Ever find yourself talking about something and then see an ad pop up on Facebook for it? Is Facebook listening to you through your phone's microphone. No, it just really feels like they are.
Why It Feels Like Facebook Is Listening Through Your Phone
Summary: Mic check: Facebook has gotten so good at offline and online tracking that the ads you see feel like it has tapped into your phone's microphone. Facebook uses a system of techniques to best suit ads to you, be it location based through your phone, pixels, or tying offline data from stores' loyalty cards to your online behavior.
Opinion: The level of ad tracking can get creepy. I figure if I am going to get ads, though, I may as well get ones that may actually serve me well. If you're not into that, you can go into Facebook settings, accounts settings, and turn off interest based ads. Similar on your iPhone, settings--> privacy--> advertising--> limit ad tracking.
Snap Releasing Version 2 of Spectacles
Summary: Snap announced it will be releasing a version 2 of its Spectacles due out in fall of this year. The new glasses will now feature two cameras with a price point of $300 (up from $130 for version 1). This is after a $40 million loss on the first version of Spectacles, with many glasses sitting unsold.
Opinion: When Snap changed its tagline to "a camera company," one would have expected better camera products. That has not been the case, and this seems like an instance of throwing good money after bad now.
Brands' Ads Unknowingly Ran on YouTube Channel InfoWars
Summary: InfoWars right-wing founder Alex Jones was reprimanded last week for claiming victims of the Florida shooting were actors. Now, CNN discovered brand ads from companies like Nike, ClassPass, FOX, Acer, and more were running on the channel without their knowledge.
Opinion: Keep your blacklist and whitelist channels up-to-date! Set a calendar reminder if you have to in order to protect your brand identity and integrity.
FOX Aims to Cut Ads to 2 Minutes Per Hour by 2020
Summary: FOX Network Group's ad sales chief announced a goal of reducing TV ad time to two minutes by 2020. In 2017, the average time was ~13 minutes on broadcast and 16 minutes on cable. FOX would likely have to charge a lot more for ads given the reduced inventory.
Opinion: This will price a lot of companies out of the market. For those that could afford it, I imagine the effectiveness of the ad and recall would increase given the limited time.
Facebook Signs Deal to Stream 25 MLB Games
Summary: Facebook announced exclusive rights to stream 25 afternoon games on Facebook.
Opinion: With broadcast TV on the decline, a shift to online viewing threatens offline revenues for traditional TV even more. The shift, however, is reflective of migrating consumer behaviors.
