Hello
Welcome to Last Week in Digital Media, here’s the news you may have missed:
GENERAL
- Chrome is temporarily rolling back the enforcement of same-site cookie changes (which impacts 3rd party cookies). The change is because Chromium wants to “ensure stability for websites providing essential services.”
- YouTube has plans to take on TikTok with something called YouTube Shorts (paywall). Whether YouTube can succeed depends on a host of factors, as Josh Constine details on Techcrunch.
- HQ Trivia is back. The return of HQ has cash prizes as well as a donation to non-profit. There were 100,000 players at the start of the game, which is impressive given that the relaunch was only shared in a tweet and an in-app notification (if you still had the app installed).
- Quibi launches this coming Monday (April 6th), and T-Mobile has released details of the partnership. T-Mobile customers on unlimited plans will get 12 months of Quibi free. After that, T-Mobile customers will need to choose between 12 months of Quibi or Netflix free.
- Spotify has launched Spotify Kids in the US, Canada, and France. Previously in beta elsewhere in the world, Spotify Kids is a curated ad-free standalone kids app, available to paid subscribers on the family plan.
- Amazon may be entering the cloud gaming space, competing with the likes of Microsoft, Sony, and Google. The plans have been underway for over a year, with a dedicated Amazon Games site, and plans to launch a title called “Crucible” in May of this year.
- Apple acquired the mobile weather app DarkSky. The blog post is interesting because it talks about “respecting privacy,” and the acquisition by Apple could reduce Apple’s reliance on 3rd party weather services in their core app who may be indirectly collecting location data.
- Amazon, Walmart, and others have suspended affiliate market deals with publishers. It’s reported affiliate programs available to influencers have also been suspended.
- Facebook has reached a commercial agreement with display maker Plessey, giving Facebook multi-year early and exclusive access to technology used in AR/VR displays. Demonstrating Facebook’s ongoing commitment to Oculus.
EVENTS
- The NewFronts have moved to June 22nd. In related news, twitter has shared that it won’t be participating in the New Fronts.
- the Cannes Lions has been canceled. The event is planned to recommence in 2021.
CORONAVIRUS RELATED
- mobile location data is in the spotlight as a potential tool in tracking the spread and impact of Coronavirus as well as debate about the privacy challenges (and surveys indicate that the public has concerns). Here’s an update on what’s happening: Facebook is sharing location data with medical researchers, foursquare has made public a US-only state-by-state dataset, and Google has shared location data reports by country.
- adtech companies continue to revise their financial guidance, including most recently Criteo and travel adtech company Sojern reducing staff. This will be the last time I share details on any specific company, as the economic impact is being felt widely across all players and sectors, and there will be a lot more news like this to come.
- Snapchat published a guide on best-practice creative messaging on the Snap platform. Of note, Snap has seen a 50% increase in calls made with the app.
- on HBR, there’s a 2009 article that’s highly relevant to now, on how to market during a downturn. The insights into how consumer personas change and communication tactics that align with these changes are worth your time reviewing and understanding.
- Both Google and twitter have updated their ad policies to allow advertisers to mention Coronavirus in ad copy. Specifically, Google will allow it for political ads, twitter across more than politics, but with safeguards, as marketers look to talk about how they’re responding to the pandemic.
- According to internal notes seen by Reuters, Amazon will be delaying Amazon Prime Day this year. Amazon’s own Prime Day page has no updates.
RESEARCH
- PEW Research continues to publish research on consumer attitudes to COVID-19. Also seems timely to remind everyone that PEW data sets can be downloaded here.
- Captify analyzed search trends to see where the public might spend stimulus checks. While it may be a bit too early to identify a US trend, Captify suggests that home office, entertainment, and gym dominates across both general and retailer specific-search queries (which seems to be more valid for now).
- research group Oliver Wyman Forum has published a 6 country study on public attitude to information sharing during a pandemic. There’s an interesting dichotomy between what people want to share about their health vs. what they want to learn about everyone else.
REGULATION
- the DOJ is investigating the proposed merger of Taboola-Outbrain and whether it would lessen competition (paywall).
PRIVACY, TRUST, and SAFETY
- a reminder, the California Attorney General as made it clear that CCPA enforcement will not be delayed. It’s also worth noting that, in the EU, GDPR enforcement is continuing. Please do not be misled by reports of lobbying or rumors that privacy regulation will be put on hold because of Coronavirus.
- in my continued advocacy for advertising in news, there was a great tweet from Sleeping Giants co-founder, Nandini Jammi, during the week, making it clear that Sleeping Giants would not screenshot or tweet about brands advertising next to news as long as they are not funding bigotry, hate or bad actors. There are also more specific details in Nandini’s Branded newsletter (free subscription), it’s worth reading and sharing.
- the privacy-focused Brave Browser now has 12.2MM Monthly Active Users (MAUs) and 4MM Daily Active Users (DAUs). The company plans to regularly share usage and other numbers on the Brave transparency report page.
TRAINING
- twitter has released updated training called Flight School, available only to agencies, email me if you are interested.
Stay indoors, stay safe, and stay well.
Joshua
PS. A few distractions for you, first, it’s good to know bears are helping keep us safe. Cards Against Humanity has published a free, family-friendly card game that you can download and print at home. Enjoy, play nice, and as the instructions say, “Wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds before playing”.