Triangulating Apple Maps: The Tech Angle
Apple surprised the local search world last month when it announced local business reviews in Maps. Similar to its other search-based efforts, Apple formerly relied on partners like Yelp for local listings and reviews. But now, as part of its broader data-driven Maps overhaul, it will phase in original content.
Much has been written about this within the local search publishing world and analyst corps, including my colleague Stephanie Miles’ article on how brands can prepare for Apple Maps reviews here on Street Fight. So in the interest of treading new ground, what less-discussed clues lie in Apple’s recent mapping moves that can triangulate its direction?
How Are Brands Preparing for Native Ratings in Apple Maps?
A foundational element of local marketing strategy could be changing. Rumors began circulating last week that Apple would be giving users the ability to add ratings and photos to local business listings on Apple Maps when iOS 14 releases this fall. That could mean big changes are in store for brand marketers who’ve grown accustomed to monitoring reviews and ratings on a core group of third-party platforms.
Apple’s move into the ratings and review space isn’t totally unexpected, but it’s still causing the local marketing community to question how the update will impact local search and discovery.
Street Fight’s September Theme: Mapping the Future
What does “Mapping the Future” entail? As a primary tool for consumer local search and discovery, mapping continues to undergo UX innovations and structural changes. We’ll examine these areas as well as mapping’s interplay with local search and SEO strategies.
Though mapping is more of a Street Fight staple than a trending topic, market signals indicate that the timing is right. In fact, we already got started last month with a look at Snapchat’s moves into local mapping — not just UX upgrades to Snap Map but also self-serve advertising for local businesses.
Privacy-Forward Search Engine DuckDuckGo Partners with Apple Maps
Making a big splash in privacy, the ongoing story that has dominated location data-based marketing buzz in 2019, DuckDuckGo, the search engine that does not store user data in order to sell pricey ads, announced that it is using Apple’s MapKit JS to power searches. While the search engine’s results are sought out by far fewer users than search industry leader Google’s, the growth DuckDuckGo is experiencing further validates the impression the tech media has practically been screaming about this year: The winds on privacy are definitively changing, and data-driven companies that fail to heed those changes are in for quite a storm.
Street Fight Daily: Apple Opens Up Siri and Maps to Developers, Snapchat Ad Expansion
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Apple is Opening Up Siri, Maps, and Messages to Outside Development… Snapchat Launches a Colossal Advertising Expansion, Ushering in a New Era for the App… Google Pairs Facial Recognition with Location Tracking, Potentially Boosting Available Location Data…
Street Fight Daily: Facebook’s Sandberg on SMBs, Etsy Will Try Same-Day Delivery
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Sheryl Sandberg: Facebook Pages Are Mobile Presence for Small Businesses (Wall Street Journal)… Etsy Will Test Same-Day Delivery Option in New York City (Recode)… Google, Twitter, and Publishers Seek Faster Web (New York Times)…
Street Fight Daily: Apple’s Street View Competitor, Google Reinvents the City
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Apple Confirms Vans Are For Maps Data Improvement, Discloses Future Locations (AppleInsider)… Sidewalk Labs, a Start-Up Created by Google, Has Bold Aims to Improve City Living (New York Times)… Digital Device Use Influences $1.7 Trillion in In-Store Retail Sales (eMarketer)…
Street Fight Daily: Online-to-Offline Retail, Pinterest Unveils Ad Products
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Report: More than Half of Offline Retail Sales Now Influenced by Digital, Mobile (Screenwerk)… Pinterest Unveils Flurry of Ad Products, Names Monetization Exec (AdAge)… Why APIs Will Save Your Business From Getting “Uber-ed” (Fortune)…
Street Fight Daily: Foursquare’s New Sales Force, Consolidation at the Counter
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Foursquare Beefs Up Sales Team (MediaPost)… Bigcommerce Set to Make First Acquisition as Rival Shopify Preps for IPO (Recode)… Apple Maps Now Using Wikipedia, YellowPages Group of Canada & Dianping As Data Sources (Apple Maps Marketing)…
Street Fight Daily: xAd Launches Blueprints, Square Buys Into Food Delivery
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… xAd Launches Blueprints To Track In-Store, Not Just Near-Store, Visits For Location Marketing (Marketing Land)… Square Acquires Fastbite To Add Cheap, Fast Meals To Caviar (TechCrunch)… Maps in iOS 8.3 Lets Business Owners Claim POIs, Removes Select TripAdvisor Reviews (Apple Insider)…
10 Ways Apple Can Rebuild Maps to Become an Innovator in Local
As Apple relaunches Maps, I’m eager to see underlying map data improve, but I’d be even more interested if I knew Apple had a roadmap to improve the local data layer. Here are some things Apple should do if the company truly wants to move beyond its second-place status in local.