Last year’s brand safety controversies stirred fears that advertisers would back away from platforms like Facebook and YouTube, but spending has continued to surge. Here are some ways that marketers are stepping up efforts to ensure their placements are brand safe.
Source: Ensuring Brand Safety Is a Perennial Problem – eMarketer
A unique and valued platform for both creators and consumers of music since its creation in 2007, SoundCloud has grown to become an integral part of the world of digital music. Once expected to surpass a billion dollars in value, however, the service’s future has now become uncertain.
We are sorry to inform you that you might have fallen for a viral Facebook hoax — again.
It’s not just fitness trackers – mobile phones can reveal users’ whereabouts too, even with location tracking turned off.
Source: Your mobile phone can give away your location, even if you tell it not to
Smart glasses that won’t make you look like a Google Glasshole.
Source: Exclusive: Intel’s new Vaunt smart glasses actually look good – The Verge
Justin Timberlake’s performance at the Super Bowl halftime show got very mixed reviews, but his streams surged 214% on Spotify in the US during the hour that followed Philadelphia Eagles’ win over New England Patriots.
Source: Timberlake, Prince, Music In Super Bowl Ads Streams Surge – hypebot
You don’t really need a new device. Here’s what that means for what you already own.
Source: We’ve reached peak smartphone. What are Apple and Samsung going to do now? – The Washington Post
Bots, brand jackers, big shots, as well as traditional businesses all bossed the Super Bowl social media space.
Source: Super Bowl: how bots, brands and the alt-right highjacked the event on social media
The tablet market has now declined year-over-year for 13 quarters straight. Q4 2017 saw a 7.9 percent year-over-year decline: 49.6 million units shipped worldwide, compared to 53.8 million units in the same quarter last year. The only silver lining is that declines for 2017 haven’t been in the double-digits, like they were in 2016.
Intel developed a prototype for a pair of smart glasses that are designed to look normal… for a pair of smart glasses.
Source: How Intel’s Vaunt smart glasses work, and what they can do – Business Insider
People aren’t buying as many smartphones as they used to.
Source: Smartphone sales decreased in 2017 – Business Insider
Snap Inc. just launched a merchandise store. The goal isn’t to make money yet, but it proves the potential for an in-app commerce platform for other brands.
Source: Snapchat’s new Snap Store teases in-app commerce potential | TechCrunch
Shopping on your mobile device isn’t always a smooth process. In fact, a new survey finds that many digital shoppers have a difficult time placing orders via mobile, resulting in an abandoned cart.
Source: Mobile Consumers Will Desert Their Cart if the Experience Is Flawed | eMarketer Retail
Every activity that didn’t involve a screen was linked to more happiness, and every activity that involved a screen was linked to less happiness. The differences were considerable: Teens who spent more than five hours a day online were twice as likely to be unhappy as those who spent less than an hour a day
If you wanted to give advice based on this research, it would be very simple: Put down your phone or tablet and go do something – just about anything – else.
While many in the music industry welcome this bill, smaller publishers and musicians may be surprised to learn that several of the provisions in the Music Modernization Act may harm their interests.
When EA, the American video game company, launched Star Wars Battlefront II in November, it was seeking redemption. The previous edition of the game, in 2015, had left fans vastly disappointed. But even before the formal launch, players who had early access to Battlefront II — by paying more than the standard cost — began crying foul. Classic Star Wars characters like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker were locked until players accumulated a small fortune of in-game currency.
Source: Gamers’ Revenge: Why the Latest Money-Making Tactic Is Causing an Uproar | Fast Forward | OZY
With Apple’s mind boggling cash pile hitting a new record, you have to wonder why they aren’t investing more aggressive with larger acquisitions or at least more aggressively in their new video content service so that it could better compete for new shows with current leaders Hulu, Netflix and Amazon’s Prime.
There are many accusations against Apple, Facebook, Google, Amazon and others for their addictive effects on our brains and culture. Most of the discourse is about how evil tech companies are (covertly) peddling addictive products/services that are destroying our minds, our society and our relationships. I’ve been frequently quoted in this dialogue as an example of someone who used to focus on increasing addiction (through gamification) to a “changed man” who now believes things have gone too far — with a startup to prove it.
Source: Stop blaming Apple and take responsibility for tech addiction | TechCrunch
Now that the social network is changing what shows up in your feed, you’ll have to go elsewhere for current news.
Source: Replacements for Facebook News Feed: Nuzzel, Flipboard, Digg | WIRED
Companies are now tracking how consumers react on social media to Super Bowl ads. They’re also studying how the brain responds to them. Could personalized Super Bowl ads be on the horizon?
