News and Analysis
Facebook Is Shedding Those Coveted Gen-Z Users
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
“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.
Dr. Soon-Shiong and His New ‘Patient,’ the L.A. Times: Will His Rx Be ‘Local’?
My hunch is that Patrick Soon-Shiong will find that applying advanced technology to local news is not as challenging as conquering cancer, especially if he listens to what Angelinos say is their biggest concern by a wide margin – getting from their home to work or other day-to-day destinations.
Latest Posts
BlockAvenue Pivots From Utility to Media, Becomes CO Everywhere
Tony Longo and Dan Adams, the founders of Block Avenue, are doubling down on media. Two years after launching the service as a tool to rate locations, the company has rebranded as Co Everywhere, and released a mobile app to help people explore the world around them. Users can pick a featured place, or outline a geography on a map, and peruse content from Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Foursquare and a other sources that come from within the area…
Street Fight Daily: Yelp-Google Rivalry Heats Up, A Hard Sell Gone South
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology… Google’s Local Business Is “Really Struggling,” in “Constant Chaos,” Yelp CEO Tells Charlie Rose (AllThingsD)… When the Hard Sell Goes South (Blumenthals)… Navigating The App-Data Explosion: Localytics’ Raj Aggarwal (ReadWrite)…
What’s Apple’s Mapping Shopping Spree Really About?
Moreso than the features, Apple’s post-Mapgate acquisitions are all about what’s behind the scenes in this age of big data. This goes back to what a lot of people don’t realize about Apple Maps: it’s is actually a pretty slick mapping tool. But what it has in dazzle, it lacks data; things like place listings, navigation and public transit…
Street Fight Daily: Facebook’s Bet On Gift Cards, Foursquare’s Data Appeal
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology… Facebook Ditches Physical Gifts To Double-Down On Digital Codes And Its Own Brick-&-Mortar Gift Card (TechCrunch)…. Why Yahoo and Apple Want Foursquare’s Data (Fast Company)…
Without Seamless, Fewer Customers and Higher Margins (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Why Your Consumer-Oriented Hyperlocal Startup Is Going to Fail
I’m sorry to say it, but if your hyperlocal, consumer-focused start-up’s business model is driven by local business sales and marketing dollars, it’s most likely going to fail. I know this because I have spent the past several years dissecting and analyzing every consumer-focused, hyperlocal app imaginable. In an effort to build my own “awesome” hyperlocal app, UPlanMe, I was not only figuring out our own business model, but I was analyzing all of the potential competitors and their business models’ around us…
DataSphere’s Cowan: Still A Big Opportunity In Coupons For SMBs
The online coupon space would seem tired, over-saturated, and too fragmented. Yet DataSphere is making a big push into the local-business coupon space, launching a consumer-facing site, LocalSaver. Gary Cowan, SVP or product and marketing at DataSphere, talks about the company’s plans to become “the RetailMeNot of local business coupons” and drive customers through local companies’ doors…
LBMA Podcast: Millenial/JumpTap, Placed, and Siamese Systems
On the show: Google launches Carousel visual search; Renew London smart recycling bins are sniffing your MAC address; Millennial scoops up JumpTap; Tour Sicily with the San Pellegrino robot; Placed trying to morph into the ComScore of the real world; Riding the payment waves without batteries; Special guest Alex Kottoor of Siamese Systems talks mobile CSI…
Survey: 52% of SMBs Still Don’t Have a Website
Yodle has released the findings from its first Small Business Sentiment Survey, which recently asked 306 small business owners nationwide for their perspectives on a variety of topics, and found some interesting results when it comes to SMBs and technology. According to the survey, “many small business owners are still not adopting modern technology and marketing approaches.”






































Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem