Crowd-sourced navigation app Waze is launching its own ad platform, allowing advertisers to insert ads that users can see on their maps and search results when they navigate to their destination. Waze believes these “location-guided” ads can succeed because they incorporate where a user is headed. Read more »
TechStars New York grad ThinkNear began life as a yield management tool but turned into a hyperlocal ad company, helping advertisers precisely target consumers. Now, it’s being acquired by navigation provider Telenav for $22.5 million. Read more »
Location-based advertising holds a lot of potential to boost mobile monetization by offering more relevant and contextual ads. JiWire is trying boost location-based ads with Location Graph, which combines place data with the travel patterns of consumers. Read more »
Waze, the crowdsourced traffic app, is trying to save people money as well as time. The company is unveiling a discount fuel service that lets users receive 5-10 cents off each gallon they buy from more than 200,000 gas stations across the country. Read more »
Sense Networks believes it’s got a way to make location-based ads effective by looking not only at place, but matching it to the unique behavioral profile of users. The company is now putting its know how to use with two new products that are debuting Wednesday. Read more »
Hyperlocal mobile advertising is at a critical juncture: Leading analysts predict that mobile ad spending will increase by more than five times between 2011 and 2015. But what are the forces at play, and how effective are HyLoMo ads? Read more at GigaOM Pro »
PlaceIQ, a Boulder Colo. location startup, just raised $4.2 million to build up its index of location profiles that can be used to better anonymously target ads to mobile users.The company is relocating to New York City, to be closer to customers and partners. Read more »
Google has snapped up The Dealmap, an aggregator of nearby shopping deals, in an acquisition that furthers its Google Offers ambitions. The purchase, whose price was not disclosed, shows that Google is proceeding even without its unsuccessful $6 billion bid for Groupon last year. Read more »
The future of coupons is moving toward digital and mobile, something that startup SavingStar is taking full advantage of. The company told me it has hit half a million users since it launched its ecoupon product in April, putting it on a faster pace than Groupon’s. Read more »
Foursquare has raised $50 million in a new funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen-Horowitz, bringing Foursquare’s total venture capital investment to just over $70 million. The new backing will certainly come in handy as Foursquare works to keep its own edge in a growing space. Read more »
Groupon and LivingSocial dominate the burgeoning market for email daily deals, but the landscape could change quickly as those models expand to the much more complex world of mobile. Here’s what coupon distributors need to keep in mind as they target mobile users. Read more »
Google, Facebook and others are investing in hyperlocal ads that deliver marketing pitches to users within small, well-defined areas. But before the concept can truly take hold in the mainstream markets, several challenges await businesses looking to bring their advertising strategies to the table. Read more »
Mobile will play a bigger role than ever during the U.S. holiday season, according to IDC. It’s crucial then, that retailers tackle a few key challenges — from building a mobile site to understanding location-based services and rewards — to effectively target consumers on their phones. Read more »
There’s been a flurry of activity lately in local mobile advertising, which is often called the Holy Grail of marketing. Players like Google and Facebook have an edge thanks to their sheer size, but smaller players will have a place at the table if they keep ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Location-based shopping services (LBS) have made many headlines recently, and studies have shown that users actually like receiving ads and offers well-targeted to their interests. Couple that with an influx of Tier 1 venture capital and the show-stopping Facebook Places, with which several startups have already joined forces, and it’s no wonder LBS is suddenly such a hot topic in the mobile sector. That doesn’t necessarily mean LBS shopping apps will be easy to implement. A number of challenges — privacy concerns, scaling issues and check-in integrity among them — provide a potential barrier to widespread adoption. This note examines both the drivers and inhibitors for making location-based shopping services a mainstream phenomenon, and includes focused profiles of Facebook, Twitter, Google, Loopt, Foursquare, BrightKite, Whrrl, Gowalla, Plancast, Groupon, AisleBuyer, Bizness Apps, Offeretti, ShopAlerts, Shopkick, Bakodo, Stickybits, Yelp!, Geodelic Sherpa, WHERE, MyTown, InCrowd, SCVNGR, Waze and Layar. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
