Here’s the news you may have missed:
GENERAL
- A rumor doing the rounds last Friday is that Salesforce is in talks to acquire twitter. This is not the first time rumors have swirled on such a deal before going nowhere.
- twitter now lets brands sponsor twitter moments. Sponsored moments can include all the usual twitter targeting, as well as branding the moment and in-stream advertising.
- Snapchat will now let users share stories outside of Snapchat. The feature is available in Australia and Canada (markets that have test access to the new Snapchat app). Stories shared outside of the app will be available for 30 days on a story.snapchat.com address.
- GIF stickers continue to gain traction across platforms, with Instagram inking a deal with GIPHY. Another reason to continue to encourage clients to consider GIF stickers as part of an overall media strategy.
- More details are coming to light around Apples iMessage Business Chat service (announced at WWDC last year). Launch partners this spring will include Discover, Hilton, Lowe’s and Wells Fargo. Users will be able to use iMessage to talk to customer service associates, make payments, and schedule appointments (as applicable).
- It is all coincidental, but there were some high-profile tech leadership departures during the week. Twitter’s COO, Facebook’s CMO, and Snapchat’s VP of Product. Worth knowing, as new leadership comes in expect other changes in these companies to their product, service, and general positioning.
- In a cool application of AI, Neural Networks and Machine Learning. twitter is using AI to automatically crop images to the “most interesting part”. It’s useful for twitter where images shared are often auto cropped in less than ideal ways.
- At Davos, George Soros has called for more regulation of Facebook and Google. Calling for them to be regulated. It’s interesting given the significance of Davos and what is a growing tech-lash against the reach and power of major tech. companies (all of which has implications for digital advertising).
- twitter is rumored to be working on a camera centered product. No, this is not another Snapchat clone but is expected to be more about making it easier to show photos and videos on twitter.
TRUST AND SAFETY
- Facebook has recently posted a host of interesting blog posts in their “Hard Questions” asking whether social media is good for democracy. They make for an interesting read. In the same vein, there’s a fantastic read on New America (34 page PDF) titled: Digital Deceit: The Technologies Behind Precision Propaganda on the Internet. It’s a really good read because it is both a) an excellent primer on all of the digital, data and targeting available but also explains b) how these technologies can be used to spread disinformation.
- Facebook acquired Confirm Inc. A company specializing in verification of identity against government-issued identity cards. The expectation is that this will be used to verify the identity of advertisers placing political advertisements.
- At the risk of editorializing (there’s a reason I put this in trust and safety) Google is beta testing a local news publishing service called “Bulletin” where anyone in the local community can write and publish news stories online. The beta pilot is limited to Nashville and in Oakland, CA.
ONLINE VIDEO
- YouTube is investing another $5MM in original content around “Creators for Change”. This 2-year-old program is designed to counter hate and promote tolerance and is a continued step by YouTube to foster brand safe content on the platform.
ESPORTS
- Streamlabs, reports that the 2017 monthly active gaming streaming user base for YouTube grew 343% and twitch by 197%. The #1 streamed game was “Player Unknown Battlegrounds“. The full report is worth a read, as it has predictions for 2018 – including that Tencent’s “Honor of Kings” (to get a taste for Honor of Kings, check out Tencent’s “Arena of Valor“) will become the #1 streamed game and mobile will become the dominant streaming platform.
- Facebook is getting into game streaming, launching the Gaming Creator Pilot Program which will include monetization programs. All of which positions Facebook as a competitor to the established players in the space.
- Microsoft’s twitch competitor (Mixer) will be adding tipping (game streamers earn money from tips from their viewers) and game/download sales as a way for streamers to monetize their channels. This is in-line with offerings elsewhere but shows how all companies are doubling down on partnering with gamers (so start thinking about how your brands can get ahead of this trend).
ADBLOCKING
- Google is adding additional control for consumers to Ad Settings so that “reminder ads” (i.e. retargeting) can be muted. The feature has been available for several years, but with this update, Google will respect the opt-out across multiple devices.
Have a great week.
Joshua
PS. The distraction of the week is this $0.99 iOS and Android Chat App “Die with me“. The app only works if your battery is 5% or lower (if over 5% the app shuts down) and you can chat to strangers as your phone dies. If you don’t want to buy the app, you can watch how it works here.