News and Analysis
Google Websites — To Infinity and Beyond?
“In the developing world, Google has a simplified path to the GMB where if a business first creates a website they can get verified more easily,” Mike Blumenthal notes. “Thus the website becomes the hook into Google’s data funnel. In the US, and most other developed countries, I would speculate that it is typically the other way around”
Big Political Ad Spend Set for Local in 2018, but Will News Sites Be Ready?
Political ad spending totaling $1.9 billion will pour into the digital space, most of it on the local level, Borrell Associates estimates in its 2018 forecast. But daily newspapers and local news “pure-plays” will have to fight hard for their share against Facebook, Google and the other digital platforms.
Latest Posts
Street Fight Daily: Facebook Reaches 1M Advertisers, Waze Deal May Invite Scrunity
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology… Facebook Reaches 1 Million Active Advertisers As Small Businesses Adopt (Reuters)… Google’s Effort to Skirt Regulation May Invite More Scrutiny (New York Times)… Groupon Pivots Amid Management Upheaval, Lagging Stock Price (AdAge)…
ReachLocal CEO: Commerce Solutions Becoming Alternatives to Local Search
Whereas most companies have built either a consumer-brand or a back-end for merchants, the company has spun out a SaaS tool, ReachCommerce, from its branded ClubLocal platform. Street Fight recently caught up with Zorik Gordon, ReachLocal’s chief executive, to talk about the origins of the new project, the challenges with bring local services online, and the impact a shift from advertising to commerce might have on local search companies like Yelp…
WPP’s Morrison: Why the Tide Is Turning for Brick-and-Mortar Retail
Gwen Morrison heads up the WPP’s global retail practice, The Store, and works with some of the world’s largest retailers on daily basis to help facilitate the transition to a more connected and empowered local consumer. Street Fight recently caught up with Morrison to talk about the transformation of offline retail, what big retailers are investing in today, and the impact of mobile in emerging markets…
VIDEO: The Pains and Promise of an ‘Amazon’ for Local Services
As investors continue to pour funding into the local services space, the competition over one of the last white spaces of the consumer web is heating up. During a session at Street Fight Summit West earlier this month in San Francisco, Ethan Anderson, founder at booking service MyTime, and Booker CEO Josh McCarter debated the dynamics of building an “Amazon for local services”…
Street Fight Daily: NextDoor Launches NYC Partnership, Plum District Acquires Spotivate
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.… Neighborhood Social Network Nextdoor Launches NYC Partnership (PandoDaily)… Plum District Has Acquired AngelPad-Backed Spotivate For An Undisclosed Amount (TechCrunch)… Tristan O’Tierney, Square’s Co-Founder And Early iOS Engineer, Leaves For Destinations Unknown (TheNextWeb)…
SMBs Have Some Major Advantages Over Brands in Social Marketing
Social media is merely a digital extension of local conversations. We talk about the weather, the 4th of July parade, the upcoming festival, local news, et cetera. SMBs need to always be thinking about how they can join/start these conversations in order to build fans, follow leads, offer discounts, improve their reputation and, most importantly, compete with national brands…
For Hyperlocal Marketers, Data Sweeps Are Part of Doing Business
Marketers operate under many constraints dictated by good business and societal mores, not to mention various federal and state laws against criminal and civil misconduct. But the explosion of public data needs to be sorted out. It’s up to society, government, business and individuals everywhere to take the discussion to better and new policies and, where necessary, laws…
Streets Ahead: Google Chat, and Instagram Reels