News and Analysis

DNAinfo and Gothamist Shuttered Suddenly by Ricketts Following Vote to Unionize

The delete button has hit two well-known and established local news sites. The twin closures came a week after the staff at DNAinfo New York voted to be unionized under Writers Guild of America East.

GateHouse’s UpCurve Acquires Closely to Complement ThriveHive

Closely will be integrated into ThriveHive’s digital solutions, deepening UpCurve’s ability to aggregate and analyze SMB data. The buy enhances ThriveHive’s data-driven product suite by marrying its guided marketing platform with social media management software.

Borrell Sizes Up What’s Behind Local Ad Media Choices

We know from the numbers that local advertisers are increasingly choosing social media to place their messages. But they’re also turning out to be cautious businesspeople who like to maintain a balance in their placements among multiple media, according to a new study from Borrell Associates.

Latest Posts

#SFSNYC: Jim Brady on Building Engagement and ‘Stacking Digital Dimes’

The TBD vet and Digital First Media editor-in-chief says that hyperlocal media must fill two roles for the reader. It has to be a water cooler — a place where people come to engage with news in a community — and an ATM, a utility connecting readers with actionable information.

#SFSNYC: Making Data Work for Hyperlocal Media

In the wake of the Journatic scandal, the role of automation in hyperlocal publishing remains uncertain. Leaders from top hyperlocal media companies addressed the issue during a panel at Street Fight Summit on Wednesday. They discussed how use of data is affecting media today and the way it can make scale possible tomorrow…

#SFSNYC: Think Context Not Platforms, Says Google’s Tim Reis

While 2012 was mobile’s breakout year, Tim Reis, head of mobile and social solutions at Google, urged marketers to move this year beyond platforms and instead focus on context during a morning keynote at the Street Fight Summit on Wednesday. “Consumers are very comfortable across [multiple] platforms; they don’t silo these activities,” said Reis…

#SFSNYC: Patch has Grown Up ‘Enormously,’ Says Webster

In a fireside chat with Forbes’ Jeff Bercovici at the Street Fight Summit on Tuesday, Patch’s co-founder and president, Warren Webster, defended his closely watched hyperlocal network, denying reports that the AOL property was struggling to sustain its rapid growth.

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Threatens Yelp, Locu Expands

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Watch Out Foursquare And Yelp: ‘Places’ Really Shines On Facebook Graph Search (TechCrunch)… JiWire Serves Up Location-based Ads Over Airport Wi-Fi (GigaOm)… Locu Brings Up-To-Date Menus to Restaurants on TripAdvisor and Citysearch (The Next Web)…

#SFSNYC: Solving the Local Data Problem

“The job of getting local data right, much less international data, is bigger than any one company,” said Tyler Bell, VP of product at Factual, during an afternoon panel discussion at the Street Fight Summit.

#SFSNYC: Making Hyperlocal Media Work

Amid a body-strewn battlefield on which even the smartest media companies have fallen, some founders of post-2009 start-ups, Leela de Kretser, publisher of DNAinfo (New York and Chicago); Zohar Yardeni, CEO of Daily Voice (suburban and rural New York state and Massachusetts); and Josh Fenton, cofounder of GoLocal24 (throughout New England); discussed ways to beat the curse during a panel discussion at the Street Fight Summit in New York City…

#SFSNYC: Local Commerce Shifts Toward Retention

As deals firms lick their wounds, leaders from the local commerce space agreed during a morning panel discussion at Street Fight Summit in New York, that the ecosystem has shifted focus from acquisition to retention…

#SFSNYC: Monetizing Location – Native or Display?

During a panel at the Street Fight Summit in New York, executives from Pandora, Foursquare and Verve Wireless explored monetizing location on mobile, hitting on key issues like native advertising, the display ecosystem, and reaching brands.

#SFSNYC: PayPal’s Walt Doyle on Navigating the “Purchase Pretzel”

During his morning keynote at the Street Fight Summit onTuesday, Walt Doyle, GM of Paypal Media Network, took a deep dive into eBay’s $3 billion push into local, demonstrating both the opportunities and the frustrations of that space…