for long-term success. The question that remains is how, exactly, publishers should go about strengthening the relationships they’ve built with small business advertisers and other organizations in their communities…

Street Fight Daily: Intuit Acquires Scheduling Software, Facebook’s Mobile Tipping Point

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technologyNo More No Shows: Intuit Acquires Online Appointment Scheduler Full Slate (VentureBeat)… Facebook’s Mobile Tipping Point: 48% Of Daily Users Are Now Mobile-Only (TechCrunch)… Why The $110 Billion Gift Card Industry Must Die (ReadWrite)…

Do Small Businesses Really Need a Website?

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The website is the richest online repository of compelling information about a business, but it probably isn’t its primary means of attracting customers. Rather, customers who find you via Google Maps or Facebook may need to refer to your website in the event a third party search doesn’t provide enough information to make a buying decision. The website serves as a last stage effort to win business that hasn’t already been secured via local search…

Case Study: Udi’s Pushes Targeted Messages Using Hyperlocal App

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Getting customers to participate in Udi’s Food’s paper-based loyalty program was never a challenge for Angie Hoagland, director of brand development for the Colorado-based company. But as the years went by, it was the lack of data that Hoagland was able to collect from the punch card program that led her to start looking for mobile alternatives…

Street Fight Daily: NextDoor Raises $60 Million, First Data Acquires Perka

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technologyNextdoor Raises $60 million In Funding To Bring Neighbors Together (GigaOm)… First Data Acquires Cardless Customer Loyalty Startup Perka (AllThingsD)… Yelp Loss Widens, With Costs Eclipsing Revenue (Wall Street Journal)…

Here’s What Twitter Needs To Do To Win Over Local Businesses

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As Twitter hits the road to sell its stock to the public, the company’s monetization plans will take center stage. For Twitter’s stock to perform, the company will have to focus on growing its active user base, monetize its international users, grow mobile offerings and make money off initiatives like #music and Vine. But it will also have to crack one of the great white whales of consumer tech: the local market…

6 On-Demand Home Service Marketplaces

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By going beyond basic business listings and customer reviews, and allowing consumers to actually schedule and pay for their home service providers online, hyperlocal vendors are closing the loop and converting more online prospects into paying customers. Here are six examples of hyperlocal marketplaces that consumers can use to research, reserve, and even pay for home service professionals…

Street Fight Daily: Inside Google Shopping, The Value Of A Yelp Review

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technologyMeet the Exec Crafting Google’s Vision for the Future of Shopping (AllThingsD)… How Much Is Your Yelp Review Worth (Fast Company)… How Do You Build A Thriving Local Marketplace? Slowly (VentureBeat)…