Ensuring Brand Safety Is a Perennial Problem
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
SoundCloud’s Uncertain Future
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.
Facebook isn’t restricting your News Feed to 26 friends, no matter what a viral hoax claims
We are sorry to inform you that you might have fallen for a viral Facebook hoax — again.
Your mobile phone can give away your location, even if you tell it not to
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
Intel’s new Vaunt smart glasses actually look good
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
Timberlake, Prince, Music In Super Bowl Ads Streams Surge
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
We’ve reached peak smartphone. What are Apple and Samsung going to do now?
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
Super Bowl: how bots, brands and the alt-right highjacked the event on social media
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
IDC: Tablet shipments decline for 13th straight quarter, Amazon overtakes Samsung for second place
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.
How Intel’s Vaunt smart glasses work, and what they can do
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
Smartphone sales decreased in 2017
People aren’t buying as many smartphones as they used to.
Source: Smartphone sales decreased in 2017 – Business Insider
Snapchat’s new Snap Store teases in-app commerce potential
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
Mobile Consumers Will Desert Their Cart if the Experience Is Flawed
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
What might explain the unhappiness epidemic?
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.
Under Music Modernization Act Songwriters Lose Unclaimed Royalties, Meaningful Ability To Litigate
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.
Gamers’ Revenge: Why the Latest Money-Making Tactic Is Causing an Uproar
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
While Apple’s Cash Pile hits a New Record, they continue to Glacially Invest in Apple TV & Services
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.
Stop blaming Apple and take responsibility for tech addiction
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
Replacements for Facebook News Feed
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
The transformation of the Super Bowl ad experience
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?
How Facebook stole the news business
Big news outlets stupidly sold their soul to Facebook. Desperate for the referral traffic Facebook dangled, they spent the past few years jumping through its hoops only to be cut out of the equation. Instead of developing an owned audience of homepage visitors and newsletter subscribers, they let Facebook brainwash readers into thinking it was their source of information.
Storyline lets you build and publish Alexa skills without coding
Thirty-nine million Americans now own a smart speaker device, but the voice app ecosystem is still developing. While Alexa today has over 25,000 skills available, a number of companies haven’t yet built a skill for the platform, or offer only a very basic skill that doesn’t work that well. That’s where the startup Storyline comes in. The company is offering an easy to use, drag-and-drop visual interface for building Amazon Alexa skills that doesn’t require you to have knowledge of coding.
Source: Storyline lets you build and publish Alexa skills without coding | TechCrunch
How Amazon Rebuilt Itself Around Artificial Intelligence
The Alexa voice platform and other deep learning projects have made Amazon an AI leader.
Source: How Amazon Rebuilt Itself Around Artificial Intelligence | WIRED
Amazon Is Spending $2.5 Million To Fix Alexa’s Fatal Flaw
Amazon is investing in a startup with an astoundingly simple premise: testing voice apps on real, human people.
Source: Amazon Is Spending $2.5 Million To Fix Alexa’s Fatal Flaw
Augmented Reality: How We’ll Bring the – The New York Times
The New York Times is about to expand our journalism so you can experience it in three dimensions, just by picking up your phone.
Source: Augmented Reality: How We’ll Bring the News Into Your Home – The New York Times
Mark Zuckerberg is now bragging about people spending less time on Facebook — and he’s got the number to show it
But analysts say advertisers probably will be willing to pay higher prices, even though the number of daily users declined.
Nearly Half of US Households Are Now Amazon Prime Subscribers
New data from Kantar Consulting shows that an impressive 45% of households are more than willing to pay Prime membership fees, in exchange for free two-day shipping, along with ancillary benefits like access to Amazon’s streamable content.
Source: Nearly Half of US Households Are Now Amazon Prime Subscribers | eMarketer Retail
Facebook Usage Declines While Profits Soar
Less is more. The social network’s quarterly earnings report revealed that users spent 50 million fewer hours per day on the site in the last quarter of 2017 — its first ever drop. But the company’s profits still rose 47 percent compared to the same period in 2016, and founder Mark Zuckerberg said the slipping usage ultimately won’t matter after the company revamps its news feed to focus on “meaningful connections.” The mixed news sent Facebook’s stock on a roller coaster ride, tumbling 5 percent before recovering for a 1.4 percent gain.
Source: Facebook Usage Declines While Profits Soar – February 01, 2018 | OZY
Samsung’s now making chips designed for cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency miners now demand specialized hardware — and Samsung wants to sell them it.
Source: Samsung’s now making chips designed for cryptocurrency mining – The Verge
On the Path to Purchase, ‘Showrooming’ is a New Way to Shop
Nearly 75% of grocery shoppers have used a physical store to “showroom” before purchasing online. The store is still pivotal to the shopper experience, and there’s opportunity to convert showroomers or drive online purchases through one’s own online retail platforms.
Source: On the Path to Purchase, ‘Showrooming’ is a New Way to Shop
Apple reportedly slashing orders because iPhone X isn’t selling well
Several reports from Asia say Apple has slashed component orders for the iPhone X, its most important product. Apple shares dropped on the news. Apple CEO Tim Cook has previously said about component orders that “even if a particular data point were factual, it would be impossible to accurately interpret” what it means for iPhone sales.
Source: Apple reportedly slashing orders because iPhone X isn’t selling well – Business Insider
Xbox is in trouble, and Microsoft may buy a company to fix it
Microsoft’s Xbox One platform is making ambitious moves but remains in second place behind Sony’s massively successful PlayStation 4. A comparatively poor lineup of major exclusive games is a key factor in the Xbox One’s weaker position. A new report from the gaming site Polygon says Microsoft is looking at a major acquisition to help the Xbox group.Valve, EA, and PUBG Corp. are all cited as potential purchases.
Source: Xbox is in trouble, and Microsoft may buy a company to fix it – Business Insider
Grammys 2018 Boost Sales 328% Despite TV Ratings Drop
TV viewership of the The 2018 Grammy Awards was down 24%, but the show still spurred immediate sales gains for the songs performed on Sunday’s broadcast. Those songs earned a collective 328% gain in download sales in the U.S. on the day of the show, according to initial sales reports. All together, the songs performed (and original versions of songs covered) sold 74,000 downloads, up from 17,000 on the previous day.
Source: Grammys 2018 Boost Sales 328% Despite TV Ratings Drop – hypebot
2017 Year in review: Building immersive experiences
Looking back at the new technologies and advancements from Facebook engineering in 2017.
Source: 2017 Year in review: Building immersive experiences | Engineering Blog | Facebook Code
Are the Grammys Relevant in a Digital World?
In the latest episode of eMarketer’s “Behind the Numbers” podcast, analyst Paul Verna discusses trends in music consumption and how the Grammys fit—and don’t fit—with consumers’ evolving habits.
Source: Are the Grammys Relevant in a Digital World? – eMarketer
From Amazon, Apple, Comcast and AT&T: This is who owns the media today
Facebook to show users more local news in News Feed
“People consistently tell us they want to see more local news on Facebook,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
Source: Facebook to show users more local news in News Feed – Business Insider
Consumer Time Spent on Publisher Sites Fell in 2017
Fake news, a grudging dependence on social media platforms, the pivot to video—all of these add up to create an obstacle-laden environment for publishers trying to figure out a viable business model. Now, new data from native content discovery platform Taboola raises yet another difficult factor: a decline in the duration of US internet users’ sessions on publisher sites.
Source: Consumer Time Spent on Publisher Sites Fell in 2017 – eMarketer
Marketers Think YouTube, Facebook Are Most Effective Video Ad Platforms (Surprise!)
Unsurprisingly, the Google/Facebook duopoly also reigns when it comes to video ads, finds new research. But Snapchat has barely made a dent in the space.
Source: Marketers Think YouTube, Facebook Are Most Effective Video Ad Platforms (Surprise!) – eMarketer
Fitness tracking app Strava gives away location of secret US army bases
Data about exercise routes shared online by soldiers can be used to pinpoint overseas facilities
Source: Fitness tracking app Strava gives away location of secret US army bases | Technology | The Guardian