Meta Cuts 13 Percent of Workforce, Eliminating 11,000 Jobs

Meta Platforms on Wednesday began layoffs that will affect 11,000 workers — approximately 13 percent of the company’s workforce of 87,000. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the staff via video that “I take full responsibility for this decision,” describing it as “one of the hardest calls I’ve had to make in the 18 years I’ve run the company.” This is the first time mass layoffs have been implemented there. Zuckerberg was described as “downcast” as he discussed the news, saying overly optimistic growth projections led to overstaffing. Continue reading Meta Cuts 13 Percent of Workforce, Eliminating 11,000 Jobs

Google to Shutter Stadia Game Streaming Service in January

Google is shutting down its Stadia video-game streaming service in what many say is a response to leaner times. The cloud-based subscription service is going dark January 18, three years after it launched. It delivers games directly to compatible smart TVs, computers and Android phones, and is accessible to incompatible devices, such as iOS, via web browsers. While Stadia “was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down,” Stadia VP and general manager Phil Harrison wrote in a blog post. Continue reading Google to Shutter Stadia Game Streaming Service in January

Technology Firms Offer Users More Control Over Advertising

Tech companies are giving consumers more control over the type of advertising they see online, a feature that customers frequently request. Meta Platforms, Mozilla, Google and the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) have been actively exploring ad-blocking options. Now ByteDance’s TikTok and others are joining in. While the increased control may make some consumers happy, the effect it will have on Big Tech’s already ailing ad sector is as yet undetermined. While the various techniques let consumers limit exposure to ads, proponents argue the ultimate effect will be positive, ensuring ads are served to an interested audience. Continue reading Technology Firms Offer Users More Control Over Advertising

Video-Game Advertising Projected to Top $14 Billion by 2028

Video games as an advertising medium is still relatively niche, but a migration to streaming has paved the way for what observers predict will be explosive growth. Ad Age recently identified gaming as “the next huge advertising channel.” Fast Company posits U.S. in-game advertising, or IGA, is currently between $6-$8 billion, which is less than 6 percent of U.S. digital advertising. Analytics firm Research Dive predicts in-game advertising will grow to $14 billion worldwide by 2028. Fast Company says here are nearly 3 billion global players — one in four people — and growing by 15 percent a year. Continue reading Video-Game Advertising Projected to Top $14 Billion by 2028

Lyft Media Aims to Expand Multi-Platform Digital Ad Presence

Lyft Media is the new business unit under which the ride hailing company is consolidating its advertising sales activities. More than two years since Lyft acquired Halo Cars Inc., manufacturer of car-top digital monitors, it is renewing its focus on generating ad revenue. In-car tablets that show advertisements in addition to letting riders track routes, control music and tip and rate their drivers are being testing in Los Angeles and by year’s end will be in 25 percent of Lyft vehicles there and in Washington D.C., Chicago and San Francisco. Continue reading Lyft Media Aims to Expand Multi-Platform Digital Ad Presence

How the DOJ Antitrust Publishing Lawsuit Relates to Amazon

The nation’s largest publisher, Penguin Random House, was in federal court this week to defend itself against the Justice Department, which filed an antitrust lawsuit to block its acquisition of Simon & Schuster. The DOJ has been increasingly focused on antitrust and is hiring more trial lawyers in preparation for an action against Alphabet’s Google for its dominance in search and digital advertising. Although ostensibly on trial for threatening to shrink the number of American mass-market publishers from five to four, the Penguin suit also involves examination of the retail power of Amazon. Continue reading How the DOJ Antitrust Publishing Lawsuit Relates to Amazon

Profits Down as FTC Sues Meta to Block Purchase of Within

Meta Platforms’ revenue dropped 1 percent in the second quarter, totaling $28.8 billion, just missing Wall Street’s expectation. It was the first year-over-year revenue drop since the company went public 10 years ago. Meta logged $6.69 billion in Q2 profit, down 36 percent over the same period in 2021. Costs increased by 22 percent, largely due to ongoing heavy investment in the metaverse, where the company’s ambitions took a hit Wednesday when the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit to prevent Meta from buying Los Angeles-based virtual reality firm Within. Continue reading Profits Down as FTC Sues Meta to Block Purchase of Within

Meta Platforms Will Adjust Ad Tech per Agreement with DOJ

Meta Platforms has agreed to change its advertising technology and pay a $115,054 fine to settle a Justice Department claim of race and gender discrimination by the algorithm used to display its housing ads. “Meta will — for the first time — change its ad delivery system to address algorithmic discrimination,” U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a statement. “But if Meta fails to demonstrate that it has sufficiently changed its delivery system to guard against algorithmic bias, this office will proceed with the litigation.” Continue reading Meta Platforms Will Adjust Ad Tech per Agreement with DOJ

European Union Creates Code of Practice on Disinformation

The European Union unveiled a new code of practice for disinformation, a glimpse at the regulation Big Tech companies will be dealing with under upcoming digital content laws. Meta Platforms, Twitter, TikTok and Google have agreed to the new rules, which update voluntary guidelines. The revised standards direct social media companies to avoid advertising adjacent to intentionally false or misleading content. EU policymakers have said they will make parts of the new code mandatory under the Digital Services Act. Platforms agreeing to comply with the new rules must submit implementation reports by early 2023. Continue reading European Union Creates Code of Practice on Disinformation

Direct-to-Consumer Marketers Seek Social Media Alternatives

Direct-to-consumer startups that previously relied mainly on Facebook and Instagram to reach customers continue to adapt strategies more than a year after Apple’s privacy policy revisions forced massive change on the digital advertising sector. Brands that were marketing before Apple’s privacy changes took effect last year had an opportunity to build customer bases using the uniquely specific targeting opportunities once offered by social media. Newer entities, however, are struggling to get a toehold as they search for comparable tools, looking well beyond the traditional social platforms. Continue reading Direct-to-Consumer Marketers Seek Social Media Alternatives

Dire Snap Forecast Dampens Social Media, Digital Ad Sectors

Snap’s investor warning of slow growth ahead has sent shivers through the social media sector, the digital advertising industry, and Wall Street. Though the general messaging that supply chain issues coupled with the war in Ukraine is bad for business is not exactly news, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel’s message that “the macro environment has deteriorated further and faster than we anticipated when we issued our quarterly guidance last month” hit a nerve. Snap lost 43 percent of its market cap on Tuesday, with the social media sector showing signs of drag and analysts forecasting trouble ahead for ad-supported media. Continue reading Dire Snap Forecast Dampens Social Media, Digital Ad Sectors

TikTok ‘Pulse’ Pairs Advertising with Top-Performing Videos

Social video platform TikTok has unveiled a new advertising solution that allows brands to place their messages next to the top content in TikTok’s For You feed. The contextual ad solution, TikTok Pulse, is the first to allow TikTok creators a chance to share ad revenue. The program initially makes publishers, public figures and creators with 100,000 or more followers whose videos are in the top 4 percent eligible for a 50/50 ad revenue split. Pulse launches in the U.S. in June, with plans to roll out to additional markets in the fall. Continue reading TikTok ‘Pulse’ Pairs Advertising with Top-Performing Videos

Netflix Considers Advertising Model as Subscribers Dip in Q1

Netflix has confirmed it is considering an ad-supported tier. The news follows speculation at SXSW, and coincides with a quarterly subscriber loss, the company’s first in more than a decade. As a result, “revenue growth has slowed considerably,” reads its Q1 shareholder letter, attributing the lag to “relatively high household penetration” that includes a “large number of households sharing accounts.” Combined with a COVID-induced streaming bubble followed by exploding competition and costs, the landscape has changed, and Netflix is contemplating how to change with it. Continue reading Netflix Considers Advertising Model as Subscribers Dip in Q1

40 Blue-Chip Media Partners Join Snapchat to Stream News

Snapchat’s new feature, Dynamic Stories, uses RSS feeds from 40 media partners to automatically generate Stories that will appear in its Discover section. Early partners include Axios, Bloomberg, CNN, Condé Nast, ESPN, The Wall Street Journal and Vice. Publishers are already seeing results, Snapchat reports, with The Washington Post reaching more than 1.1 million Snapchatters with coverage of the war in Ukraine. Using RSS automation, Snap is lowering the barrier to entry for legitimate news publishers by eliminating the need for manual updates. After their initial appearance the Stories will update in real time. Continue reading 40 Blue-Chip Media Partners Join Snapchat to Stream News

Latest Privacy Moves Do Not Prevent Consumer Ad Tracking

In April, Apple gave consumers the option to turn off ad tracking on iPhones, and this month Google began revealing plans to replace traditional cookie tracking with what it says will be a less intrusive measure. Experts say, however, these changes don’t actually safeguard data privacy. Rather, companies are taking a new approach that consolidates data power among fewer gatekeepers, a change some say may be for the worse. The new method, known as “first-party” tracking, prevents accruing a tracking history from app to app, but lets specific sites gather info with consumer permission. Continue reading Latest Privacy Moves Do Not Prevent Consumer Ad Tracking