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

Foursquare Buys Placed, Paving Way for More Consolidation (May 31, 2019)
LSA Insider: “Last night the news broke that Foursquare was buying a major competitor, Placed. Placed had been owned by social network Snap, which acquired it in 2017 for roughly $125 million. Snap either couldn’t figure out how to fully benefit from the acquisition or decided it no longer needed Placed.”

Replay: The Future of Search and Why Local is So Important (May 31, 2019)
LSA Insider: “During the LSA’s most recent webinar, Duane Forrester of Yext discussed the future of search and the four major trends that are driven by platform change. He explained what the search engines are most focused on, as well as how businesses can prepare themselves to succeed in this evolving environment.”

Assistance from Assistants — Local Business Get Ready to Accept Calls from Google Assistant (May 31, 2019)
LSA Insider: “In May of 2018, Google announced a new voice technology that helps consumers call a business called Google Duplex. I have been an enthusiast of Google devices and an ardent fan of Google Fi (Google’s MVNO — cell phone service) and my Google Pixel phone.”

Consumer study finds ‘personalization’ lowest on long list of retailer considerations (May 31, 2019)
Marketing Land: “A widely accepted idea among retail technology providers is: consumers crave personalization. However, in a new study, Deloitte finds that personalization is last on a relatively long list of factors that consumers consider when choosing a retailer.”

Google is expanding when it shows ads to ‘people in targeted locations’ (May 31, 2019)
Search Engine Land: “Google has been quietly rolling out a change to the location targeting options in Google Ads. The change was first spotted in display campaigns, but now appears to have rolled out for search and shopping campaigns, too.”