This Week in Local

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...

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...

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 tool...

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. P...

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.

This Week in Local is a Localogy production. To learn more, please visit Localogy.com. 

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In E70, co-hosts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin discuss one of the most talked about startups in the Localogy-verse – Howard Lerman’s Ro.am. 

Specifically, co-host Mike Boland gives a download on his test drive of the Roam UX. And given Mike’s expertise in AR/VR, Roam’s spatial orientation is right up Mike’s alley.  

Mike’s key point is that Roam’s mission is to break out of the “form over function” trap that so much of what we b...

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 rea...

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 bo...

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 compa...

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 w...

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 m...

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?

This Week in Local is a Localogy production. To learn more...

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.

This Week in Local is a Localogy production. To learn more, please vis...

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.

This Week in Local is a Localogy production. To learn more, please visit...

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...

In E60, co-hosts Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin debate the merits of a new experiment from Google that applied AI to a common pain point. 

Mke describes how Google has rolled out “Talk to a Live Rep” which uses AI to address a common consumer pain point, waiting on hold to talk to a live agent. 

Mike sees this innovation within the broader context of Google’s AI strategy. In essence, Google is pursuing Talk to a Live Rep in the s...

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. 

This Week in Loc...

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 oft...

In E57,  Localogy analysts look at platform paywall abandonment and one-person unicorns. 

We begin with Mike sharing a brewing trend of content platforms abandoning paywalls as consumers appear to signal a willingness to view ads in exchange for free content. 

Charles then raises the prospect, citing comments by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, that we may not be far away from a one-person startup (leveraging AI) reaching unicorn status before...