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Local-Commerce Profile: Q&A With Clutch

We’re continuing our series of profiles of local-commerce companies by featuring Clutch. The purpose of these Q&A interviews is to give merchants, marketers and others in the industry a look at what some companies out there are doing. These profiles are also meant to offer different takes on the future of the local-commerce industry. Clutch,…

Facebook Begins Its Second Stage of Testing ‘Collections’ With New Retailers on Board

Facebook is moving its “Collections” feature into a second phase of testing. Collections allows retailers to share product photos on their pages, which users can “want,” “save,” “add,” “collect” or “wishlist.” The actions users can take will depend on the test group they end up in. Users can also hover their cursor over these Collections…

Is Groupon’s Andrew Mason the Worst CEO of 2012?

Herb Greenberg at CNBC has yet another edition of his “Worst CEO List.” For 2012, he had a tough time choosing a “winner,” but after much deliberation and flip-flopping Greenberg landed on Groupon CEO Andrew Mason. The company’s mistake was keeping the software developer-turned-CEO on board after it went public. Mason’s ineptitude as Groupon’s chief…

Oracle Buys Eloqua for $871 Million to Anchor Its Marketing Cloud Offering

Oracle has announced its acquisition of Eloqua, a cloud-based marketing automation and revenue performance management software provider that was considered a competitor. The deal pegged Eloqua at $23.50 per share (a 31.1 percent premium over the stock’s close price Wednesday), which makes the deal worth approximately $871 million. Here’s what both companies’ press releases note:…

Facebook Pauses Tests Showing Its Ads on Other Companies’ Mobile Apps and Websites

Facebook is halting a test it began earlier in 2012 to place its ads on other developers’ mobile apps and websites. “We are pausing our mobile ads test off of Facebook,” a company spokesman told various news outlets. “While the results we have seen and the feedback from partners has been positive, our focus is…

Shopkick Adds Alcoholic Beverages With a New Partnership With Constellation Brands

Shopkick, a location-based shopping app, recently partnered with Constellation Brands Inc. to feature alcoholic beverages. The app, which boasts more than 4 million iPhone and Android users, rewards shoppers for visiting and engaging with products at brick-and-mortar locations. The partnership with Constellation Brands means that shoppers can earn “kicks” (i.e., redeemable rewards points) when they…

Facebook Ad Interaction Rates Rise 46% After Thanksgiving

Gloomy numbers from IBM be damned: According to Kenshoo Social, Facebook is becoming a more prominent destination for holiday gift ideas and purchases. According to Kenshoo Social, Facebook ad interaction rates in the U.S. have risen 46 percent after Thanksgiving. The company defines interactions as “any interaction with a Facebook ad following a click such…

The Unicorn Strategy: Using Social Media Influencers to Drive Brand Awareness

By Muhammad Yasin, director of marketing for HCC Medical Insurance Services One billion people use social media throughout the world. Of those, 80 percent only share one category of content -- usually something about which they are passionate. When people shop, a little over half use social media to research what they buy, where the…

The FTC Collects Info From Data Brokers to Study Privacy Practices: The Companies Respond

As a follow-up to its report on the data broker industry and the opening of a formal investigation into data brokers’ practices in October, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued orders asking nine data brokerage firms to provide the agency with information regarding how they collect and use data about consumers. The nine companies…