This Week in Local

In E76, we share one of the key moments from Localogy’s recent L24 conference in Arlington, Texas. In April on the morning of the conference’s second day, Localogy analyst Charles Laughlin sat down with Joe to discuss leadership and managing through change. 

Joe is a longstanding leader in the local search industry, 

The conversation at L24 followed a short presentation where Joe reflected on a “lifetime of pivots.” The interview we share in this episode delves into the thinking behind the key decisions Joe made as a leader over the years. 

These choices include continuing to produce print directories even as the industry shifted to digital and committing the organization to a major pivot to SaaS. 

In E75, Localogy analyst Mike Boland talks about automating the art of campaign management with Lasso Media Founder (and local search vet) Mike Wilson.

This conversation about local search’s transformation by automation will have veterans nodding in recognition and newcomers taking notes. 

Wilson says his agency was automating digital marketing well before the recent AI surge. Now Lasso uses AI to accelerate this automation process. 

Wilson points to call based advertising. The persistent idea that the value of a call is based on its duration is now “antiquated”. AI can quickly ascertain if a call produces a lead, regardless of its length. 

In E74, Localogy analyst Mike Boland welcomes SOCi Director of Market Insight Damian Rollison, a research whiz whom Mike anoints as an honorary lifetime member of the local search analyst community. 

Enjoy this geeky yet breezy conversation about modern trends in search, in particular, how generative AI is transforming (but not destroying) the search experience. The conversation is timely amid reports that OpenAI (e.gChatGPT) is on the verge of rolling out its own search engine. 

But the conversation doesn’t limit itself to AI. Mike and Damian talk about other ways that search is evolving. For example, the two discuss how TikTok has become the preferred search engine of many younger consumers, even if it isn’t even a search engine. 

In E73, co-hosts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin talk about Apple’s moves to make it even easier for small businesses to control how they appear on Apple Maps via Apple Business Connect. 

As Mike puts it, Apple’s efforts to make it easier for small businesses to update their profiles (which dictate how they appear on Apple Maps) is such a smart move. It allows Apple to scale its listings content by giving small businesses the tools to do it themselves. And they have an incentive to do so. What business doesn’t want to be found at the right time for the right reason?

In E72, co-hosts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin discuss the state of Threads. This is the Meta app (joined at the hip with Instagram) that emerged last year as a text-based social network. And as an alternative for those who could not abide Elon Musk’s stewardship of X (nee Twitter). 

The hook for this discussion was a recent Meta initiative to entice Instagram creators to create on Threads. It’s a move the analysts understand. Platforms like Threads need content that attracts users. And lots of it.

But they also felt this move has distinct Groupon or “Happy Hour vibes.” In other words, a whiff of desperation. 

For E71, co-hosts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin discuss the emerging new normal of how tech startups are being organized.

This new normal involves a hyper-lean mindset among founders who now build with much smaller teams, outsource a lot more, are far more stingy with equity, and automate as much as they can using AI.

For E69, co-hosts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin shared highlights and insights from the recently completed L24 event in Arlington, Texas.

L24 wasn't 100% AI-focused. Yet it was a key theme. Mike noted how practical the conversation around AI was at L24. 

Charles pointed out that it was a relief that there wasn’t a lot of AI “doomer” talk at L24. Yet he felt some tough conversations were being avoided.

For example, what’s really behind the talk about how AI is “democratizing” this or that?

The analysts also discussed TikTok’s U.S. future. This surfaced throughout the event, which was before legislation was passed requiring TikTok’s owner Bytedance to divest its U.S. holdings.

In E68, co-hosts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin talk about how AI may disrupt yet another career ambition – becoming a professional influencer. 

The analysts cite data showing that about half of GenZ’s say they would enjoy a career sunning poolside for brand deals. They then pierce this bubble by citing brands' likely temptation to build their own influencers with AI tools like Sora and Midjourney.

While this trend may not bode well for aspiring young influencers, the analysts agreed that some flavors of influencer marketing may enjoy at least some AI immunity. This includes the emerging category of local influencers, exemplified by companies like Hummingbirds. 

In E67, co-hosts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin Talk about TikTok’s effort to stave off elimination in the U.S. by citing its formidable economic impact, particularly among small businesses. 

The U.S. House has already passed a TikTok ban. And the measure awaits Senate approval.  The main driver of the movement to ban the popular platform is national security concerns stemming from TikTok’s ownership by ByteDance, a Chinese company. 

In the meantime, TikTok’s lobbying efforts are focused on something the analysts describe as “Apple Pie” to dissuade American lawmakers from following through on the ban effort. That is the fortunes of American small businesses. According to TikTok’s “Economic Impact Report 2024”, the video platform drove about $15 billion in revenue for U.S. SMBs in 2023. 

The analysts debate whether this tack will work for TikTok. 

In this Episode of Localogy’s This Week in Local, co-hosts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin unpack what we learned from Read.ai’s recent $21 million Series A funding round. 

The analysts agreed that the round is a good sign that VCs are out there for companies with proven founders and a good story. Although, it is not enough to declare the VC winter is thawing because a respected serial founder with “AI” in his company's name was able to raise a round. 

What the analysts found even more interesting was the product expansion that accompanied Read.ai’s funding round. This led to an interesting discussion on the episode of new ways organizations may (perhaps inevitably) apply this data. 

This Episode of Localogy’s This Week in Local features a rundown on an interesting new move in retail media, one of the current hottest trends in local. 

Co-hosts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin kick around the significance of retail giant Walmart’s recent decision to expand access to its retail media network to what it calls “non-endemic brands.” 

Or as Mike puts it, Walmart has “opened the floodgates to let local SMBs into the mix.”

What does this mean for retail media broadly? To date, this has largely been a game for brands. 

Will other retail media networks follow suit and open their floodgates to let SMBs in? Listen to the analysts talk it out to learn more. 

In E64, co-hosts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin dive into the European Union’s Digital Marketing Act and what it could mean for Apple, Alphabet (e.g., Google), and Meta (e.g., Facebook, Instagram).

The Act “requires companies to give users and rivals more choices to ensure a level playing field.”

What does a hefty fine mean to companies that could afford to colonize Mars?

In E63, co-hosts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin discuss the recent news from Uberall.

Uberall co-founder and CEO Florian Hübner will pass the CEO baton and take over as President. It's all about strategic positioning.

In some cases, the founder’s greatest value – including technical backgrounds – may lie closer to the product level or business development.

In E62, host Mike Boland sits with Bluehost's Senior Director of Product Management, Chris Vanover

Earlier this month Bluehost launched Bluehost Cloud, bringing its customers into the world of cloud hosting – an advanced form of web hosting that utilizes distributed servers for security, performance, and load balancing. 

Listen to dive into these dynamics.

In E61, co-hosts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin discuss Chatmeter’s latest innovation: Risk Monitoring. 

This groundbreaking AI technology scans reviews and social media to pinpoint potential crises before they escalate.

Chatmeter's Risk Monitoring has transformed their approach to risk mitigation in the hyper-digital era, reshaping the future of reputation management and helping businesses navigate the complexities of online presence with confidence

In E59 of This Week in Local, Mike Boland welcomes Dan Hight to do a deep but efficient dive into all things location and location intelligence. 

Not to mention adjacent and highly  consequential issues like privacy, digital out of home, and retail media. 

Dan will lead several sessions on these very issues at Localogy’s upcoming L24 conference. Luckily for Dallas-based Dan, this event will be a home game for him. 

In E58, Localogy senior analysts look at developments of interest to those following big tech, spatial computing, and finance. 

Mike begins by sharing his take on what it means for TikTok to develop an app native to the new Apple Vision Pro. 

Charles then talks about how the fintech company Klarna has turned an AI bot designed as a shopping assistant into a customer service agent that is driving millions in cost savings.

As we often do, we wrap up this episode with each host’s nomination for “Who Won the Week”.

In E56 of Localogy’s This Week in Local podcast features Localogy senior analysts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin look at business trends impacting the Localogy ecosystem. 

First Mike shares his insights on the rollout of Apple Vision Pro. 

Then Charles looks at how location intelligence firm Placer.ai is expanding the use cases for foot traffic data through a string of recent partnerships. 

And finally we wrap up the podcast with each host’s nomination for “Who Won the Week”

In Episode 53 of Localogy's This Week in Local podcast, our analysts explore a pair of tech topics that have captured their fascination in the recent week.

Mike focuses on summarizing the significant takeaways from the recent Consumer Electronics Show, particularly highlighting Google Auto's entry into the electric vehicle space.

Charles, on the other hand, speculates about the potential adoption pattern of AI tools among small businesses, drawing insights from two research projects suggesting a significant uptick in small business AI adoption in 2024. 

We encourage you to stay tuned until the very end, where each host reveals their nomination for "Who Won the Week." 

In Episode 50 of This Week in Local, Localogy Senior Analyst  Charles Laughlin gets the  lowdown on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s decision last week to close the “Lead Generation Loophole” from Matthew Marx, CEO of the Seattle-based digital marketing platform Evocalize. 

Essentially the FCC upped the ante on the consent required for a lead in order to spare consumers the robo calls and texts that so often flood in after posting an inquiry on a comparison shopping website, for example. 

Essentially this ruling makes it hard for lead generators to collect a lead once and sell it multiple times. 

While Matt acknowledges the consumer benefit,  he wonders how the ruling will impact businesses that rely on lead generators for new business. He singles out mortgages, real estate, insurance, travel as being most impacted by the ruling. 

Longer term, he thinks the ruling may be better lead generation and nurturing practice. 

Tune in for a primer on a regulatory decision likely to reverberate throughout the local digital ecosystem once it kicks in next year. 

In Episode 49 of This Week in Local, Localogy Senior Analyst  Charles Laughlin facilitates a mini-masterclass on “BD-led M&A” with Josh Scherman of B2B Software Advisors.

Josh is a small business SaaS veteran (ex of ConstantContact and SurePath Capital Partners) who now advises SMB software companies on growth and setting themselves up for successful exits.

In brief, “BD-led M&A” is something we see every day when we read about this or that software company being gobbled up by a bigger fish.  

Often the companies involved knew each other long before one purchased the other. And these relationships often begin with partnerships struck by biz dev pros traveling from one industry conference to another forging integration partnerships, reseller relationships, and so on. 

These relationships often mark the beginnings of courtships leading to rich exits. 

On the episode, Josh cites a number of famous examples of BD-led exits, including Endurance International and ConstantContact. And more recently, Atlasian’s acquisition of Loom. 

In Episode 48 of This Week in Local, Localogy’s Mike Boland sits down with Progress Partners  Managing Director David Arslanian to unpack key takeaways from the OpenAI fiasco, now that the smoke has cleared. 

As Mike puts it, David is the podcast’s  “resident expert on all things finance and corporate doings.”

Mike and David devote the episode to understanding what the Open AI board/Sam Altman imbroglio really means. Open AI’s board abruptly fired Co-founder Altman and later bowed to pressure to reinstate him.

First, Mike and David briefly unpack what happened. Then they offer some lessons from the bizarre turn of events at the organization at the heart of AI’s rapid evolution from something running in the background to something poised to run every aspect of our lives. 

Ultimately, a lot of what happened came down to money vs. mission. And money always wins that fight. 

In E47 of Localogy’s This Week in Local podcast, senior analysts Charles Laughlin and Mike Boland find new angles on the ongoing saga of how AI is changing everything.

Mike starts with a review of how Amazon and Google are making it easy to use generative AI to create product descriptions for Google product listings or Amazon product pages. Mike sees these moves in the context of how AI is working its way through the marketing stack, from stock images to copywriting to now the creation of product images.

In E45 of Localogy’s This Week in Local podcast, senior analysts Charles Laughlin and Mike Boland sound off on Amazon ads to AI-enhanced meetings. 

First Mike talks about a new option for SMB-facing agencies and publishers to sell inventory from a major advertising platform. In this case the ads are from Amazon, and hibu is  the guinea pig for this partnership model.

Charles then trots out one of his favorite hobby horses – the future of work. In this instance he asks if the pivots and now rebranding of what was once Waitroom (now Rumi.ai) signal trouble in the fledgling “remote tech” space, or is Rumi just being opportunistic and poivoting to positioning itself clearly as an AI-enhanced meetings play and not as an alternative to Zoom. 

And please remember to listen to the very end to catch the hosts' nominations for “Who Won the Week”. Perhaps Mike or Charles will mention you or your company.

In E44, Localogy senior analyst Mike Boland talks about the evolution of a major newspaper company in the digital media age with Brandon Grosvenor, Chief Revenue Officer of Torstar Corporation, the parent company of the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily paid newspaper, as well as multiple digital properties including Homefinder.ca and Save.ca.

The conversation covers a lot of ground, from the arc of transformation in Yellow Pages (Brandon is a former Yellow Pages national sales exec) to the ability for a company with traditional media roots to thrive in a Google and Meta-driven world. 

In E43, Localogy senior analyst Charles Laughlin talks about the unique power of local influencers with Emily Steele, the CEO & Co-founder of Hummingbirds.

Hummingbirds is the antithesis of Khardashian level influencer marketing, where celebrities will millions of Instagram followers hawk luxury goods. Rather, it’s about that friend in your community with perhaps hundreds of followers who convinced you to try out that new cocktail bar or yoga studio.

Ultimately Hummingbirds sees itself as an innovative way for brands to break through to Millennial consumers who are “spending money on Spotify to avoid ads.”

Des Moines, Iowa-based Hummingbirds began in 2019 to “help place-based brand find and work with hyper-local content creators to drive awareness and sales.” Steele says that brick and mortar retail and personal services businesses seem to resonate most with local influencer marketing. 

The company raised a $1 million seed round late in 2022. 

In E42, Localogy senior analysts Charles Laughlin and Mike Boland sound off on two topics that involve protecting the little guy.

First Mike talks about how big tech platforms like Meta and Airbnb are applying user verification to small businesses. 

Charles then asks out loud if crowdfunding platforms will become a go-to resource for tech startups running out of runway during the long VC winter.

And always remember to listen to the very end to catch the hosts' nominations for “Who Won the Week”. Maybe they will mention you or your company.

In E41, Localogy senior analysts Charles Laughlin and Mike Boland return to explore two top of mind topics.

Mike begins with a look at the recent “Made by Google”event, which ostensibly was to roll out the new Pixel 8 phone but felt more like an AI product rollout. 

Charles then talks about how an increasingly commoditized buy now pay later industry is seeking diversification in some familiar ways, including subscription products and retail media networks.

Please be sure to listen to the full episode to catch the hosts' nominations for “Who Won the Week”. This week’s entries touch on both the digital and physical worlds. 

In E40, Localogy senior analysts Charles Laughlin and Mike Boland return to explore two rather divergent topics.

Mike starts the show off with an update on Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, which makes it possible to fill a basket in a store, and just walk out with the goods, and pay for them electronically. The analysts kick around why this hasn’t yet revolutionized retail.

Charles then shared details of a story he is working on about a private equity group rolling out local home services companies, offering a viable exit opportunity for local plumbers nearing retirement age. 

Please be sure to listen to the full episode to catch the hosts sharing their choices for “Who Won the Week”. This week’s WWTW entries touch on some big tech milestones.

In E39, Localogy senior analyst Charles Laughlin talks SMB SaaS with vcita CEO & Founder CEO Itzik Levy.

Itzik falls firmly on the side of all-in-one in the longstanding all-in-one vs. point solutions debate that has raged on and off for years in the small-business SaaS industry. Itzik says that the company was not founded on this principle. It got there gradually by listening to its customers. 

Tune in for an engaging dialogue with a veteran SaaS founder. Itzik has plenty of advice on how to service the SMB market with software. In particular, Itzik offers tips on driving engagement among SMBs, long one of the biggest challenges in the small business software industry. 

In E38, Localogy senior analysts Charles Laughlin and Mike Boland return to bat around two top of mind AI topics.

Mike begins by musing on which uses of AI are good applications and which are really just AI solutions in search of problems. Mike offers examples of both, noting that we are in the phase where a lot of spaghetti is being thrown against the AI wall in the hope that something will stick. 

Charles then raised a question that touches on AI but was spurred by a development he observed in the payments space. When a tech exec says they welcome regulation, do they really mean it?

Please be sure to listen to the full episode to catch the hosts sharing their choices for “Who Won the Week”. This week’s WWTW entries range from advances in personal technology to what is the best job in sports.

In E36, Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin banter about two issues that were on their collective minds over the past week.

First, Mike talks about a potential new threat to Google’s search advertising dominance. And that is TikTok’s moves into search marketing via its new and oddly named Search Ads Toggle.

Then Charlie raised an unrelated topic. Are down rounds becoming normal? And are they a harbinger of the end of the VC winter? This thread was promoted by the fintech Ramp raising an impressive $300 million, but at a significantly reduced valuation. 

In E35, Charles Laughlin explores the fast-changing world of digital marketing with special guest Matthew Marx, CEO of Evocalize. 

Our conversation with Matt covers a wide range – from how AI is changing the way local businesses create content (and its limitations) to the true meaning of automation to common misconceptions about the current  funding environment for B2B SaaS businesses.

Evocalize was recently landed on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing U.S.  companies, helps franchise businesses in several verticals, notably real estate and restaurants, automate digital marketing. 

In E34, guest Co-host David Arslanian, Managing Director of investment bank Progress Partners, joins Mike Boland to explore the intersection of big tech and banking. 

David shares why this is a perilous time for smaller regional banks and a golden time for online-only neobanks. 

Then transitions into a discussion of what exactly Apple is up to in the financial services sector. Hint: it’s a lot. 

Listen to catch the hosts share their choices for “Who Won the Week”. Which straddle popular culture and local-digital. 

At several points the hosts refer to conversations on previous episodes:

In E33,  Co-host Mike Boland is joined by guest Co-host Jason Cross, SVP Product at Newfold Digital to bat around two important topics in local.

First Mike and Jason talk about whether Google’s experiments with an AI-tool for writing news articles is a net plus for local journalism. 

The two then pivot to discuss whether Google’s efforts to revamp its digital assistant with AI spells the beginning of the end for voice assistants like Google’s, plus Alexa and Siri.

The two also find time for some discussion of how AI is transforming the process of creating new businesses – from choosing a name to finding just the right domain. 

Please be sure to listen to the full episode to catch the hosts sharing their choices for “Who Won the Week”. This week it’s all about cars and toys. 

In E32,  hosts Mike Boland and Charlie Laughlin break down recent developments from Apple and Twitter  – Apple’s latest AI moves plus X’s (née Twitter) “everything app” ambitions. 

Mike shares his thoughts on Apple’s foray into conversation AI via Apple GPT. We debate whether this may finally (and thankfully) spell the end of Siri.

Charlie argues that superapps fare much better in emerging markets, while consumers in North America do not seem to be clamoring for one app that does everything. While Mike points out that superapps offer value that explains why so many pursue this ambition. He calls it the “Three S’s” – scale, stickiness, and sustainability. 

Please be sure to listen to the full episode to catch the analysts sharing their choices for “Who Won the Week”. 

Episode 31 examines (with a dose of humor) the recent accelerated evolution of the boring old online calendar.

Mike lays out recent changes Google has made to its Calendar to make it more transactional (great for SMBs), more automated, and more location sensitive. As Mike notes, the calendar is not likely to lead off product demos at developer conferences. Still, perhaps some attention was overdue.

Cohost Charlie Laughlin ties this to Shopify’s recently rollout of a tool now embedded in each employee’s calendar that measures the actual cost of online meetings. If widely adopted this could significantly shake up corporate meeting culture.

So technology and both consumer and SMB expectations are catching up to the staid online calendar. This could make calendars more powerful tools yet with less power over our daily lives.

Episode 30 features Michael Hershfield, the Founder and CEO of Accrue Savings. 

Episode 29 features Localogy analysts taking on Amazon's last-mile experiment and KKR's interest in BNPL.

Mike Boland brings up Amazon’s latest experimentation with last-mile delivery, this one involves having small businesses use remnant time and space in their cars and vans to deliver packages.

Charles Laughlin then wonders why digital payments giant PayPal, also a leading player in buy now, pay later, has sold off more than $40 billion in BNPL loans to private equity giant KKR. And what this move says about the state of BNPL.

In Episode 28, Localogy Analysts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin, take on two topics at the leading edge of emerging technologies and local.

First they explore if recent website builders’ aggressive push into AI will end up being the tip of the spear for widespread SMB AI adoption.

They than raise the specter of robots and drones delivering packages to our homes in the near future.

Episode 27 welcomes Sharon Rowlands, CEO of Newfold Digital. 

Our discussion focuses on how the latest tech trends are impacting the Newfold business and the SMBs it serves.  And of course, in the current conversation, that means how Newfold is using AI to serve SMBs. 

Similar to other leaders in our space, Rowlands acknowledged the AI hype. She believes that AI “is definitely being oversold in some areas and undersold in others.”