News and Analysis

Google’s Product Bid for DIY Wallet Share

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“Google has been on a tear this past month in the DIY realm,” notes Mike Blumenthal in his bi-monthly conversation with David Mihm. “Three major product rollouts in a 30-day span; Websites, Posts and now SMS messaging. And Google only needs uptake on one of them to get a chance to sell Adwords Express.”

Street Fight Daily: Snap’s Location Partnerships Yield Fruit, Paid Search Outperforms Social

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Snapchat’s Foursquare and Factual Partnerships Double Geofilter Usage… Paid Search Advertising Still Outranks Social in Performance… Amazon Might Launch Its Own Messaging App That Would Allow Users to Order Food…

Job Changes at DexYP, Pinterest, Cuebiq, and Vendasta

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Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest openings and new hires in this dynamic industry. This week’s edition includes moves and new openings at Mono Solutions, Groupon and HomeStars .

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Living Social Flush, AOL at Juncture

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.LivingSocial Steers Clear of IPO (WSJ)…SOURCE: AOL Faces Brutal Choice On Patch — Close It Or Double Down (SAI)…TripAdvisor Relaunches Local Picks Facebook App, for Restaurant Tips from Friends and Locals (The Next Web)

Why Mobile Can’t ‘Save’ Local News

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The only thing that saves local news is really good, unique local content and community allegiances that make it clear the news product is more than just a way to make money. The commitment has to be obvious. This is why a handful of mom-and-pop hyperlocal blogs have flourished as lucrative small businesses. And this is why the best growth at Patch is driven by the most committed local editors who weave themselves into the community fabric…

Using Content Management Tools to Unleash Local Media

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Rebelmouse, the creation of Paul Berry, ex-CTO of the Huffington Post, is a publishing platform that curates articles from the tweets, retweets and links from Twitter and Facebook accounts and displays them in the now popular Pinterest-tile format. The new platform validates how easy it is to leverage social media for publishing…

Street Fight Daily: Square Loyalty, LocalResponse Nears Profit

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology...

Square Gets Into the Loyalty Game with Digital Punch Cards (GigaOm)…

LocalResponse: Our Ad Network Has 7 Billion Impressions Per Month And Is Almost Profitable (TechCrunch)…

On The Heels Of Its Funding, Yext Gets A New Interface And Review Monitoring (TechCrunch)…

Constant Contact Opens SaveLocal to Public

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Constant Contact has opened its social promotions play SaveLocal to the public after three months in a customer-only beta. The rollout is the next step in what has been a coordinated push by the company to position itself as a full-service marketing service for small merchants…

Factual Adds Monetization Capability With New API

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Factual has added engagement and monetization capabilities to its set of local data tools with the release of a new Monetize API. The API enables developers to snap deals and other engagement tools like restaurant reservations to any business in a developer’s local dataset, and share in the revenues generated from conversions…

7 CMS Platforms for Hyperlocal Publishers

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Although many publishers have adapted general-purpose systems like WordPress and Drupal to meet their needs — and others, like Patch and Sacramento Press, have built their own technology platforms from scratch — new CMS platforms are being developed specifically with the needs of local and regional publishers in mind. Here are seven CMS platforms that publishers can use to run local news websites…

Sailthru Acquires Seamless Receipts, Advances in Personalized Marketing

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About a month after its acquisition of Frame, Sailthru co-founder and CEO Neil Capel announced on the company’s blog yesterday that the email optimization provider has acquired Seamless Receipts. The financial terms of the deal are not yet available…

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Ads, Groupon Investor Exits

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology...

Facebook Working on Location-Based Mobile Ad Product (Bloomberg)…

Groupon Shareholder Kinnevik Heads for the Door (GigaOm)…

The Future of News: Mobile, Video, Data – And Crowdsourced (GigaOm)…

Hyperlocal Sites Must Win Customers’ Hearts With Strong Brand Identity

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Hyperlocal advertiser Papa Ads, Inc. launched “iShopStark.com” in 2007 in Canton, Ohio. It offers product reviews, price comparisons, and coupons in the Stark County metro area. In 2010, Gatehouse Media, owner of Copley Ohio Newspapers, launched ShopNStark.com in the same area, offering the same services as iShopStark. Papa Ads sued Copley, claiming that the new site infringes Papa Ads’ brand name and is causing confusion among the public…