News and Analysis
5 Retailers Tapping Voice-Controlled Assistants for Frictionless Shopping
According to a survey by Linc and BrandGarage, one-in-five retailers already believes voice will be an important channel within two years, and 44% of retailers that are increasing their use of AI say they’re doing so through conversational commerce interfaces, Here’s how five major retailers are harnessing the technology.
Why Location Is a Competitive Edge For National Retailers
We recently caught up with Local SEO Guide CEO Andrew Shotland whose Local SEO Ranking Factors report finds that national brands’ migration to local search, especially multi-location retailers. Focused erstwhile on e-commerce, competitive pressure has compelled them to view their locations as an edge in local search.
Latest Posts
Openings & New Hires at Patch, Groupon, Flickr, Search Influence and More
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 hires at Square and Groupon, and job openings at Street Fight, AOL, Yahoo, BuzzTown, Yext, and the Weather Channel…
LBMA Podcast: WillCall, SpotSetter, and Wistia Co-Founder Chris Savage
In this week’s episode: WillCall looks to be the Square for concerts. Spotsetter launches (and we wonder why). Pizza Hut goes responsive with Amaze. Tradus brings location to online product search. Geolog helps conserve battery power through smart GPS use. Bytelight launches their Light Field Communications Reader. iOS 7 will track your every move. Wistia co-founder Chris Savage on location and video…
Street Fight Daily: Patch Layoffs Coming, ‘Pay-Per-Gaze’ Advertising
Patch Layoffs Coming Today (AllThingsD)… Journatic Made ‘Very Poor Decisions’ About Content, Say Aggrego Founders (Poynter)… Is Millennial Stuck in the ‘Middle Seat’ Even with JumpTap? (i2G)…
Hyperlocal Leaders Weigh In on Impact of Bezos’ Wash Post Buy
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ purchase of the Washington Post is sure to have ramifications all the way down to the hyperlocal level. With all the retail and media disruption, and more on the way, I asked leaders in hyperlocal news how they see Bezos’ purchase of the Post playing out in their territory…
Case Study: Supermarket Chain Increases Basket Size With Card-Linked Coupons
At Lunds & Byerly’s, a chain of 22 upscale grocery stores in the Twin Cities region, marketing manager Dan O’Rourke faced certain operational limitations that made it difficult for his company to expand into the digital arena. To overcome these challenges, O’Rourke looked into vendors that offered card-linked coupons…
Street Fight Daily: Groupon Partners With Verifone, Smartphones Take Market Share
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology… Groupon Goes Beyond The Dongle, Links Up With Verifone, Ingenico Terminals For Breadcrumb Mobile Payments (TechCrunch)… Smartphones Outsell Feature Phones Globally for First Time (Mashable)… No, Craigslist Is Not Responsible For The Death Of Newspapers (GigaOm)…
With New Ad Product, Placed Connects Dots for In-Store Visits
Slowly but surely, technology firms are finding direct links between the ads we see on mobile devices and the places we visit in the real world. Placed has partnered with xAD to launch a new product called Placed Retention, which uses the company’s panel of participating consumers to determine whether a mobile user who was exposed to an ad appeared within a store days later…
Are We Giving Google Too Much Information?
While certain groups complain about certain content on the Web, the real danger is always found in that which is not seen, hidden in plain sight within the language that builds that which we can see. Google is the absolute master of doing business where it’s not seen, and I’ve reached the point where I think it’s time we all said “enough.”
Brands Hope to Use Mobile to ‘Conquer’ Competitors’ Locations
Mobile-local ad network xAd has released a new report that shows a substantive increase in interest from brands in so-called “geo-conquesting,” the technique of targeting messaging to users at or near a competitor’s location. During the second quarter, nearly one third of every lat-long targeted campaign run on the network included some form of geo-conquesting strategy…
Street Fight Daily: Millennial Media Buys Jumptap, Gannett Merges Agency Business
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology… Millennial Media Snaps Up Jumptap For $193 Million (AdExchanger)… Gannett Dives Deeper Into Agency Business With ‘G/O Digital’ (AdAge)… To Square Up To Foursquare, Yelp Now Lets Users Post Reviews Directly From Its Mobile App (TechCrunch)…
The Road Ahead: What Autonomous Cars Teach Us About Marketing Automation