News and Analysis

Facebook Has a New Mission That Just May Benefit Local Publishers

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Facebook doesn’t call itself a technology company anymore. “It’s a “new kind of platform,” says founder Mark Zuckerberg. But I think the world – in particular local news publishers — should forget the semantics and focus instead on what Facebook is actually doing.

Street Fight Daily: Users Stand by Uber Despite Scandals, FTC Clears Amazon-Whole Foods Deal

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Despite the Drama, Uber Reports Strong User Growth and Financial Outlook… Amazon’s Whole Foods Deal Clears Last Two Major Hurdles… Paid-Search Advertising Still Outranks Social in Performance…

Hiya and Samsung Turn the Phone Dialer Into a Local Search Engine

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“When you buy a new Samsung device, the phone just does more than the iPhone or any other Android,” says Mayur Kamat, Hiya’s VP of product. “Without downloading or installing anything, the user can call a business in the same way they call their friends and family.”

Latest Posts

With Passbook, iPhone 5 Answers Mobile’s ‘Dirty Little Secret’

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More data on a faster device means new opportunities for data-heavy hyperlocal developers, which should open up some new innovations by developers. And while the omission of near-field communications may dash the hopes of some who looked for Apple to push into payments, it does not diminish the potential impact of iOS6, the operating system announced in June, and its key feature — Passbook…

More Hyperlocal Investment Content Coming to Street Fight

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Over the last six months, our Hyperlocal Investment Report newsletter has aimed to guide investors through this new industry, to give context and insight into the market potential of pre-public companies, and to synthesize activity in the public markets as well as in private placement, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and the like. With this issue, we’re moving it from a paid product to delivering this content on our public website for free, to engage in broader discussion around key issues in hyperlocal investing.

iPhone 5: What Passbook and Maps Could Mean for Hyperlocal

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Apple is set to announce the iPhone 5 during a press event in San Francisco later today, and with it, a set of features that could deeply impact the hyperlocal ecosystem. Maps and Passbook have the potential to become core, high-growth platforms within the hyperlocal industry, and the deeper integration of Siri could move the needle in local search…

Belly CEO: Loyalty Is a Relationship — And Relationships Take Work

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The customer loyalty company currently operates in 10 cities as well as many one-off locations around the country, and it got a massive vote of confidence in May when Andreessen Horowitz invested $10 million in series B financing. CEO Logan LaHive connected with Street Fight over email recently about the process of scaling up, settling down, and the struggle between great ideas and execution.

Street Fight Daily: Paton Opens Up, LivingSocial To Slow M&A

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.For Paton, Bankruptcy for Journal Register Is ‘Embarrassing’ but Necessary (New York Times)… LivingSocial to Slow Acquisition Pace (Reuters)… Paying the Apple Way: It’s Coming, But Not Likely on New iPhone (Wired)…

How Can Local Search Better Serve Service-Oriented Businesses?

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Local search isn’t just about brick and mortar. In fact, a very large number of the local businesses we interact with on a frequent basis are service-area oriented. And yet service-oriented businesses make something of a poor fit in a local search model that is oriented toward my physical location and the proximity of nearby businesses on a map…

Street Fight Poll: For Deals, It’s Still ‘One and Done’

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According to our poll, almost 42% of 750 consumers surveyed on September 6 said they’ve never returned to a business they first visited to redeem a deals voucher, and fewer than 17% have been back more than five times. Almost 17% returned once, and a shade less than 25% between two and five times.

Street Fight Daily: DMN’s Marketing Venture, Google Offers Exec Exits

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Dallas Morning News Partners With Slingshot to Create Speakeasy Marketing Service (Dallas Morning News)… Google Offers Exec Eric Rosenblum Leaves for Mobile Ad Start-Up (All Things D)… Groupon Journeys Offshore for Customer Service (Wired)…

80% of Disposable Income Is Spent Within 20 Miles of Home – Or Is It?

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Many “geoscenti” have uncritically accepted certain foundational local statistics because they’re so widely cited and repeated. As a result they’ve acquired the status of “common knowledge.” But are these numbers ultimately traceable to a real, credible source? It’s not really clear…

7 Strategies for Dealing With Online Reviews

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While nobody doubts that positive reviews can be good for a business, many merchants aren’t quite sure how to encourage their customers to post their opinions online — and how to respond when they receive negative feedback in such a public forum. We spoke to five experts in the field and asked what businesses should consider when managing their online reviews…