M obile Majority, Musical.ly Apple and Hope for Net Neutrality
Here’s the news we’re talking about around the Zbra Studios water cooler. We’ve provided key bullet points from each article for the speed readers out there. For those looking to dig in, click on the links for the full story.
Mobile now accounts for the majority of digital ad spending, according to IAB
By Anthony Ha From Wired
- “Digital ad revenue grew to $72.5 billion in 2016, up 22 percent from the year before.”
- “for the first time, mobile ads accounted for more than half of that spending — $36.6 billion, which is 51 percent of the total. Video advertising grew to 53 percent to $9.1 billion, social media spending grew more than 50 percent to $16.3 billion and search grew 19 percent to nearly $35 billion.”
- “So even if investors remain skeptical about adtech, it looks like the advertisers themselves are still spending aggressively.”
Musical.ly syncs up with Apple Music
By PETER KAFKA From Recode
- “Musical.ly lets its users create and share their own music videos, using snippets of songs. Starting on Friday, Apple Music will be one of the services that supplies the songs.”
- “Connecting with Musical.ly gives Apple a new marketing venue: The app will promote Apple’s paid service to its own users, and will allow paying Apple Music subscribers to listen to full songs within the app.”
- “Last year, Musical.ly reportedly raised $100 million at a $500 million valuation, and said it had more than 100 million users.”
Why the FCC’s Plans to Gut Net Neutrality Just Might Fail
By KLINT FINLEY From Wired
- “To truly torpedo the requirements, Pai will have to make the case that he’s doing so for good reason. A 1946 law called the Administrative Procedures Act bans federal agencies making “capricious” decisions. The law is meant, in part, to keep regulations from yo-yoing back and forth every time a new party gained control of the White House.”
- “…the industry group US Telecom estimates that broadband investment dipped from about $77 billion in 2014 to $76 billion in 2015. But those numbers are in dispute. “
- “…the difference doesn’t amount to a significant change, presenting Pai with what would seem to be a challenge in arguing Title II reclassification was the real reason for a purported drop.”