POV

Background: Amazon has announced that they are in the throes of streamlining their advertising vehicles to enable marketers to purchase campaigns from the same place, whether it’s a retailer selling their products directly on the site, or directly to its…

Background: Facebook has launched a new feature on Instagram and Facebook that allows users to monitor how much time they spend on both social media platforms, allowing them to set personal limits and restrictions. Details and Implications: Users are now able to…

Background: Google exited China in 2010 because it said it no longer wanted to offer a censored experience on Google.cn (Forbes says it was also because Google was behind Baidu in the market, with only a 31% market share compared…

The crowds at San Diego Comic-Con are claustrophobic, sweaty, and contagiously happy.  This year’s convention was no exception. The throngs of caped fans and sword girded cosplayers swarmed the humid convention center and Gaslamp district. Although the high humidity…

Background: Amazon held its fourth annual Prime Day on July 16th. A holiday created for its loyal Prime customer base (now 100 million and counting) enticing them with over 1 million deals, including hefty discounts on Amazon’s own Echo,…

Background: Three FAAMG companies and Twitter reported earnings this week – it was a mixed bag of results. Details and Implications: Amazon: Q2 revenue failed to meet expectations, posting $52.9bn vs an expected $53.41bn. But, net income rose to $2.5bn for the quarter…

Background: Google hosted its annual global marketing event Google Marketing Live in San Jose last week. This year Google merged the Marketing Next annual event with the Google Partner Summit to create the event – bringing together leading digital marketers from around the world for two…

For a kid who grew up in a country that celebrated soccer like no other sport, the FIFA World Cup excites me more than any other live event. The month-long tournament has such a rich history branching into politics,…

Background: Earlier this week a self-described “technology leaker” tipped off TechCrunch to the discovery of Amazon logo image files in the coding of Snapchat app. Digging a little deeper, the code suggests an evolving integration between the two companies in the form…

Background: Prime Day returns on Monday, July 16th for its fourth year, promising to be the largest grossing to date – having experienced an average growth rate (CAGR) of 60% from 2015-17. Details and Implications: For those who already have Prime Membership…

There’s no stopping voice technology. eMarketer forecasts that 57 million US adults will use a smart speaker at least once a month this year, such as Amazon’s Echo or Google Home. This figure that rises to 91 million when…

Background: Reports indicate that Snapchat is expanding and launching a new gaming platform in efforts to further enhance revenue streams and lengthen in-app usage and engagement. There is no official announcement but the offering is expected to launch later this…