In this edition of Localogy’s Local Beats, we examine news and moves from Google, TikTok & LinkedIn.
Hey Google, Find Me a Parking Spot
What Happened? Google has partnered with parking startup, SpotHero to integrate its functionality in Google Maps and Search. SpotHero, for those unfamiliar, lets consumers reserve parking spaces at participating garages. Think of it like a marketplace that sits between parking lots/garages and drivers. It brings together supply and demand through transparency in available parking spots. It also handles all the booking and payments on its end… and takes a healthy 35 percent cut for brokering and processing everything. The transparency it brings to the market for available parking spots is now elevated, given that it will be in a well-traveled (excuse the pun) app/site. Users will be able to book right from within Google Maps. SpotHero claims to serve 10 million+ drivers in North America and processes $1.5 billion in parking reservations. This move follows a similar deal SpotHero formed with Apple Maps.
Why Does it Matter? This is the latest step in Google’s Search/Maps world dominance. By having parking spot availability, data, and booking capability, it becomes even more of a one-stop shop for all-things navigation and trip planning. That more broadly makes Google’s family of loss-leader products more sticky. It’s also notable that this follows recent moves to provide more availability and routing data around things like EV charging stations. Adding parking to the mix should be complimentary.
All the News That’s Fit to TikTok
What Happened? New data from Pew indicate that news and politics represent less than a percent of TikTok accounts followed by U.S. adults. Specifically, media pundits and outlets account for .4% (less than half a percent) of accounts followed. That compares to X, where 3 percent of accounts followed belong to media outlets and journalists. So where’s all the action on TikTok? Pew says that half of all accounts that are followed by U.S. adults are influencers and creators. So we’re talking about dance videos, monologues, and all the other formats the kids are into these days. The good news is that political and news content still happens on TikTok… but it’s just from a smaller share of accounts. Specifically, 43 percent of users follow accounts that discuss politics and/or current events, even though dedicated news accounts represent a small share of the total accounts followed. You follow?
Why Does it Matter? TikTok continues to get a reputation as a utility in addition to an addictive entertainment vehicle. That includes its moves into local search. But digging into some of the user data, it’s perhaps not the information resource we thought it was.
LinkedIn Boosts the Freelancer Economy
What Happened? LinkedIn announced this week that a whopping 10 million people have created pages on its Services marketplace – up 48 percent in the past year. For those unfamiliar, this is LinkedIn’s freelancer marketplace that connects supply and demand for various contract work. The tool was launched in 2021 when the tech industry started to soften and rounds of layoffs flowed freely. It has also been propelled by cultural tailwinds, such as the growing affinity for remote and periodic work versus traditional jobs. Back to the 10-million figure it’s notable on its own, but gains dimension with details from the demand side of the equation. Specifically, service requests – the mechanism for companies to indicate available work – average eight per minute and are up 65 percent year-over-year. As for LinkedIn’s revenue impact, it monetizes its freelancer marketplace through its standard monthly subscriptions. Specifically, its Premium Business tier includes a feature to boost one’s freelancer profile. Overall (not just from this feature) premium subscriptions are up 51 percent this year, which translates to $1.7 billion in revenue.
Why Does it Matter? LinkedIn has always been a professional networking powerhouse, but it has suddenly emerged as a force in contract work, to the surprise and chagrin of companies like Fiverr and UpWork. This is a lesson in response time to macro-trends. LinkedIn rolled out its contractor marketplace rapidly amidst a market correction in tech (read: layoffs), and utilized its existing and adjacent core business to catapult it. From a case study perspective, this was a deft move from LinkedIn.
