local business

Facebook to add gift cards, jobs and donation tools to its COVID-19 Community Help hub

Facebook is expanding its Community Help hub to better serve local communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The hub has already seen significant usage by those requesting food, supplies and information

Nextdoor updates its app to allow businesses to link to fundraisers, gift cards and more

Neighborhood social networking app Nextdoor is rolling out a few changes focused on supporting local businesses. The COVID-19 outbreak has forced many businesses to close their doors, sometimes for go

Google Maps tests a social networking feature with the ability to ‘follow’ Local Guides

Google Maps will soon begin testing a new feature that’s more common to social networks like Facebook, rather than a maps app: the ability to find and follow other users. In Google Maps’ c

Google is bringing video reviews to Google Maps

We’re still very far away from real-time Google Street View or satellite imagery on Google Maps, but Google is, for the first time, introducing video in parts of its mapping service. Users who a

Homebase raises $6 million to make hourly work easier to manage for local businesses

From rising rents to online competitors, local stores and restaurants face enough challenges outside of their own doors that basic stuff like scheduling employees’ shifts and breaks should feel easy

Foursquare Begins Crowdsourcing Local Business Data Collection With Questions That Appear After Check-Ins

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.foursquare.com">Foursquare</a>, a company now focused on transforming itself into a source of local business information and reviews more along the lines of Yelp, i

Google Launches City Experts Program To Encourage Higher Quality Google+ Local Reviews

Google has quietly launched a new program called <a target="_blank" href="https://www.google.com/local/contest/cityexpert">Google City Experts</a> to encourage more high-quality local business ratings

Yelp Partners With Locu, Allowing Businesses To Post Menus, Daily Specials & Photos To Yelp In Real Time

Local business data provider Locu is announcing a partnership with Yelp today, in order to help update Yelp’s menus and other listings data with Locu’s real-time information directly fro

Lightbank Invests $650,000 In Walk.by, A New Platform Connecting Local Merchants With Online Shoppers By Way Of Smartphones

Lightbank has invested $650,000 in its own <a target="_blank" href="http://www.lightbank.com/team">Founder-in-Residence</a> Josh Hernandez's new startup, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.walk.by/">

Location-Based Mobile Startup Glassmap Goes White Label: Lets Business Target Customers With Personalized Offers

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.glassmap.com/">Glassmap</a>, the YC-backed location startup <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2012/02/16/yc-backed-glassmap-launches-a-find-my-friends-for-facebook-us

Locu Launches To Merchants: Now Local Businesses Can Update Once To Publish Prices To Web, Mobile & Facebook

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.locu.com">Locu</a>, a Boston-based local business data provider born out of Sir Tim Berners-Lee's lab at MIT, is today officially launching its commerce dashboard f

Barely 3 Months Post-Launch, Loyalty App Punchcard Is Live In 15M Locations, Nears Profitability

The mobile apps from stealthy loyalty startup <a href="http://www.punchcard.com/">Punchcard</a> have only been on the market since February, but the company is now reporting it's close to being cash-f