F ight The Duo, Day of Action and Ads In Messenger
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.
Here’s Why Newspapers Are Banding Together To Fight Google And Facebook
By CALE GUTHRIE WEISSMAN from Fast Company
- “When it comes to the digital advertising market, the word “duopoly” has become the dominant descriptor for Google and Facebook, something neither company seems to dispute. Though estimates differ, the two online platforms receive the lion’s share of money spent on digital advertising—and that share keeps getting bigger.”
- “But a new effort is under way to help level the playing field. Led by the News Media Alliance, a trade group representing the newspaper industry, media companies are coming together to try and collectively bargain with the two digital media platform giants.”
- “Still, you have to wonder if it’s all too little, too late. Five years ago, Facebook was a new and interesting prospect for publishers. Had they put their foot down then, perhaps things would be different now.”
Net Neutrality Day of Action spurs millions to speak out for online freedoms
By Devin Coldewey From Tech Crunch
- “It would be quite difficult to use the web at all yesterday without running into at least a handful of pop-ups, site takeovers and funny messages all aimed at getting people to make their voices heard on the net neutrality debate.”
- “The broad exposure and ease of access to feedback mechanisms (some sites let you call your representative with a keypress, others submitted comments to the FCC on your behalf) made for a pretty tremendous volume of reactions.”
- “The battle is far from won, of course, and as FCC representatives have said, the Commission isn’t a democracy and its members have no obligation to accommodate public demand — however overwhelming.”
Facebook says all advertisers can soon buy ads inside Messenger
By KURT WAGNER From Recode
- “Facebook is expanding the list of marketers that can buy ads inside Messenger, the company’s standalone messaging app.”
- “Messenger ads look similar to the kinds of direct-response ads that users already see in News Feed. They also use the same targeting — which means the company does not use people’s private messages to target them with advertising,”
- “Part of Facebook’s motivation is that the company is running out of places to put ads in its flagship Facebook app, so it’s looking for alternative ad inventory to keep up its steady growth. Messenger has 1.2 billion monthly users worldwide, so putting ads inside the app has potential to provide some legitimate revenue.”
Nick Cotton is a project manager based out of Los Angeles, California. He’s got a background in the entertainment industry, and uses his talent at online messaging to extol the virtues of content marketing, interactive fiction and sentences measuring 280 characters or less.
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