Spotify is adding a new tool called Showcase that lets artists promote their work in the app’s homepage feed. Showcase “appears as a mobile banner at the top of Spotify’s Home — the most visited place on Spotify, where millions of listeners come to decide what to listen to, resulting in billions of streams each day,” the streamer says, adding that “people who see a Showcase are 6x more likely to stream the promoted release.” The banners will carry labels indicating a recommendation is sponsored. The company is also launching a marketing tool called Songwriter Promo Cards to assist with discovery. Continue reading Spotify Lets Artists Pay to Get Home Feed Recommendations

YouTube has added a dedicated podcasts homepage for U.S. users. The page — featuring both audio-only and video-recorded studio shows — went live for some users last month. It appears to be part of a grander scheme by the Google subsidiary to take on pod plays by Apple and Spotify, which it is already outperforming. Both added video podcasts in recent years. Studies say most U.S. podcast listeners get content from YouTube. Last week, NPR announced it is bringing its podcast catalog to YouTube, which is monetizing the podcasting shows with ads inserted by Google and others.  Continue reading YouTube Adds Dedicated Podcast Homepage, New Content

Google’s YouTube announced that its masthead — which appears at the top of its app and website — will no longer run ads related to alcohol, gambling, “prescription drug terms” or politics. Gambling includes sports betting and casino games, and politics references ads that endorse political candidates. According to Google, the move is aimed to “lead to a better experience for users.” The masthead is a very visible rectangle across the top of YouTube’s homepage and is usually the platform’s most expensive and desirable ad unit. Continue reading YouTube Bans Alcohol, Gambling, Politics from Masthead Ads

YouTube is awarding $25 million in grants, part of a $300 million Google News Initiative, to news organizations to help them expand their video operations. The company plans to identify “authoritative news sources” and bring their stories to the top of users’ feeds. Now begins the work to decide what constitutes authority in news journalism, in a society where many don’t trust the traditional news media at all. To that end, YouTube also debuted changes to its tools to recommend news-related videos. Continue reading YouTube Seeking Content From Authoritative News Sources

In an effort to increase the number of visitors to its site, Twitter has redesigned its homepage, allowing visitors to view content they would otherwise not have access to unless they were logged in. With about 200 million monthly visitors, Twitter wants to improve user engagement by adding a section to its homepage where users can view the most trending tweets or viral content as sorted into different categories such as “Business News,” or “TV Shows & Stars.” Continue reading Twitter Homepage Redesign Intends to Increase Visitor Count

In a blog post this week, Yahoo announced that its privacy policy will no longer recognize when users activate “Do Not Track” signals in their browsers. Although users purposefully use this setting to indicate they do not want companies to monitor their online behavior, the tracking is necessary for Yahoo to create a more personalized experience for its users. The move is part of larger strategy by CEO Marissa Mayer to brand Yahoo as a “personalization company.” Continue reading Yahoo No Longer Honoring ‘Do Not Track’ Requests by its Users

Yahoo and VEVO announced a new partnership to bring music videos, concerts, and other original music programming to video channel Yahoo Screen. The deal includes new financial incentives for Yahoo to promote VEVO videos, particularly on the Yahoo home page, mobile app, and Yahoo sites outside the U.S. It is all part of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s strategy to focus on video to keep visitors on the site longer. VEVO, meanwhile, hopes to break its dependency on YouTube. Continue reading New Deal with VEVO Will Bring Music Content to Yahoo Screen

Yahoo has redesigned its homepage with a greater focus on becoming “more intuitive and personal,” according to CEO Marissa Mayer. The redesign keeps Yahoo’s core of Mail, News, Finance and Sports on the left side of the screen, but has given the logos new looks. The homepage also eliminated its old links-in-boxes format and has replaced it with an infinite scroll format. Mayer hopes the changes will help return the brand to its place as an online leader. Continue reading Yahoo Streamlines Social Sharing with Homepage Redesign