News and Analysis
SMB OS Operators, Part I: Upserve
The first in our series of interviews on SMB OS is Upserve founder and CEO Angus Davis. Formerly Swipely, UpServe had been living out the principles of SMB OS long before we started calling it that.
Street Fight Daily: Amazon Rolls Out Free Whole Foods Deliveries, Google Sells Zagat
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Rolls Out Free Whole Foods Deliveries for Prime Members in San Francisco & Atlanta… Google Is Selling Off Zagat… SMB OS Operators, Part I: Upserve…
SweetIQ Report Highlights Influence of Local Tech on Media Mix
Whereas in previous years the goal for businesses was simply to be “found” online, multi-location brands now have to contend with “being chosen” in an incredibly crowded omnichannel space.
Commentary
Hyperlocal Case Study: Efficiency, Aggregation, and Profit
There’s one thing every publisher of a local news site knows: making enough ad dollars to get paid is hard. In fact it’s really hard. But it’s been my experience that if we look at why the Web is so dang good, we can make the struggle to keep the lights on a stiff hike rather than a mountain climb. At TheDigitel, which I founded in 2008 to offer a central place for hyperlocal coverage in Charleston, S.C., we’ve managed to carve out a niche among a saturated market (we have several conventional media outlets and a vibrant local blog and Twitter community) by taking an evolving approach to creating content and winning advertisers…
Using Mobile Inventory Data to Drive Foot Traffic
It’s no secret that local brick and mortar retailers have been heavily competing with online shopping for years now. So, how do these stores stay competitive in an environment where Amazon offers free shipping, no taxes, and consumers can shop from the comfort of their own home? In other words: how do retailers localize their presence, stand out from the crowd and bring shoppers right to their front door?…
Police Scanners and Speculation = Necessary Hyperlocal Journalism?
A lively discussion erupted yesterday in the comments section of Street Fight’s interview with B-Town Blog’s Scott Schaefer. At issue: Schaefer’s suggestion that sites did their communities disservice by reporting on rumors and information that comes over the transom via unconfirmed rumors and police scanner reports… Among those taking issue were The Batavian’s Howard Owens, who wrote: “When you don’t do scanner reports, you’re missing a key to audience growth and retention, and I think abandoning your ethical obligation as a real-time news service to keep readers fully informed.”…
Latest Posts
Openings and New Hires at ShopKeep POS, Rocket Fuel, Angie’s List and Groupon
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 and moves at BOND, Demandbase, Shopkeep POS, Guavus, Spafax Networks and more…
Gauging Hummingbird’s Impact on Local SEO
Standardization of data structure on simple things like name-address-phone number (NAP) information, mapping, local business category, organization (micro-formats) are now starting to pick up steam and become increasingly important for local search and discovery. Now with Hummingbird, things are about to get even more interesting…
LBMA Podcast: Rogers Partners With Sprint, RevTrax CEO Jonathan Trieber
Citi Field tests Apple’s iBeacon; Placeable helps you “Plot” your data; Metaio gives us car manuals in Google Glass; Footlocker gives you 46 quadrillion shoe choices; and EyeQuant raises money to take eye tracking into the real world…
Street Fight Daily: Yahoo Revisits Ad Consortium, Yelp Goes To Washington
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology… Newspapers’ Ad Consortium With Yahoo Reboots (Poynter)… Yelp Just Got Its First D.C. Lobbyist (Fast Company)… WhitePages.com Fulfills Its Enterprise Destiny, Launches WhitePages PRO Identity Verification Platform (PandoDaily)…
Survey of ‘Indie’ Hyperlocals Finds Mixed Bag When It Comes to Revenue
There are hundreds of independent community news sites in the U.S. — thousands if you count blogs — but only 131 of them meet the standards of “Michele’s List.” The list was assembled and is periodically updated by journalist/researcher/consultant Michele McLellan, who was the principal founder of Block by Block, a network that inspired (and goaded) “indie” community editors and publishers to focus, and stay focused, on achieving sustainability in the brave new world of digital journalism. McLellan, who still compiles her “list,” talked with Street Fight recently about what her new survey revealed….
Famous Footwear Integrates Mobile App With Digital Wallet, Rewards
As shoppers grow more accustomed to using their smartphones to research products and search for coupons while shopping in-store, retailers are being forced to introduce their own branded mobile apps just to keep up. Famous Footwear is one of the latest retailers to jump onboard, with a mobile app that integrates with the company’s rewards program and provides shoppers with features meant to improve the in-store shopping experience…
Street Fight Daily: Foursquare’s Real-Time Recs, First Data (Re)Launches POS
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology… With Real-Time Recommendations, Foursquare Checks Into Google And Apple’s Turf (ReadWrite)… First Data Quietly Buys Payments Startup Clover; Launches Point Of Sale Platform For Merchants (TechCrunch)… Google Now Cards Invade The New Google Maps (SearchEngineLand)…
Study: Digital Ad Revenues Grow As Mobile Accelerates
Internet advertising revenues surged in the first half of 2013, reaching $20.1 billion on continued growth in the mobile sector, according to new study commissioned by the IAB, and conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mobile revenues, which include both smartphones and tablet media, more than doubled in Q1 and Q2, growing from $1.2 billion in 2012 to over $3 billion this year…
Nokia Finding New Life In Location Services, Connected Car
With its device business offloaded to Microsoft, Nokia has turned its focus to its services business, headlines by its location and commerce platform, HERE. Street Fight caught up recently with Nokia’s VP of connected car, Floris van de Klashorst, to discuss the opportunity the auto market presents the local marketing industry, the challenges facing developers, and the business case for auto and local tech…
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