Street Fight Daily: 09.20.11

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

Amazon Local, the e-retail giant’s recently launched daily deals initiative, apparently does not count the space’s no. 2 player — LivingSocial — as a true competitor. LivingSocial, which received $175 million in funding from Amazon last December, is selling the majority of the ads for Amazon Local — a platform that’s been dramatically expanded in the last seven weeks and now appears in 44 markets. (Clickz)…

Success breeds nothing if not copycats, and few industries have seen more imitators in the last 12 months than the daily deals space. But companies looking for hefty exits might be sobered by a new report on the deals space that notes the price of acquisitions has been plummeting. (Fast Company)…

Case Study: For Seattle Video Store, Print is Still King

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Remaining relevant is a challenge for any independent video store that has to compete with subscription-based companies like Netflix. Next Door Media, an ad network of hyperlocal sites, took on that challenge with Scarecrow Video in Seattle, adding its sites to the store’s traditional mix of weekly newspapers, free magazines, and public radio stations…

Why the Merchant API Is Key to Foursquare’s Future

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Last week, Foursquare updated its business page, adding case studies for merchants and use studies for brands, and generally improving the user experience. Since updating its merchant platform in the spring, the location-based social networking company has quietly launched an offensive to create a viable B2B component in their business, laying the groundwork for future monetization…

Sonar CEO: ‘Location Is Reaching an Inflection Point’

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“We spent the last five years uploading our lives to the Internet – our likes, preferences, activities and so on,” says Brett Martin. “Now, we are downloading that information and spreading it over the suitable world. So there is a gold rush of applications which are working to help navigate that data in a physical context.”

Twitter Local: @MarissaMayer, @LisaWilliams, @PerryEvans, @RobCurley and more…

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This week on Twitter, Rob Curley notes that “innovative” doesn’t always drive readership; Closely’s Perry Evans calls Zagat “an aggregation model and methodology,” and Grapphic’s Michael Fives rolls his eyes at TechCrunch, AOL and HuffPo: It’s “like watching a bunch of spoiled children misbehave.” Read more from the hyperlocal twitterverse.

Street Fight Daily: 09.15.11

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

Groupon is planning to put its initial public offering back on track even as markets remain rocky. After postponing presentations to potential investors early this month, the online coupon giant is now aiming to go public in late October or early November, according to people briefed on the matter. (New York Times/Dealbook)…

Foursquare’s magical tool that will allow developers to build apps that can remind you to buy milk when you walk past the grocery store or notify you when a friend is in the area is being publicly released. (BetaBeat)…

Case Study: Creating Loyalty Program on the Cheap Using Check-Ins

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The game dynamics of location-based services like SCVNGR aren’t just for consumers’ kicks. Fajitas & ‘Ritas proprietor Brad Fredericks in Boston, for one, has paired SCVNGR, as well as its spinoff service, LevelUp, with social advertising company LocalResponse to create a loyalty program that rewards customers for repeat visits. And if anyone’s counting, LevelUp is winning by at least a mile…

Foursquare’s Merchant API Lays Groundwork for Monetization

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Amid the fanfare over Foursquare’s new features, the July release and August update of the company’s Merchant API went largely unnoticed. Eric Friedman, Foursquare’s director of business development, talks about why the offering marks a big step toward improving merchant services and laying the groundwork for future monetization.

Recommendation Engine Bizzy Couples Check-outs With Foursquare Check-ins

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ReachLocal subsidiary Bizzy has released an update to their recommendation application this morning that integrates Foursquare check-ins with their trademark rating feature, the “check-out.” Like SpotOn, Bizzy allows users to rate and share their opinions of local businesses with followers and friends as well as discover cafes, bars, and restaurants through personalized recommendations that draw on users social graphs and previous ratings…

Case Study: Sports Authority Engages Customers With Location-Based Rewards

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Sports Authority wants customers to do more than just check-in on location-based apps. Vice President of E-commerce Clay Cowan says the national retailer’s goal is for customers to be actively engaged in the stores they’re visiting. Sports Authority has partnered with Shopkick and Foursquare to reward customers with gift cards and discounts for checking out specific products and using preferred credit cards, like American Express, to pay for purchases…

Street Fight Daily: 09.07.11

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

Add Groupon Inc. to the list of hot new Web companies having second thoughts about whether now is a good time to go public. The daily deals website, which is expected to fetch a $20 billion valuation upon its stock-market debut, canceled its investor roadshow and is reevaluating plans for an initial public offering in the face of stock-market volatility. (Wall Street Journal)…

Location-based services are becoming more commonplace tools for mobile users, but check-in services appear to be facing a tough road to adoption, according to new figures from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The organization found that 28 percent of American adults use some form of mobile and social location-based services to get directions or recommendations, or to check into a location. But Pew found that only 4 percent of adults use their phones specifically for check-in services like Foursquare and Gowalla, the same as in November. (GigaOm)…

Case Study: P.F. Chang’s Jumps Into Location-Based Marketing

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P.F. Chang’s China Bistro is giving away free happy hour dishes to customers who checked-in on Foursquare, Facebook, and Yelp this summer as a way to promote its new Triple Happiness Happy Hours. Brand director Dan Drummond says location-based marketing was a no-brainer for the national restaurant chain…

Placing Facebook’s New Location Plans

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Almost exactly a year ago, Facebook Places launched with much fanfare and the requisite “______ Killer” claims. In this case, the proposed victim was Foursquare, having pioneered the check-in feature that was now central to Facebook’s new LBS play…

Facebook Replaces Places

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Just a year after launching its location-based service, Places, which let people use their mobile devices to post their whereabouts to their profiles, Facebook is killing it off. FourSquare and its ilk shouldn’t be too psyched. While Places wasn’t a hit—did you use it?—Facebook is planning to include location features all over the, er, place. Users can add locations to photos and to their profiles, and do it from smartphone, desktop and everything in between. Considering that plenty of people are complaining about social networking overload, that’s smart

Case Study: Using Foursquare to Increase Foot Traffic

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How does the owner of a business with minimal signage and a hidden fourth-floor location encourage walk-in business? For Tom Elliot of Idea Greenhouse, a co-working office space for entrepreneurs and startups in Durham, New Hampshire (pop. 14,638), location-based services have been key. Elliot uses platforms like Foursquare, SCVNGR and Yelp to let people working in coffee shops know that a more attractive group workspace is available nearby.

Street Fight Daily: 08.22.11

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

Imagine if Groupon starts instructing its sales force to start focusing on opportunities other than restaurants, spas, massages and pilates classes. Theoretically, the company could leverage its enormous international subscriber base to venture into offering deals for groceries, household items and other goods regularly purchased offline. (TechCrunch)…

“Patch is AOL’s last, best chance to build a growth engine,” writes Maxwell Wessel. “Investors shouldn’t be calling for AOL to back off the business. They should be calling for AOL to double down — not by increasing Patch’s $150M+ yearly cash burn, but by increasing commitment. ” (Harvard Business Review Blog)…

Street Fight Daily: 08.19.11

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

Foursquare announced new features on Thursday that allow check-ins at events, like concerts or movies, instead of just the places where those events are happening. The company said the new features will simply formalize the existing behavior of its users. (New York Times)…

Groupon has not only faced questions about its controversial accounting practices, but is now also having to respond to questions from members of Congress about its privacy policies. (AllThingsD)…

Street Fight Daily: 08.17.11

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

Mobile location service Localmind lets you use your phone to ask questions of people who are hanging out at a restaurant, bar, park or other venue. With yesterday’s update to the app, Localmind users can now send photos in response to questions, answer questions older than real time and get forwarded all questions for places they are regulars at. (ReadWriteWeb)…

Foursquare has added photos inline with checkins in an update to its iPhone application Tuesday. The new version adds color to the activity stream and refreshes the look and feel of the app. (Mashable)…

Venue, Topics, Panelists Announced for Street Fight Summit

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Street Fight is proud to announce that we will be hosting our 2011 hyperlocal industry summit at 82 Mercer in New York on October 25th and 26th. The venue is in the center of Soho, in the former home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex. We’ve already confirmed a great slate of top tier guests and moderators, and now have posted a preliminary list of many of the panel and discussion topics that the conference will cover

Street Fight Daily: 08.16.11

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

Foursquare has launched a new feature that allows users to create distinct lists of the places they’ve checked into or plan to visit in the future. This new functionality brings Foursquare more into the realm of user-generated recommendations long-dominated by review sites such as Yelp. (GigaOm)…

Miguel Ferrer, General Manager of AOL Latino says Patch Latino is set to be introduced this fall and is already hiring journalists in selected markets. “We are not yet commenting on the exact locations of the Patch Latino sites, but yes, they will be in Southern California.” (Portada)…