A new feature on Snapchat makes 6-second advertisements unskippable. They're real, they're here, and they're not going away any time soon. As such, it's time to discuss once again how to delete an app - namely Snapchat. It's actually pretty easy when it comes down to it. If you just want to get rid of notifications, we've got a guide for that too.
Google has announced new election advertisement policies rolling out this week. The change follows the company's promise last year to help make political ads more transparent. Initially, Google says it will require extra verification from the buyer when they attempt to buy an election ad in the US, among other things. That's just the start, though, as the company plans to launch additional transparency efforts this summer.
A new leak on how Facebook uses AI to predict users most susceptible to advertising has thrown trust in the social network back into the spotlight. The company has not been shy in discussing its work on artificial intelligence, which it uses in numerous ways to filter what it believes its users will be most interested in - and will keep them coming back for more.
Earlier this month, Twitter announced its plans to begin cracking down on cryptocurrency spam accounts. If you're a regular Twitter user, you've likely encountered them before: accounts that exist for no other reason than to part gullible people from their cryptocurrency. As it turns out, that isn't the only thing Twitter is going to do to cut back on the amount of cryptocurrency spam on its platform, as it will soon be restricting certain ads as well.
Facebook's call records, SMS, and contacts collecting are the headline of the day - but that's old news to you. You knew a long time ago that Facebook was harvesting your data, and you don't care. What would anyone want with your info anyway? You're just an everyday average person, after all, surely there's no reason to worry that Facebook workers would take the time to read your boring old communications and contact list, right?
Unless you've been living under a rock, then you likely know that it hasn't been a good week for Facebook. Thanks to Cambridge Analytica's misuse of social media data belonging to tens of millions of Facebook users, the company now finds itself at the center of a scandal that just won't go away. In addition to an ongoing social media campaign urging people to delete their accounts, other companies have started calling out Facebook, such as Mozilla, SpaceX, and now Sonos.
Mozilla just called out Facebook, saying it believes there are still issues with the social network's default privacy settings. Due to these concerns, Mozilla has chosen to "pause" its advertising on Facebook, giving the company a chance to earn back its business by taking "stronger action in how it shares customer data, specifically strengthening its default privacy settings for third party apps."
This week the folks at Google AdWords revealed their next steps for mobile apps - particularly inside games. They've revealed their first beta for video ads, "a new way to reach players on Google Play with sight, sound, and motion." These ads will appear to users in the Google Play app store as users scroll through, searching for apps of all sorts - and they'll be targeted.
This week Google announced they'd be banning all cryptocurrency and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) advertisements. This is Google Ads, a system within Google much like Facebook's similar advertisement sales system. Facebook banned cryptocurrency advertisement buys in January of 2018. This block came as part of Google's annual "Bad Ads" report and included several other sorts of advertisements that'll be banned in the near future.
Before iPhone X had a display notch, Essential Phone did it. Here's why Android phone manufacturer's didn't copy that notch until Apple's big reveal: Advertising. Apple spends millions on video spots and hype in all forms to sell as many iPhones as possible. When Apple sends an image of a new smartphone design to the eyes and minds of billions of people around the world, when you're a smalltime phone manufacturer there's only one logical thing to do: Copy Apple.
Google has just recently implemented a rather hard-handed change in its Chrome web browser that would effectively remove many of the most annoying ads on the Web. Some hail it as a huge step forward in ad control, others bemoan Google’s self-serving interests on the matter. Whichever side you’re on, the controversy around it, plus Google’s industry clout, could very well be the straw that breaks the Web ads camel’s back. Because at the end of the day, neither users nor publishers are happy with today's ads.
As the US continues to uncover the effects of Russian manipulation on its elections, Facebook has found itself desperately trying to fix its platform to eliminate interference and regain trust. Now the social media company has come up with one solution to improve its advertising during the US elections to come: physically mailing verification postcards.