News and Analysis

Street Fight Daily: Sizmek Shutters Rocket Fuel Brand, Stitch Fix Prepares IPO in Amazon’s Shadow

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Sizmek Shuts Down the Rocket Fuel Brand to Focus on Ad Transparency… Stitch Fix Prepares an IPO in the Shadow of Amazon… Google AMP Update to Discourage Publishers from Using Teaser Pages…

Why Commercial Banks Are Turning to Proximity Technology

That location intelligence firms are able to use foot traffic patterns to predict the financial performance of businesses is nothing new. But a new report released shines a light on the ways commercial banks and investment companies are upping the ante by using location data to get the most out of the market.

How Thanksgiving Day Store Closures Impact Black Friday Sales

Shoppers say they don’t want retailers opening their doors on Thanksgiving Day, but research from Foursquare tells a different story. Analyzing proprietary foot traffic data at major retailers, Foursquare found that stores that open earlier on Thanksgiving Day drive more visits and steal share from their competitors.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Life After Patch, What Really Happened at LivingSocial?

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Life After Patch.com: A Newspaper Editor Returns To Newsprint (The Awl)… What Really Happened at LivingSocial? (Fortune)… The Newsonomics of The Boston Globe Sale (Nieman Journalism Lab)…

Euclid Raises $17 Million to Deepen Analytics for Brick-and-Mortars

Netscape founder Marc Andreessen may think retail’s demise is inevitable, but Benchmark Capital has just made a big bet on its future. The venture firm has led a $17.3 million series B round in Euclid, a startup that uses wi-fi analytics to provide brick-and-mortar retailers with web-like reporting on in-store traffic…

In an Effort to Woo Brands, Verve Mobile Launches Audience Solution

The targeting tool allows advertisers to use location data to reach specific audiences – say, middle-aged moms or travelers – with a higher-funnel branding message, rather than the lower funnel “call-to-location” messaging endemic of traditional geo-fencing campaigns.

A Decade Old, iBrattleboro Keeps Journalism First, Profits Second

For co-founders Chris Grotke and Lise LePage, the bottom line is not what’s found in the last entry on a profit-and-loss statement.. “Journalism is a little more important than money,” Grotke says. “If you’re doing [hyperlocal] to make money, I suggest you not do it in a small town. Go to a big city.”

Street Fight Daily: Square Puts ‘Business in a Box,’ Google Opens Glass

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Square’s ‘Business in a Box’ Offers a Digital Register for $300 (Wall Street Journal)… Google Will Offer Its Glasses to Select Few (New York Times)… Patch Reportedly Cuts Editors in Lead Up to Pivot (Business Insider)…

After Harrowing Ride, LivingSocial Raises $110 Million to Press On

In a memo to employees on Wednesday, CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy said the company raised a new round of funding from “existing investors.” O’Shaughnessy did not say whether Amazon, which wrote down its $175 million investment in the company in Q3, had invested in the latest round…

How Big Brands and SMBs Can Use Vine Videos to Reach Local Consumers

Vine has not only cracked the code on mobile video. It has created an entirely new medium. The question for brands and local businesses alike is how to leverage it as a marketing channel. Here are a few ideas about how to test the new app and what to look for as it matures…

Case Study: Cumberland Farms Partners With PayPal on Mobile App

In April 2012, Cumberland Farms teamed up with PayPal to launch a mobile payment application, which allows customers to pay for gas through their smartphones. In the 11 months since the app debuted, repeat usage statistics have been in the 88th percentile, a metric senior brand strategy manager Kate Ngo says shows how convenient a mobile payment platform can be…

Street Fight Daily: Location’s Dirty Secret, Yelp Explains Filter

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.The Dirty Little Secret About Location-Targeted Mobile Ads (Business Insider)… Yelp CEO Stoppelman Explains the Site’s Controversial ‘Review Filter’ (Screenwerk)… How to Make the Most of Mobile Local Search (Mashable)…

Hyperlocal Crowdfunding May Become a Reality — Here’s How to Prepare

Despite a recently missed deadline that would have given hyperlocal businesses an ability to raise capital through crowdfunding, backers of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act) are optimistic that equity crowdfunding could become a reality by the end of the year. What can hyperlocal ventures do right now to get ready for equity crowdfunding?