News and Analysis

Street Fight Daily: Instagram Growing Rapidly, Gannett Earnings Suggest Bleak Outlook for Newspapers

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Gannett Earnings Forecast a Bleak 2017 for Newspaper Companies… Instagram is Growing Faster Than Ever and Now Has 700 Million Users… Waymo Is Hitting Uber Where It Hurts…

Macaroni Kid Pushes Stroller Into Big and Site-Packed Local Parent Space

One of the earliest hyperlocal networks for parents is Macaroni Kid, which was founded by “recovering lawyer” Joyce Shulman and her husband, marketing entrepreneur Eric Cohen, in their community on Long Island in 2009. In this Q&A, Cohen talks about the company’s recent acquisition of also-well-established Stroller Traffic.

Street Fight Daily: Amazon’s Shipping Ambitions, Search Engines Remain Crucial to Local Discovery

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon’s Plan to Dominate the Shipping Industry Is Taking Shape… Most Internet Users Prefer Search Engines to Find Local Products… Publishers Say Facebook Can Save Instant Articles with Better Data, Subscription Tools…

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: 10.14.11

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups...

MapQuest’s new Vibe uses data collected from the past 10 years about cities’ most popular destinations. Vijay Bangaru, MapQuest vice president of product, writes that the concept originated out of a shift in users’ needs from “maps and directions” to “local search.” (Mashable)…

Groupon and LivingSocial succeed because consumers perceive them as great deals. But is that true? Perhaps not. Thumbtack.com called 10 vendors offering daily deals (five from Groupon and five from LivingSocial) and found eight instances where they were quoted a price over the phone that was cheaper than the advertised regular price being offered. (Business Insider)…

SCVNGR/LevelUp’s Mobile Payment Application Goes National

SCVNGR has announced the national rollout of its mobile payment product LevelUp, which the company has been testing in Philadelphia and Boston for the past two months. The company’s “chief ninja” Seth Priebatsch talks with Street Fight about what LevelUp’s launch is all about…

In Jefferson’s Hometown, a Hyperlocal Focuses on Digital Democracy

Brian Wheeler is executive director of Charlottesville Tomorrow, a thriving nonprofit hyperlocal in Virginia that focuses on land use and other civic issues that are key to protecting the character of the community that was the home of Thomas Jefferson. We talked to Wheeler about his unusual definition of user engagement, and how he’s working to take it to a new level…

Will Big Brands Cut Out the Middleman to Go Hyperlocal?

We’re on the brink of seeing brands start to carve into the hyperlocal pie simply by providing an online space to offer localized content and capture the “neighborhood” conversations that locals want to see.

Street Fight Daily: 10.13.11

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups...

The next update to Foursquare’s iPhone app includes a new feature called Radar, which pulls suggestions from the app’s Explore feature. Depending on your location, it might suggest a nearby restaurant, or remind you that the coffee shop on your to-do list is nearby. It will also tell you when your friends are meeting nearby. (TechCrunch)…

LocalResponse, a local marketing system that pushes targeted ads to users based on their check-ins, has raised $5 million. The money will go toward expanding the sales team and building out an enterprise version of the service for brands and agencies. (GigaOm)…

Indy Sites, Trusted Vanguards of Local Referral

There is a system in which people discover businesses that they love. It existed way before there was an Internet, and it’s also the foundation of local advertising. Patrons don’t want to go to sources they don’t trust, though — they want an honest and sincere referral because if an authority loves a place, they are more likely to love it too…

GPS for Groceries: Aisle411 Might Have the Right Ingredients

Sometimes when I enter a large space with the intention of performing a specific task I quickly lose all my energy and fall to the ground. For instance looking for a moon rock at the Air and Space Museum, or a particular gift item from a cacophonous mall: Down for the count. Looking for cumin at the […]

Street Fight Daily: 10.12.11

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups...

Gannett’s MomsLikeMe hyperlocal parenting network will cease operating on Friday and its 100-plus town-specific sites will go dark and the content will be deleted. (PaidContent)…

AmazonLocal posted more than 300% revenue growth in September. It has expanded to 40 markets and brought in $4 million of gross revenue in September. (Business Insider)…

Daily Deals Industry Moving Into Consolidation Mode

With over 600 companies currently in the daily deals space in the U.S., industry consolidation is bound to occur — with larger companies buying up smaller rivals while other competitors go belly up. To find out more about what to expect in the deals space, Street Fight recently spoke with two industry watchers from local media adviser BIA/Kelsey…

#SFS11 Company Profile: SCVNGR/LevelUp

SCVNGR is a mobile marketing platform that uses location-based game mechanics to improve engagement with brands. Since 2010, the company has partnered up with Dunkin’ Donuts, Swarovski, and numerous universities to build custom marketing campaigns on top of its mobile application. At the same time, the company has seen solid engagement with its rewards product aimed at small and medium size merchants…