Category: News
Alibaba explores direct sales model, no plans to replace Tmall
TechNode: Alibaba is not going to rebrand its B2C marketplace Tmall to Maoxiang, an anonymous executive at the company’s digital business unit told local media outlet Guancha on Feb. 19. The source partially confirmed a prior rumor that Alibaba is working on Maoxiang, a new online direct sales service adopting a model similar to rival…
Spotify is acquiring two major podcast tech platforms
The Verge: Spotify is making more podcast acquisitions. The company announced today it’s acquiring both Chartable and Podsights — two of the most prominent podcast marketing and ad attribution companies. The deal price hasn’t been disclosed, but this marks the first major acquisition the company has made this year in a long line of audio…
Privacy Sandbox on Android
Google: While we design, build and test these new solutions, we plan to support existing ads platform features for at least two years, and we intend to provide substantial notice ahead of any future changes. So it’s being built and tested. Android users will still be subjected to ads tracking for the next two years.
Google Search is Dying
Michael Tsai: I’ve noticed two separate things: If I know the right Reddit or Stack Exchange to search, or if Amazon or Hacker News applies, I get much more useful results than searching Google (or any other general search engine). This avoids SEO spam issues and can surface posts that don’t seem to be accessible…
96% iOS users in the US opt out of tracking
Flurry: Until now, apps have been able to rely on Apple’s Identifier for Advertiser (IDFA) to track users for targeting and advertising purposes. With the launch of iOS 14.5 this week, mobile apps now have to ask users who have upgraded to iOS 14.5 for permission to gather tracking data. With opt-in rates expected to…
Verizon sold Yahoo and AOL to private equity firm
NY Times: Yahoo and AOL, kings of the early internet, saw their fortunes decline as Silicon Valley raced ahead to create new digital platforms. Google replaced Yahoo. AOL was supplanted by cable giants. Now they will become the property of private equity. Verizon, their current owner, agreed to sell them to Apollo Global Management in…
The Instagram ads Facebook won't show you
Signal: We created a multi-variant targeted ad designed to show you the personal data that Facebook collects about you and sells access to. The ad would simply display some of the information collected about the viewer which the advertising platform uses. Facebook was not into that idea. Maybe everyone should try Facebook’s advertising platform at…
Facebook and Instagram Ask Users to Enable App Tracking in Order to Keep Services Free
MacRumors: As a way to convince users to enable tracking across other apps and websites, Facebook is deploying the tactic of telling users that they must enable tracking as part of the App Tracking Transparency framework in iOS 14.5 if they want to help keep Facebook and Instagram “free of charge.” Are they threatening to…
Zoom Rooms Weekly Restart
Zoom: Zoom Rooms weekly system restart functionality will restart your computer weekly with the following conditions: Between the hours of 2:00-4:00am based on local time on PC or Mac When there is no meeting currently in progress in that room By default, the Zoom Rooms computer will restart on Saturday, but you can also select…
Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot shareholders vote on merger
The Washington Post: The marriage of carmakers PSA Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is built on the promise of cost-savings in the capital-hungry industry, but what remains to be seen is if it will be able to preserve jobs and heritage brands in a global market still suffering from the pandemic. This is a stark…