By
Debra KaufmanFebruary 2, 2021
When Facebook launched Groups in 2019, it was intended to be, per chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, the “heart of the app.” This last August, however, its own data scientists warned about “blatant misinformation and calls to violence” in the site’s top “civic” Groups. Facebook was aware of the problems for years but accelerated plans to make actual changes after rioters broke into and vandalized the U.S. Capitol on January 6. The Groups in question, dedicated to politics, together reached “hundreds of millions of users.” Continue reading Facebook Plans Changes to Groups, Controls for Advertisers
By
Debra KaufmanJanuary 14, 2021
During a compelling CES 2021 presentation, MediaLink chair and chief executive Michael Kassan discussed how the past year has changed marketing with The SpringHill Company chief executive Maverick Carter, General Motors global chief marketing officer Deborah Wahl and Nike vice president of North America marketing Adrienne Lofton. “Staring through screens, you can lose connective tissue,” said Carter. “But we discovered you can still bring people together. Instead of jumping in the meeting, we had to talk about where we were at that day.” Continue reading CES: Brands Rethink Entertainment and Trends in Marketing
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Debra KaufmanJanuary 13, 2021
At a CES 2021 panel, Insider Inc. chief marketing officer Jenifer Berman described a surge of “consumers that put their purchasing power behind brands that represent their beliefs,” such as racial equity and sustainability. She noted that, with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, brands shifted their messaging so as not to appear tone deaf. Nissan U.S. vice president and chief marketing officer Allyson Witherspoon reported that her company, for the first time, wasn’t trying to sell cars but instead to how to support consumers. Continue reading CES: Consumers Follow Brands That Align with Their Beliefs
By
Debra KaufmanDecember 18, 2020
In the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, 10 state attorneys general charged Google with abusing its dominance by overcharging publishers for ads and elbowing out rivals. The lawsuit also contends that Google struck a deal with Facebook to limit the latter’s efforts to compete for ads. Google claimed the suit is “baseless” and said that it intends to fight it. Another group of states is expected to file a case against Google. This lawsuit is the first to focus on tools that connect buyers and publishers of ad space. Continue reading States Focus on Ad Tech in Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google
By
Phil LelyveldDecember 10, 2020
Fox Corporation joined USC students via Zoom for the fourth installment of ETC@USC’s Executive Coffee with… series. Sixteen graduate students from the Marshall School of Business and the Iovine and Young Academy, many preparing to work in entertainment, shared their views on the future of media with Michael Park, VP of digital marketing for Fox Corporation. The discussion topic for the October 14 session was “What is the future of streaming entertainment, TV consumption, marketing, advertising and revenue models?” Continue reading ETC Executive Coffee: A Discussion with Michael Park of Fox
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Debra KaufmanNovember 20, 2020
Google-owned YouTube is introducing 15-second audio ads on its video-sharing platform, the first such format aimed at those who listen to music or podcasts in the background. It is also enabling advertisers to make buys across “dynamic music lineups” such as Top 100 charts and collections of channels in genres like Latin or Country in addition to buys targeting moods or interests such as fitness or relaxation. But ads running on creators’ videos won’t generate a profit for them if they’re not big enough to be in YouTube’s Partner Program. Continue reading YouTube Intros Audio Ads, Targeting Based on Music Genres
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Debra KaufmanNovember 4, 2020
Google announced it has developed URL2Video, an AI-enabled system that automatically converts webpages into short videos by extracting text and images. The system also harvests design styles such as colors, fonts, graphics and layouts from HTML sources and organizes all the elements into a sequence of shots that looks and feels similar to the original webpage. Google is targeting businesses with websites for their products and services, enabling them to easily create marketing videos out of existing resources. Continue reading New AI-Based Google System Converts Webpages to Video
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Debra KaufmanNovember 4, 2020
Spotify is testing a new service that gives artists more power over how their music is discovered on its platform. First, it will allow artists and labels to identify the music that matters most to them, and Spotify will add a “signal” to help the music be found by its personalization algorithms. Spotify has created a model in which artists, labels and rights holders will be paid a “promotional recording royalty rate” for streams that it provides, although the service does not require an upfront budget for artists and labels. Continue reading Spotify Tests Service That Helps Artists Promote Their Music
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Debra KaufmanOctober 27, 2020
Facebook purchased WhatsApp for $22 billion in 2014 but has not yet earned revenue from it. The encrypted messaging service, free to its 2+ billion global users, now has a plan to monetize services. Rather than storing and handling customer data on their own, businesses will soon be able to do so via Facebook’s servers. In addition to hosting, businesses will also be offered options to market products through WhatsApp catalogs and Facebook shops and checkout carts, all for small fees. Continue reading Facebook’s WhatsApp Will Offer Business-Focused Services
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Debra KaufmanOctober 19, 2020
Although it didn’t reveal total Prime Day numbers, Amazon stated that small- and medium-size businesses in its marketplace earned $3.5+ billion during the event, a 60 percent increase from last year’s sales and a record for these vendors. It added that third-party sales on Prime Day grew more than Amazon’s own retail business. Prime Day was launched in 2015 and has become one of Amazon’s more crucial retail and marketing events. This year’s event was pushed from July to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue reading Amazon Notes Prime Day Was a Bonanza for Small Vendors
By
Debra KaufmanOctober 14, 2020
Google has plans to turn YouTube into a major marketplace and has already asked creators to tag and track products on their videos via YouTube software. Google will then link that data to shopping tools and analytics. According to sources, Google is also partnering with Shopify to test an integration for selling items on YouTube. A spokesperson, who confirmed the company is testing the features “with a limited number of video channels,” added that creators will maintain control over the products displayed. Continue reading Google Tests Making YouTube an E-Commerce Marketplace
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Debra KaufmanSeptember 11, 2020
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission sent Facebook a preliminary order to cease data transfers of its European Union users to the U.S., a move confirmed by Facebook vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg. In doing so, EU regulators have taken a major step to enact a July ruling forbidding such transfers. Facebook would have to partition the data it collects from European users or stop serving them altogether. Otherwise, Ireland’s commission can fine Facebook up to $2.8 billion, 4 percent of its annual revenue. Continue reading Ireland Orders Facebook to Stop Moving EU Data to the U.S.
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Debra KaufmanJuly 28, 2020
In the quarter ending June 30, Twitter’s number of daily users rose 12 percent from the previous quarter to 186 million, while revenue dropped 19 percent from a year earlier to $683 million. The former number surpassed the expectations of analysts polled by FactSet whereas the latter was below the predicted $702 million estimate. It adds up to a $1.23 billion loss, impacted by a reversal of a $1+ billion tax benefit in 2019. Twitter has not provided forecasts for revenue or operating income in its latest earnings report. Continue reading Twitter Reports Increase in Daily Users But a Drop in Revenue
By
Debra KaufmanJuly 24, 2020
Spotify inked a new multi-year global licensing deal with Universal Music Group after being out-of-contract for about a year. Under the terms of the agreement, Spotify has access to UMG’s catalog for streaming and UMG will be part of Spotify’s so-called two-sided marketplace, whereby it will pay for analytics, data and marketing. Spotify, under pressure to prove to investors that it can be more consistently profitable, spends most of its revenue on licensing deals with music publishers and record labels. Continue reading Spotify, Universal Music Join Forces with New Licensing Pact
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Debra KaufmanJune 22, 2020
YouTube has debuted ads that allow marketers to create a ‘Shop Now’ section below their ads so that users can browse and purchase products, listed with prices. Advertisers can put these interactive ads in areas that get high traffic, such as home pages. YouTube director of product management Nicky Rettke reported that, “70 percent of people say they bought a brand as a result of seeing it on our platform.” YouTube tested the Shop Now format with clothing brand Aerie, which saw a 25 percent higher return on its ad spend. Continue reading YouTube Unveils ‘Shop Now’ and ‘Video Action Campaigns’