Here is today’s roundup of news related to local marketing and advertising, local media, technology, local commerce, consumer behavior and more.

Survey: 56% of Local SEOs Say Ranking Harder in 2019 but Most Still Upbeat (February 6, 2019)
LSA Insider: “Last month, BrightLocal released its annual Local Search Industry survey, which focuses on the services, pricing and salaries of local SEO practitioners. This year’s installment featured responses from 650 local marketers of agencies, local businesses, franchises and freelancers.”

Report: Inaccurate Local Listings = Lost Sales (February 6, 2019)
LSA Insider: “Though the consumer journey is more variable and complex than ever, it’s clear that shoppers conduct online research before almost every offline purchase. The data confirms this. LSA research shows 70% of adults do internet research “every time” or “almost every time” before buying.”

Consumers Willing to Forgo Privacy, For a Price (February 6, 2019)
Street Fight: “Online privacy is a topic that everyone is talking about right now, but the general belief that consumers are unaware of how their personal information is being shared by technology providers may be outdated.”

50% of retailers list mobile shopping apps as a top priority (February 6, 2019)
Mobile Marketer: “There are more ways than ever to shop including in store, online, via voice-activated virtual assistants, personal shopping assistants, mobile-optimized websites, branded shopping apps and progressive web apps.”

Here’s why marketers should care about Microsoft’s Cortana (February 6, 2019)
Marketing Land: “With Microsoft’s focus on voice for enterprises, marketers need to understand how to adopt voice technology with customers, employees and stakeholders.”