Gas Buddy Encounter in Its Pursuit Crowdsourcing to Obtain Their Data

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GasBuddy

Group 5: Anthony Leing, Raghavi Merugureddy, David Hamann

1. What additional obstacles might GasBuddy encounter in its pursuit of both consumers

and business customers? How should GasBuddy address these obstacles?

a. Competition is one of the biggest obstacles. Google Maps, Waze, mobile gas

providers, etc. GasBuddy needs to expand its services to encompass what their

customers are providing and then some. Possibly look into being integrated into

new vehicles.

i. For example: Being one of the primary apps installed in the touch screen

system of the car. Negotiating a deal with a car manufacturer to be one of

the pre-loaded apps. Whenever a customer purchases a new vehicle

from that brand, GasBuddy will be included along with a free one-year

membership.

b. GasBuddy relies on crowdsourcing to obtain their data, so they need to keep

consumers engaged for them to continue to use the app. Gamification of the app

would be one possible way of overcoming these obstacles. This would allow for

users to get more engaged and would result in more retention of users.

c. In targeting both consumer and business, GasBuddy may sometimes use

business consumer friendly ads which deterred from end user (regular

consumer) experience. For instance, video ads were favored by GasBuddy’s

business consumers but at times network issues would slow down the entire

system for end user which was detrimental to their experience.

i. So in the end GasBuddy decided to “emphasize the use of ads that

added value to the user experience and de-emphasize the use of ads that

materially diminished that experience” (Gillan Huang, pg 7). In addition,

there was a limit to how far GasBuddy could increase their business

consumers in the case of advertisements.

ii. There is a fine line to how much advertisement can be utilized before it

starts affecting user experience. So GasBuddy limited their ads quantity

and increased their pricing which was a risky move but it did pan out at

end of 2016 when increased revenue from ads.

2. Competition will grow over time. How can GasBuddy keep its customers engaged and

working to make the GasBuddy data better?

a. Find creative ways to ask for feedback, give incentives. Surveys, partnerships to

expand and get the name out to more people.

b. By providing increasing value, they will retain and grow the customer base. For

example, have emergency response fuel data after a natural disaster can save

lives.

c. GasBuddy went a step ahead to involve their loyal users in the planned changes

so a sense of familiarity and owners could be extended towards the loyal users.

d. Implementing user rankings would allow for users to be identified as a reliable,

accurate, and loyal contributor to GasBuddy. This would emphasize the

importance of data accuracy.

3. How much rebuilding should a company in GasBuddy’s situation do? Given the

uncertainty of an exit, should the company rebuild for two years or ten years?

a. The latest redesign in 2016 has been very successful. Initially, I thought their

best strategy would be preparing for an acquisition. However, after getting a

better understanding of the market for gas stations and convenience stores, I

think they should continue to follow Yelps’ lead and work for more integration into

Apple Maps.

b. GasBuddy should take the two year approach to rebuilding if they want to focus

on having a startup mindset. Per the article, GasBuddy wants to have the latest

technology rather than losing the market share to competitors who have the

newest features.

i. For a company like GasBuddy which has been in the business since 2000

and amassed a good amount of market share, it is very critical that they

do not lose their existing market to other competitors. Especially is in the

business of Smartphone app, they need to have a quick turnaround time

in rebuilding in order to stay current in the market.

4. Is a publisher with a strong audience, such as GasBuddy, better or worse served by

allowing middleman or retailer to handle payments? Consider this question within the

context of a payments industry that is undergoing great change, including the rise of

Venmo and other peer-to-peer options.

a. Allow the middleman to handle payments due to the fact that it’s their primary

service. They have access to the latest servers to protect their customers’

information and are constantly looking for ways to improve.

b. Maybe it possible they all can win in specific areas. Gasbuddy gains access to

additional data that can then later be sold on Business Pages to help retailers

improve their customer experience.

5. What are GasBuddy’s chances of evolving from a mobile app-centered company to a

successful multi-sided platform business or “ecosystem driver”? What more should it do

to improve its chances of success? Prepare to defend your argument.

a. The potential is there. The competition will always be there to push GasBuddy,

and all they can do is respond. GasBuddy just needs to tap into various other

industry segments and leverage each other’s technology. Various services that

include delivery will give customers more convenient options that they can take

advantage of.

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GasBuddy Group 5: Anthony Leing, Raghavi Merugureddy, David Hamann 1. What additional obstacles might GasBuddy encounter in its pursuit of both consumers and business customers? How should GasBuddy address these obstacles? a. Competition is one of the biggest obstacles. Google Maps, Waze, mobile gas providers, etc. GasBuddy needs to expand its services to encompass what their customers are providing and then some. Possibly look into being integrated into new vehicles. i. For example: Being one of the primary apps installed in the touch screen system of the car. Negotiating a deal with a car manufacturer to be one of the pre-loaded apps. Whenever a customer purchases a new vehicle from that brand, GasBuddy will be included along with a free one-year membership. b. GasBuddy relies on crowdsourcing to obtain their data, so they need to keep consumers engaged for them to continue to use the app. Gamification of the app would be one possible way of overcoming these obstacles. This would allow for users to get more engaged and would result in more retention of users. c. In targeting both consumer and business, GasBuddy may sometimes use business consumer friendly ads which deterred from end user (regular consumer) experience. For instance, video ads were favored by GasBuddy’s business consumers but at times network issues would slow down the entire system for end user which was detrimental to their experience. i. So in the end GasBuddy decided to “emphasize the use of ads that ...
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