News and Analysis

Street Fight Daily: How AMP Beat Instant Articles, AI Shapes Brand Relationships

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… How Google AMP Beat Facebook Instant Articles… How Invisible AI Shapes Our Brand Relationships… Video-Streaming Service Customers Widely Pan Use of Ads…

Why Even Top Local News Sites Can’t Compete With Facebook on Ads

Share this:

Facebook isn’t going away, and it shouldn’t, for local news providers. But news providers will use their own resources to engage the fraction of traffic that chooses to make its way to the narrow part of the funnel and into the subscription revenue pot.

Simpli.fi Leverages Unstructured Data to Target Auto Buyers on a Granular Level

Share this:

Using a local business’s inventory management software to serve dynamic ads in real-time sounds good in theory, but the process can quickly get gummed up. In an effort to streamline that process, Simpli.fi is releasing an upper funnel dynamic creative solution that leverages unstructured data to target buyers.

Latest Posts

Openings & New Hires at Yellowbot, LiveIntent, Village Voice, and Groupon

Share this:

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. Moves this edition include new execs at Punchey and Tribune, and job openings at Yelp, The Weather Channel, Google, and more…

LBMA Podcast: Apple Making Social Maps, YuMe’s Targeted Video Ads

Share this:

In this week’s episode, Apple is creating a Waze of their own; France rocks biometric payments and IBM’s Smarter Cities billboards; and tracking moods through facial expressions to sell cosmetics. SolveMedia and Unilever brand the captcha. Plus special guest Krina Patel of Ingenious Med…

Street Fight Daily: Apple Acquires Locationary, Yelp Snaps Up Reservations Service

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technologyApple Acquires Local Data Outfit Locationary (AllThingsD)… Yelp To Acquire Restaurant Reservation Service SeatMe To Take On OpenTable (Verge)… Yelp To Acquire Restaurant Reservation Service SeatMe To Take On OpenTable (Verge)…

Privacy Hawks in Tow, Euclid Pushes Ahead With Offline Retail Analytics

Share this:

Amid congressional queries and rumbles in the press over privacy concerns, Euclid is pushing ahead with its effort to bring Google Analytics to the physical world. The service, which uses wi-fi signals to provide brick-and-mortar retailers with store analytics, has released a major update, adding new metrics, industry benchmarks, and a substantial redesign to its dashboard…

How ARLNow Succeeds in a Market Packed With Competitors

Share this:

“Print media types may hear ‘quality’ and think ‘in-depth, investigative reporting’ — but that’s not necessarily what I mean,” says ARLNow founder Scott Brodbeck. “At the moment, I believe that breadth is more important than depth in local. But too much or too little of each can hurt. Striking a good balance in terms of shorter and longer articles, and publishing those articles at semi-regular intervals throughout the day, encourages repeat readership.”

Case Study: Bakery Uses Mobile POS for Real-Time Business Analytics

Share this:

When Tara Koenig first began researching mobile point-of-sale systems for her Virginia cupcake bakery back in 2011, her interest wasn’t driven by the lack of upfront costs or tablet integrations. It was driven by necessity. The location Koenig had chosen for her new bakery was a 500-square-foot garage with no telephone lines (a feature that’s typically necessary when installing a hardware-based POS system)…

Street Fight Daily: Yahoo Acquires Hyperlocal Ad-Tech, LivingSocial Cuts Worse Than Expected

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technologyYahoo Buys Mobile Ad Tech, Now What About Reach? (MarketingLand)… Why the LivingSocial ‘Adventures’ Cuts Are more Than Expected  (Washington Business Journal)… Companies To Develop Privacy Standards For Tracking Brick-And-Mortar Shoppers (MediaPost)…

Study: Facebook Sees Growth as Local Search Source

Share this:

A new study by Yext finds that consumers have started to come to Facebook to find local information. The study found that a little over 12% of respondents used Facebook to find local information, nearly twice the number for specialized-sites and a few points shy of the Yellow Pages/Local directories…

How Local Search Looks to the Rest of Us

Share this:

It seems like many recent conversations, webinars, articles, and studies have pointed to the same conclusion: local search as an industry is insufficiently aware of how its products are actually used by consumers and small businesses. Many of the solutions put forward by consumer-facing local publishers and by business-facing services overestimate our appetite for new products and the amount of time and energy we want to spend using online tools…

Local Media’s Data-Driven Future

Share this:

New value creation is the purpose of media companies today, whether small or big. I genuinely feel sorry for those who believe there is a future in practicing content creation alone. Last week, I called for a strategic makeover. We need a new strategic plan that positions us as more than “just” a media company and behind which our employees can throw their energy. So here are ten things that I view as tactically supporting such a strategy…