Hyperlocal comes out fighting in the US with Street Fight

An interesting announcement from the US found it’s way to my Facebook inbox last night – the launch of a site to “bring voice and community to the exploding ‘hyperlocal’ industry”.

While we can (pointlessly) debate all day the merits, or otherwise, of the term ‘hyperlocal’, I think we all know what we mean and I like the confident swagger Street Fight brings to the space.

Co-founders Laura Rich and David Hirschman write on the site:

“We see something happening when it comes to the space we’re shorthanding as ‘hyperlocal.’ This is the intersection between location-centric services like Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places; locally-targeted daily deals efforts like Groupon, LivingSocial and Yipit; and more traditional “hyperlocal” news and information sites and networks like Patch.com, Everyblock, and Baristanet.

“These are all marked by big new ideas, shifting consumer behavior, and technology-enabled innovation — and venture funding is now enabling serious projects that promise to build a new world of local advertising and commerce.”

And they point to the shifting habits of advertisers to back up the launch with a recent forecast from BIA/Kelsey that local digital ad revenues in the U.S. will nearly double to $42.5 billion in 2015 from $21.7 billion in 2010, and new players are coming up with new ways to target these local advertisers.

The enterprise starts today with daily content and the aim to be the ultimate resource for information and insights on hyperlocal and location-based business moves.
Regular features will include:
• Street Fight Daily – News of the day published on the site and by email.

• Interviews – Hear directly from the leaders in hyperlocal, as well as local businesses

• Commentary – Views and guest posts from staff and industry voices to give shape to news developments and ideas

• Street Smart Moves – The single-best deal, assertion, investment or other strategy, each week.