News and Analysis
Street Fight Daily: Location to Power Local Google Search, Square Turns to Large Businesses
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google to Use Location Data as Primary Factor for Local Search Results… Square Announces the Register, a $999 POS Device for Larger Businesses… Why Selling Higher-End Brands Gives Walmart a Fighting Chance Against Amazon…
On the Various Challenges Facing European Publishers (and Some Solutions)
“As audiences age out, the number of print subscribers will plummet, and as older small business owners retire, old ways of doing business … retire with them as well,” David Mihm writes to Mike Blumenthal. “Legacy media companies that don’t evolve rapidly are going to be left with no audience and no customers.”
Latest Posts
Village Soup Shows ‘Native’ Ads Can Work on Local News Sites
With the recent push toward “native” advertising, we’ve learned (if we hadn’t known already) that ads can be “news.” In terms of local information value, ads-as-news may never trump the apartment-house fire that leaves several families homeless — but it has become clear that there’s room for both, especially in the local digital space…
Case Study: Steakhouse Takes a More-Is-More Approach to Marketing
At Franklin Steakhouse, manager Frank Oliver is always on the lookout for ways to enmesh his restaurant with the local community. In addition to tried-and-true tactics like partnering with neighboring businesses and hosting fundraisers, Oliver is taking a hyperlocal approach to digital marketing through platforms like Facebook and Yelp…
Street Fight Daily: PayPal Guns For Square, Groupon’s Lefkofsky Speaks
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.… PayPal Debuts iPad App, Furthering Rivalry With Square (AllThingsD)… Eric Lefkofsky’s First Interview As Groupon’s CEO (Fast Company)… Study: 55 Percent Of Mobile-Search Driven Conversions Happen In One Hour Or Less (Search Engine Land)…
Why Redbeacon Founder Ethan Anderson Returned to Local
A little over a year after selling Redbeacon to Home Depot, the company’s founder is back on the scene with a new startup, MyTime. Street Fight recently caught up with Anderson to talk about life after Redbeacon, building a local marketplace, and finding a seam in a cluttered hyperlocal space…
Street Fight Daily: Verifone CEO Out, Passbook Still Disappoints
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.… VeriFone’s Bergeron Out After Outlook Misses Estimates (BloombergBusinessweek)… iPhone Passbook: Six Months On and It Still Disappoints (ZDNet)… Google Concedes That Drive-by Prying Violated Privacy (New York Times)…
6 Platforms For Booking Local Services
Platforms that allow consumers to book appointments with service-based professionals (like plumbers, electricians, and mechanics) are disrupting the way local services have traditionally been scheduled. Here are six platforms working to change the way local, service-based businesses schedule appointments with consumers…
SXSW: With Pivot, Zaarly’s Focus Shifts to Merchants
Zaarly rolled out its “storefronts” initiative last fall, and soon will completely drop the consumer-generated request model it was founded around to shift entirely to a storefront selling approach. From a hyperlocal marketing perspective, one of the most profound effects of this is the way Zaarly is now counting on sellers to bring in buyers…
Street Fight Daily: Google Delivers Same-Day, Local Search on Mobile
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.… Google Shopping Express Test Partners Include Target And Other Local SF Stores (TechCrunch)… Only 29% Of Consumers Regularly Use Mobile Devices To Find Local Businesses (Search Engine Land)… Retailer Enthusiasm for Mobile Payments Tempered by Power Struggles in Industry (Mobile Commerce Daily)…
Streets Ahead: Google Chat, and Instagram Reels