News and Analysis

TAPinto’s 60 Franchises Launch Mobile App to Reach Young Users More Directly

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Hyperlocal news network TAPinto has launched a mobile app to give users a platform that’s free of Facebook’s filters and is the preferred choice of younger readers. While many local newspapers and TV broadcasters offer apps, few independent news “pure-plays” like TAPinto have done so.

Raise Report: Button, Flirtey, AppsFlyer Score New Rounds

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Every two weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes funding for Vestiaire Collective, Dalia, Zeotap, and Shiftgig.

Street Fight Daily: MarTech Space Headed for Consolidation, Snap’s Advertising Potential

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Marketing Technology Likely to See Widespread Consolidation in 2017… Snapchat’s Ad Platform is Growing Quickly, But Will It Ever Reach Facebook’s Heights?… Google Parent Alphabet Finds New Growth Beyond Search…

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Street Fight Daily: 05.09.11

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

Groupon is preparing to launch Groupon Now, a mobile app that will connect customers with real-time coupons for retailers in their vicinity. Tap the app’s “I’m hungry” button, and you might be offered a discount on a slice at a pizza parlor a few blocks away. But you’ll have to move fast: The deals will be time-sensitive and good for just a few hours. (CNN/Money)…

Lauren Fisher writes that “2011 could be the year that the check-in arrives, albeit differently to how we thought it might look.” (The Next Web)…

How a ‘Geo-Contextual’ Ad Campaign Produces Results

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Hyperlocal has become one of the most intriguing new ideas for retailers and national brands looking to reach specific markets. Some people ask what the difference is between “local” and “hyperlocal” from a media perspective. I think the difference is clear. Traditionally, “local” media has meant DMA or metro level content such as major metro newspaper Web sites. But they could cover a pretty vast geography. Conversely, “hyperlocal” means granular, community-based or zip-code-level content…

Put a Geofence Around Your Lunch

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So for me, lunch at work has generally been one of three things – eating by myself and reading, eating with co-workers, or meeting up with friends. While often a brief interlude of joviality or solitude, lunch has rarely been functional. Being an efficiency oriented guy (far too much, according to my wife), I decided to try a new service I had read about on TechCrunch called Let’s Lunch. Basically, this is a derivative of the old “It’s Just Lunch” couple matching service favored by urban office dwellers who prefer to see their date in broad daylight before a undertaking a nocturnal mission. Rather, Let’s Lunch is focused on bringing people together to meet for networking purposes…

Street Fight Daily: 05.06.11

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

AOL’s Tim Armstrong just keeps piling his chips higher and higher on his Patch bet, but the odds of winning continue to be extremely slim, writes Matthew Ingram. (GigaOm)…

Google’s Marissa Mayer — who took charge of Google’s Location Services division in October — yesterday described Business Photos, a new product that will take Google Maps indoors. She also spoke with Jason Kincaid about the problems facing Google Latitude, and how Google Places is going to differentiate itself from Yelp in the future. (Paid Content, TechCrunch)…

Hyperlocal 1.0: Matt Kursh Remembers Microsoft’s Sidewalk

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A serious contender and moneyed innovator, Microsoft Sidewalk took to the local Web the way the behemoth did most things: with lots of muscle. It quickly squared off with CitySearch over advertising share and rapidly expanded its editorial footprint across the nation – carrying itself with arguably the most style among the hyperlocal contenders.

The Merging of Location and Daily Deals = Possible Success

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The single-best deal, assertion, investment or other strategy of the week...

Who: Beyond and Social-Loco

Why: For digging into the data behind check-ins.

There is an opportunity for big brands to engage consumers in location-based apps by tapping into and combing multiple motivations (discounts, learning, promoting, meeting friends). To reach beyond the early adopters, brands should focus their strategies around Facebook and Groupon as the two platforms that will most likely drive adoption. David Hargreaves, CEO, Beyond

Salon Owner Courts a Niche Market of Eco-Friendly Customers

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Aurora Marks isn’t a fan of mass-market coupon sites. As the co-owner of Salon Botanique Eco-Chic, an organic hair salon and spa in Morristown, New Jersey, she says she focuses on reaching customers who care more about getting the best quality hair and skin products than about getting a bargain basement price.

Ex-CitySearch Chief Conn on Hyperlocal 1.0

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This is a the second installment in a series about hyperlocal past and present… An early entrant to the hyperlocal game was the fast-moving (and still going) CitySearch. They focused on data-driven content about entertainment and “things to do,” further crafted by editors in cities around the country. CitySearch went head-to-head with Digital City but saw real competition in Microsoft’s Sidewalk, which they eventually bought. Former CitySearch chief Charles Conn looks back and tells us a little bit about the way it was…

Street Fight Daily: 05.05.11

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

Those who use social location-based apps such as Foursquare or Facebook Places represent just 17% of the mobile population, according to a new study. Of those opting out of participating in the checkin craze, or any other social location behavior for that matter, 48% cited privacy concerns as their primary reason for not doing so. (Mashable)…

During AOL’s earnings call, one of the top questions from analysts was what is AOL’s plan with Patch? The company dumped $40 million into the hyperlocal network for the second quarter in a row, and it didn’t generate much revenue. Here’s Tim Armstrong’s explanation. (Business Insider)…

IAC-owned local media and advertising property CityGrid Media is acquiring social media monitoring and sentiment analysis platform BuzzLabs. The company allows publishers to leverage social content, keeps consumers better informed, and helps local businesses monitor their presence across the web. (TechCrunch)…

Hyperlocal 1.0 Heavy Bob Smith: ‘The Way It Was’

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It’s difficult to pinpoint when online hyperlocal came into being. The idea was there with BBSs (electronic bulletin board services) since the early 1980s or even earlier, when local dial-up services allowed callers to access files, games, chat and so on. Long distance charges caused many to dial in to local boards. And thus local communities developed, with some system operators focusing on delivering local information and news. A few local newspapers tried getting into the game with bulletin boards of their own, or via Usenet Newsgroups…

Read the first in a series of interviews with leaders of what we’re calling Hyperlocal 1.0, as well as a bit of a response from a Hyperlocal 2.0 chief.