News and Analysis
Street Fight Daily: Advertisers Return to YouTube, Shopify Launches Square Rival
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Months Removed from Brand Safety Boycott, YouTube Wins Over Advertisers Again… Shopify Launches New Card Reader to Compete with Square… Facebook Changes the News Feed to Reward Fast-Loading Sites…
SMB Index: July Was a Banner Month for Local Stocks
July 2017 was a strong month for the SCP SMB Index which gained 4.6% versus the other benchmark indices we track. The SCP SMB Index also outperformed all other indices on a total returns basis, now up 33.2% since Jan 4, 2016.
How Red Wing Shoes Finds Its Stride in Brand Marketing
Even with a history that spans more than 110 years, the company cannot take for granted that its product will remain front and center with buyers. Dave Schneider, Red Wing’s CMO, spoke with Street Fight recently about keeping the brand connected to its audience and the Wall of Honor, which lets customers share stories about their trusty, well-worn boots.
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Local Businesses Plot Expansion Via Crowdfunding
Even before the passage of the JOBS Act in early April, SMBs across the country were increasingly turning toward crowdfunding websites such as Indiegogo to facilitate expansion. Now, with the law on the books and pressure on the SEC to finalize regulations around it in the next seven months, some foresee crowdfunding, not venture capital, grants or loans, as the next innovative way to stimulate local business and job creation…
Tackable Team Introduces New Hyperlocal App to Crowdsource Events
With Eventster, the developers at Tackable are hedging their bets on the belief that events discovery, not a down economy or general apathy, is the main reason why approximately 40 percent of industry tickets go unsold. To more effectively target users, the application will, over time, recommend events based on past preferences, in addition to location.
Street Fight Daily: Netherlands Hyperlocal Success, Mobile Adwords
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology...
In the Netherlands, a Patch-like Hyperlocal Network Is Nearing Profit (Nieman Lab)…
Dennis Crowley On Reinventing Foursquare (TechCrunch)…
Google’s AdWords System Goes Mobile (Forbes)…
PODCAST: This Week in Location-Based Marketing — ScreenScape Networks
In this week’s episode, hosts Rob Woodbridge and Asif Khan look at new Wifi-blocking wallpaper, Verizon’s $612M bet on Hughes Telematics. Groupon gets into the food ordering business and we love our Guiness – even more with QR codes. Plus, our special guest Mark Hemphill of ScreenScape Networks and our resource of the week from the FCC…
LevelUp Adds $12 Million in New Funding
SCVNGR’s mobile payments platform is getting another big boost. The maker of LevelUp, an app that links credit and debit cards to mobile phones, has announced that it has raised an additional $12 million from Highland Capital, Google Ventures, Balderton Capital, Continental Investors, and Transmedia Capital. The latter two companies are new investors…
Hyperlocal Start-Ups Say They Can’t Measure Their Engagement. Huh?
Independent hyperlocal news sites are busy trying to get their users fully engaged, but they say they can’t measure how well their strategies are working. A new study from J-Lab at American University finds that nearly eight in 10 news sites “could not measure whether their engagement strategies were also converting readers into advertisers, donors, content contributors or volunteers.”
Case Study: Bay Area News Group Uses Wave2 for Self-Serve Ads
At the Bay Area News Group, a publisher of small and mid-sized papers around San Francisco, community information manager Elizabeth Naughton says using Wave2 Media’s self-serve platform has given her sales team more “breathing room,” which allows them to spend more time meeting advertisers and making social calls to customers. As a result, Naughton says advertisers have begun running larger ads and BANG has been able to generate more revenue…
Street Fight Daily: Foursquare Redesigns, $15M for Indiegogo
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology...
Foursquare Gets A New Look: Redesign Makes Checking In Stickier And More Social (TechCrunch)…
Kickstarter Competitor Indiegogo Raises $15M (BetaBeat)…
In Scare for Newspapers, Digital Ad Growth Stalls (Reuters)…
#SFSW12: Foursquare’s Luedorf Says Users Still in Focus, Over Revenue
Although the company isn’t planning on charging merchants to use its basic dashboard tools—which provide insight into consumer demographics and trends— Luedorf said Foursquare “isn’t closing the door” on the possibility of charging businesses for its yield management system, more commonly known as specials. The self-serve tool gives businesses a way to drive traffic on slow days by introducing specials targeted at customers who check-in within a certain distance of their establishments.
Street Fight Daily: Facebook Mobile Ads, Leaky LinkedIn
Facebook Would Like to Sell You a Mobile Ad (All Things D)
LinkedIn’s Leaky Mobile App Has Access to Your Meeting Notes (NYT/Bits Blog)
Foursquare’s Luedorf Says Users Still in Focus, Over Revenue (Street Fight)
Jack Dorsey Backs Away from Twitter (SAI)
Groupon’s Evolution Is Hurting Facebook (But Helping Google) (Forbes)
Launch of Airtime Hobbled by Glitches (WSJ)
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem