For years now, omnichannel has become a buzzword in the retail industry and has been somewhat synonymous with digital transformation. Now, there is more urgency as traditional merchants need to place more emphasis on technology, e-commerce and integrated online and offline during COVID-19. Shopify has launched  an update point-of-sale (POS) system for the post-COVID retail …

Shopify Launches Post-COVID POS, Yelp Rolls Out Omnichannel Tools For SMBs Read More »

In an announcement made on April 6, Foursquare and Factual said that they were merging. Although terms weren’t disclosed, the companies reported that their combined revenue would be $150 million. A majority of that would probably be Foursquare’s. This new merger will have over 400 employees, although there will be a small reduction in force due …

Foursquare And Factual Merge, CEO Shim To Lead Combined Company Read More »

When it comes to the operating assumption about local search, do you assume that Google lookups on smartphones dominate traffic? If you do, you wouldn’t be the only one. There is  a new consumer survey (n=500 U.S. adults) from Ignite Visibility that presents a number findings that appear to upend the conventional wisdom about local search. …

Almost 60% Prefer PC To Smartphones For Local Search Survey Finds, But There’s A Catch Read More »

A new ad product called “Local Deals” is being launched by Nextdoor. This is the first broad-based self-service offering for small businesses (SMBs) on the site. To set up a Local Deal, SMBs have to create a free Business Page. After that, they are guided through the simple ad-creation process in a wizard. Users will choose …

Nextdoor’s ‘Local Deals’ Ads Let SMBs Target Specific Neighborhoods Read More »

Soon, Google Maps users will be able to view their flights and hotel reservations directly from the mobile app, and even use augmented reality to direct them as the travel on foot. These features are part of Google’s expanded Maps offerings aimed at travelers. The Reservations tab, which is viewable from the Your Places section of …

Reservations, AR Navigation Coming To Google Maps Read More »

DuckDuckGo has announced that it has expanded its local search capabilities with a dedicated maps tab, map re-querying and local autocomplete. Earlier this year, DuckDuckGo adopted Apple’s MapKit JS framework in order to power its map-related searches. Because the search engine is focused on privacy, it does not send any personally identifiable information to App …

DuckDuckGo Expands Its Maps UI With A Few Familiar Features Read More »

Google Maps has added a new section to eatery listings called “popular dishes” which gives prospective diners a faster way to check out a restaurant’s most talked about food and drinks. The popular dishes section is located within a listing’s overview tab and is already availabe on Google Maps for Android devices. The section will …

“Popular Dishes” Have Arrived In Google Maps Listings Read More »

If your business listing has more content, it’ll naturally see more engagement, rank higher, and perform better overall.  As more searches take place on mobile devices, marketers are going to h ave to expose more local business attributes and enhanced data for discovery and competitive advantage. Based on previous research done by Google, 50 percent of smartphone users …

Yext Begins To Verticalize Local Business Listings Syndication With ‘Yext For Food’ Read More »

In an announcement by Dex Media, they have “acquired YP Holdings, a leading marketing solutions and search platform provider and publisher of the Real Yellow Pages® and YP.com.”  This combined company will be called DexYP™.  This deal brings together two rival marketing companies that focus on the local and small business space. It has not been disclosed what the …

Dex Media Acquires YP Holdings To Expand Its SMB Marketing Automation Platform Read More »

For several years now, Apple has been developing indoor location and mapping, and the company is now finally beginning to share the fruits of their labor in Maps for iOS 11. On Monday, among the array of announcements at Apple’s developer conference, the company showed off an updated Apple Maps that includes indoor location for shopping malls …

Apple Maps Adds Indoor Mapping For Malls And Airports, Do Not Disturb Mode Read More »