5 Local Data Aggregators for Hyperlocal Startups
For many founders of hyperlocal platforms, the ideas they’ve envisioned require access to local location data—and lots of it. Some of the most important background players in the hyperlocal ecosystem are the local data aggregators, which supply clients with the basic NAP (name, address, and phone number) identities of millions of businesses and points-of-interest worldwide. Here are five local data aggregators that hyperlocal vendors can use to power their local listings…
Street Fight Daily: Massive Layoffs at CityGrid, FTC Expands Regulations On Location Data
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology… IAC’s CityGrid, Parent Of CitySearch And Urbanspoon, Lays Off Two-Thirds Of Staff, As Local Ad Push Bites(TechCrunch)… FTC Updates COPPA With New Restrictions On Location Data (AdExchanger)… Is Yelp A Bully Or Just Misunderstood? (BuzzFeed)…
Street Fight Daily: Hyperlocal Targeting Faces Scrutiny, New CEO at CityGrid
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.… ‘Hyperlocal’ Consumer Targeting Faces Scrutiny; Senator Questions Euclid (Wall Street Journal)… Ron LaPierre CEO of CityGrid Media (Screenwerk)… Yahoo Acquires Location-based Mobile Gaming Company Loki Studios (TheNextWeb)…
CityGrid CEO: Passive Location Data Will Be ‘Transformative’ for Hyperlocal
In May 2011, Street Fight spoke with Jay Herrati, the former CEO of CityGrid, about the fragmented nature of the local online advertising marketplace and the future of the then-exploding Groupon. Recently, we caught up with Jason Finger, Herrati’s replacement, to discuss some surprises over the past two years and the coming “verticalization” of the hyperlocal industry…
Street Fight Daily: Ebay Tests Deals, CitySearch Announces Layoffs
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technology.… EBay tests deals on services, takes on Groupon (Reuters)… Shrink To Grow: Citysearch And Urbanspoon Parent Company CityGrid Lays Off 15% Of Its Employees (TechCrunch)… DNAinfo, In Bid to Raise Profile Among Local Advertisers, Starts ‘Small Business Insider’ (Capital New York)…
Transaction Overview: CityGrid Acquires Felix
Yext launched Felix in 2009 as a pay-per-call local advertising service. What makes Felix unique is its patent-pending engine that uses speech recognition technology to listen to all the calls received by a local business. It then transcribes and analyzes the calls, separating those received from consumers from those received from wrong numbers, telemarketers and job seekers…
With Felix Buy, CityGrid Focuses on Closed-Loop Transactions
“As a standalone brand under CityGrid, Felix will be able to expand its advertiser base and develop new products that help local businesses find new customers across the web and mobile devices,” said Jason Finger, CityGrid’s CEO. “Now that Felix is part of IAC, it also has the ability to more effectively syndicate its current customers across the CityGrid network.”
Street Fight Daily: Groupon Reserve, Yellow Pages, New CityGrid CEO
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups...
Expansion of Groupon Reserve Continues (Time)…
The Golden Allure of the Yellow Pages (BusinessWeek)…
CityGrid Media Announces Jason Finger as New CEO (Local Onliner)…
Street Fight Daily: 09.12.11
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal media, technology, advertising and startups...
A Groupon deal might boost sales but, it can also lower a merchant’s reputation as measured by Yelp ratings, say computer scientists who have analyzed the link between daily deals and online reviews. (Technology Review)…
Patch is looking for adolescent contributors from high schools — and even middle schools — as it seeks to recruit thousands of community bloggers. (Forbes)…
Street Fight Daily: 05.05.11
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)…
CityGrid’s Herratti: Local Is Becoming More and More Fragmented
Jay Herratti has been working in the local advertising space for decades. Previously the CEO of IAC-owned destination guide CitySearch, he currently serves as CEO of CityGrid Media, a “location-aware” advertising network that aggregates local advertisers and extends them across a network of 300+ publishers, including Urban Spoon, Insider Pages, and many others. Street Fight caught up with Herratti recently to talk about the fragmented nature of the local online advertising marketplace and why the Groupon phenomenon is an example of the kind of “closed-loop” advertising model that small businesses love.