News and Analysis

At Mobile Innovation Summit a Focus on Customer Experience and Paths to Purchase

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Total digital commerce has more than doubled in the last five years, it shows no signs of stopping, and brands must address customer experience on mobile if they intend to grow in coming years. That was one takeaway from the Mobile Innovation Summit event in Denver this week.

Street Fight Daily: Duopoly’s Strength Exceeds Expectations, Pubs Struggle with Apple News

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google and Facebook Tighten Grip on US Digital Ad Market… Publishers Continue to Encounter Problems with Apple New… Alphabet’s Waymo Wants Uber to Pay $2.6 Billion for Single Stolen Trade Secret…

BUST: A Hard Landing as Soft Surroundings Files for Bankruptcy

How Showroom Concept Stores Are Changing the Retail Industry

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A number of major retailers and startups have been pioneering a local showrooming strategy, divorcing the purchasing of products from the distribution, and focusing more on experiences than in-person sales. Here are six examples of retailers that have been able to navigate this merchandise-free (or light) approach to local retail.

Latest Posts

5 Location-Based Marketing Platforms for Brands Without Retail Stores

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Figuring out where to purchase products from a brand that doesn’t have its own retail establishment can present a challenge for many consumers. Increasingly, major brands like Vicks and Nestlé are using location-based marketing platforms to help point potential buyers in the right direction. Here are five platforms offering brands a way to take advantage of such technology on their own terms…

A Street Fight Brews in Europe Over Hyperlocal Info

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Legacy yellow pages providers, domestic start-ups, and American powerhouses like Yelp are vying for the still wide-open European market. Street Fight caught up with 1001 Menus CEO Xavier Zeitoun to discuss the hyperlocal ecosystem on the continent, as well as some of the roadblocks for American companies looking to expand…

How Enhanced Targeting Will Change Local Commerce in 2013

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Restaurants are moving away from the traditional daily-deal model and demanding more targeted services. In 2013 we will see the marketing landscape dominated by three types of marketing services addressing more specific merchant goals: snipers, niche pure plays, and the cycle-conscious…

Street Fight Daily: VeriFone Kills Square Competitor, FTC Probe Nears End

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.VeriFone Gives Up Competing Head-on with Square (GigaOm)… Deal Near on Google Antitrust Probe? (Politico)… With $8M In Seed Funding From Founders Fund, Goldman Sachs; Urban Compass Wants To Build A Hyper-Local, Human-Powered Database (TechCrunch)…

Openings & New Hires at Locu, Groupon, Patch, Signpost, and More…

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There’s lots happening in hyperlocal as the year comes to a close: Locu snags PayPal vet Mok Oh as an adviser, plus lands a hot ex-Googler. Booker brings on a dynamic duo in its hiring spree. Patch sees big moves at the top. And there are some shifts at Groupon and open gigs at Telenav, Signpost, Swipely, Yellowbook, Yelp, and more…

What Kinds of Mobile Ads Are Most Effective?

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Mobile advertising works best when it’s not in the form of a banner ad. On a panel at the Mobile Loco conference in San Francisco this week, participants agreed that the most promising approach is serving interesting content formatted to smartphones and tablets as a part of a contextual marketing strategy. The more an advertisement looks like a mobile app, the more consumer acceptance it will garner…

PODCAST: This Week in Location-Based Marketing — Urban Airship, Spun

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In this week’s episode, hosts Rob Woodbridge and Asif Khan look at how phone carriers are striking back; Broadcastr spins to Spun; acquisition news from Urban Airship; funding news from Clearstory and Poshmark and special guest Spun co-founder Scott Lindenbaum…

Street Fight Daily: Airbnb Buys Localmind, A New Hail for Gotham

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Airbnb Goes Social and Local with Acquisition of Localmind (GigaOm)… Hail to the Big Apple! NYC Temporarily Approves Taxi Apps, but e-Hailing’s Restricted to 1.5 miles (The Next Web)… Franken’s Location Privacy Bill Voted Out Of Judiciary Committee (AdWeek)…

‘Post-Industrial Journalism’ Report Deserves an A, and an F

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A new report from Columbia’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism takes a look at everything that’s wrong with digital journalism, starting at the top and going all the way down to the hyperlocal level. The report pins antiquated journalistic practices to the wall and recommends specific fixes. But it also wrongly asserts that the Internet has permanently “wrecked” journalism’s advertising model.

Local Corp CEO: Mobile Is a Type of Traffic, Not a Type of Product

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Street Fight recently caught up with Local Corporation CEO Heath Clarke, who has helmed the company since 2001 — several lifetimes ago in Internet years. He talked about the company’s position in the hyperlocal ecosystem, the growing importance of mobile for SMBs and the future of daily deals as a category…