News and Analysis

Facebook Talks About Its ‘Shared Future’ With Local News Publishers

Share this:

In recent sessions, many publishers – most of them focused on local news – are learning best practices of digital publishing that have helped Facebook attract an audience of more than 2 billion subscribers.

Street Fight Daily: Yelp Partners with Curbside, Foursquare Check-Ins Evolve with Location Tech

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Yelp Partners with Curbside to Add Order Pickup to its App… Foursquare May Have Grown Up, But the Check-In Still Matters… Google Reboots Display Network, Gives Advertisers More Control…

Report: Proximity Solutions Industry Evolving Beyond Retail Marketing

Share this:

As the proximity solutions industry undergoes rapid expansion, providers are changing up the technologies they rely on. Meanwhile, industries as varied as healthcare, marijuana, and aerospace defense manufacturing are finding new applications for proximity technology.

Latest Posts

Movers & Shakers at Gilt City, Foursquare, Maine Today, Quoin

Share this:

Every two weeks, Search Influence’s Kelly Benish — who knows practically everyone in hyperlocal — covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry — like Sarah Chubb (pictured) leaving Condé Nast Digital to join Gilt City. Plus: job openings at Yext, TripAdvisor, Telenav, and Red Bricks Media.

PODCAST: This Week in Location-Based Marketing — Discover, LevelUp

Share this:

In this week’s episode, hosts Rob Woodbridge and Asif Khan discuss Twitter’s shut door on developers; everyone and their mother joins the In-Location Alliance; and Paypal jumps on the Discover bus. Plus the usual funding and M&A activity, our resource of the week and special guest Michael Hagan, COO LevelUp.

SFD: Groupon’s New App, Amazon Snubs Google Maps

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Groupon’s New App Hints At A Change In Course (Fast Company)… Amazon Teams with Nokia, Snubs Google for Maps (Reuters)… Facebook to Allow Targeting by Telephone Number? (Screenwerk)…

Block-by-Blockers Respond to Borrell’s Revenue Prescription

Share this:

“People are beginning to figure out that the display advertising model is a bad carryover from mass media,” says Gordon Borrell. “What does that mean for the future of hyperlocal websites? I think there’s value in them, but I honestly don’t think there’s enough value to sustain the business model in any single market beyond being a very small niche.”

How Real Estate Agents Are Using LBS to Connect Buyers and Sellers

Share this:

Real estate has always been about “location, location, location,” but that maxim is truer now than ever. Mobile apps and location-based services are increasingly becoming an important part of a real estate agent’s marketing arsenal, and an important part of the way prospective buyers find places to live…

Street Fight Daily: Yelp Surges, Google Monetizes Third-party Maps

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Yelp Surges as Growth Potential Counters Lockup Expiry (Businessweek)… Google Launches New Ad Formats To Help Developers Monetize Google Maps (TechCrunch)… Square Extends Its Retail Reach, Now Sells Its Card Reader at 1k AT&T Stores, 20k total (The Next Web)…

Why Are Local Search Results Polluted With Bad Content?

Share this:

Really good local is half Q&A, half search and includes enough activity and ratings and comments to provide more than temporal relevance. But many sites that come up high in searches have few ratings, and don’t provide me with particularly useful or relevant information. And there is rarely a social graph overlay…

6 Ways to Encourage User Contributions on Hyperlocal Sites

Share this:

Encouraging readers to comment on stories, share news tips, and contribute content involves more than adding a commenting widget or slapping a “Tips” button on the header of a site. Here are six tips from successful publishers and editors about how independent publications can solicit feedback from their readers online…

Street Fight Daily: Yelp Bulls Get Bearish, Google Wants More Wallet

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.Yelp Traders Brace for Lockup Expiration; ‘Better to Be Safe Than Sorry’ (Wall Street Journal)… Google Wallet Aspires To Hold All Your Cards and Tickets (GigaOm)… How The Web ‘Check In’ Is Growing Up (Forbes)…

Where Do Business Listings Come From?

Share this:

At some point in the future, local data must become purely digital, because the phone book will not be around forever. But until a critical mass of U.S. businesses understands the rationale for managing online data, this fundamental problem will continue. We need the concerted effort of all local search players to educate the local business community and advocate for the transition to digital data…