News and Analysis
Patch’s Leader Says the Network Today Is Proof That Local Can Scale
Warren St. John, who has led Hale Global’s Patch since its 2015 takeover from Aol., says the network has evolved into a workable model for scaled local news — editorially, financially and as a community asset. In this Q & A, he presents his case.
Street Fight Daily: Brands Benefit from Voice Revolution, Placed Unveils New Attribution Tool
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… As Voice Has Its Moment, Tech Giants Give Brands a Way Into the Conversation (AdWeek) Voice is having its moment. People are talking, devices are listening and brands are attempting to insert themselves into the conversation, using Amazon Alexa voice skills and Google […]
SMB Index: Local Stocks Make Gains in September
After a flat month in August, the SCP SMB Index gained 2.1%, consistent with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones. Xero led the gainers, up 17.7% in the month of September, while GrubHub led the list of losers down 7.8% during September.
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PODCAST: This Week in Location-Based Marketing — Blippar, Shopkick
In this week’s episode, hosts Rob Woodbridge and Asif Khan ask: Do we need another coupon platform? Retailmenot thinks so. Product launches by SpotBros, Pretzil and Busbud PLUS Blippar shows us augmented reality’s potential, the greatest mobile payments info graphic ever and special guest Alexis Rask from Shopkick.
Street Fight Daily: Groupon Rolls Out Search, Google Preps Maps for Apple
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.… Goodbye to Daily Deals? Groupon Emphasizes Always-On Deals (AllThingsD)… Google Preps Maps App for Apple Devices (The Wall Street Journal)… Daily Deals Dead? Zulily Says No, Raises $85M from Andreessen (GigaOm)…
Street Fight Poll: Peers and Company Websites Are Go-tos for Local Biz Info
In a poll conducted in early November by Street Fight, 500 U.S. consumers were asked who or what sources they are most likely to consult before visiting a local business. The survey found that 37% say they ask a friend or colleague about their opinion of the business; 36% visit that merchant’s website; 16% examine the merchant’s reputation on review sites; and just 11% conduct local searches for information about that business and/or nearby competitors…
Street Fight Daily: AOL’s MapQuest Buys Everlater, Groupon Hires COO Again
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.… AOL’s MapQuest ‘Discovers’ Everlater (Seeking Alpha)… Groupon Tries Out Having a COO Again, Promotes Kal Raman (AllThingsD)… PayPal Tests QR Codes In Shop Windows; Mobile Check-Ins At Stores For Personalized Service (TechCrunch)…
SMBs on Mobile: Questions of Analytics and Performance
The proliferation of mobile apps for local continues, with all major local search players maintaining their own apps, and Apple’s App Store currently returning 347 results for the phrase “local search.” With all of this attention, the time is not far away when businesses will begin to get concerned about the presence, accuracy, and effectiveness of their listings on mobile apps. I’d love to see a service that aims at comprehensive analysis of SMB presence across the “app space” for Android and Apple…
‘Tis the Season for Mobile-Motivated Sales
Nothing makes the holidays jolly for retailers like increased foot traffic, elevated sales and full cash registers. Here’s how new hyperlocal mobile ad technologies this year are helping retailers who target some of their marketing efforts at mobile devices significantly increase their odds of achieving the jolliness they’re hoping for…
Street Fight Daily: Nokia Maps ‘Here’, Airbnb Launches Local Guides
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.… Nokia Maps a Course for Its Location Business, Unveils “Here” Cloud Service(AllThingsD)… Airbnb Launches Neighborhoods For Hyper-Local Travel Guides (Forbes)… GrubHub ‘Track Your Grub’ Lets You Keep Tabs on Your Order (PC Mag)…
Forget Apple vs. Google; a Battle Brews Between Yelp and Foursquare
Foursquare bears tend to ridicule the check-in as a passing fad, but the check-in did two critical things for the company. It provided a mechanism through which the company could build and maintain its own dataset, and more importantly, it served as both an opaque piece of content (“Oh look, my friend checked-in here, it must be good.”) as well as an actionable, and manipulable, piece of data that (unlike content) gains value as inventory scales…
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem