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☆ Meta's AI plans are costing way more than they thought
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The report said costs are expected to increase as the company invests "aggressively" in AI. Meta also cited higher infrastructure and legal costs as the factors behind the increase. AdvertisementMeta's first-quarter earnings report reveals the company's AI plans are costing more than anticipated. It's also coming from product development and legal costs. AdvertisementReality Labs is a division of Meta that focuses on human-computer products through virtual reality headsets and augmented reality glasses.

Persons: Meta, —, Meta's, It's, Max Willens, it's, Willens Organizations: Service, Meta, Reality Labs, Business, Companies

☆ LinkedIn betting it can take on TikTok and Instagram in influencer marketing
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Influencer marketing has become big business on TikTok and Instagram, where popular creators can make good money by helping brands promote their stuff. Its product, called Thought Leader ads, launched in a limited capacity last year. LinkedIn introduced Thought Leader ads last year but with limited use. By opening up Thought Leader ads, LinkedIn is letting anyone boost a post as long as the author grants permission. Social media marketer Brendan Gahan is so bullish on the format that he's focusing much of his efforts on helping companies use Thought Leader ads.

Persons: eMarketer, Max Willens, Dan Shapero, Ryan Roslansky, Brendan Gahan, Gahan Organizations: LinkedIn, Microsoft, eMarketer, Facebook, Mastercard, Social, Twitter Locations: TikTok, Singapore

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google’s digital advertising sales growth accelerated during the summer, advancing a recent revival that helped its corporate parent Alphabet Inc. to deliver a quarterly profit that exceeded analysts' projections. The third-quarter results released Tuesday for the July-September period included a 9% increase in Google’s ad sales from the same time last year. Those gains were the main reason Alphabet’s total revenue rose 11% from a year ago to $76.69 billion. The upturn was even better than the 7% year-over-year increase in revenue that Alphabet produced in the April-June period when it reversed an unprecedented drop in Google’s ad revenue after nearly 20 years of growth. “While the traction it has among AI startups may bear fruit in the long run, it is not currently helping Google Cloud enough to satisfy investors.”The Cloud letdown appeared to take the luster off the third-quarter report for many investors.

Persons: stoking, Sundar Pichai, ”, Max Willens, “ We’re, ” Pichai, Department’s Organizations: FRANCISCO, Inc, Google's, Microsoft, Google, U.S . Locations: , California, East, Ukraine

☆ Hollywood strikes to hit Warner Bros revenue for rest of the year
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Samrhitha A | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The exterior of the Warner Bros. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 5 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) is bracing for a hit to its full-year profit as the ongoing strike by Hollywood actors and writers shows no signs of let-up. The actors' strike has prompted movie studios to adjust film schedules in the absence of celebrities to hit red carpets or talk shows to help build buzz. Warner Bros Discovery had previously provided financial guidance for 2023 assuming the strikes would be resolved by early September. Warner Bros also said CEO David Zaslav would be participating in an investor conference on Sept. 6, and expects to discuss, among other topics, the impact of the ongoing strikes.

Persons: Alyssa Pointer, it's, Max Willens, Warner Bros, David Zaslav, Samrhitha, Jaspreet Singh, Krishna Chandra Organizations: Warner Bros . Discovery, Writers Guild of America, Alliance of Motion Pictures, Television Producers, REUTERS, Warner Bros Discovery, Hollywood, Warner Bros, Intelligence, AMC Entertainment, Warner, Thomson Locations: Warner Bros . Discovery Atlanta, Atlanta , Georgia, U.S, California, Bengaluru

Investors cheered the buyback plan, sending shares of the Google parent as much as 4% higher in after-hours trade before they pared gains to trade up 1.6%. Demand rose for cloud services and Google's ad sales held up better than expected. Alphabet reported a slight dip in first-quarter ad sales from a year earlier to $54.55 billion, which nonetheless beat analyst estimates of $53.71 billion. It was the third such decline for the company since it went public in 2004, but was the second in a row following a fourth-quarter ad sales drop of 3.6%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter ended March 31 stood at $69.79 billion compared with estimates of $68.95 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

Warner Bros. Pictures, film subsidiary of Warner Bros. "We're spending more money this year than we've ever spent historically," Warner Bros Chief Executive David Zaslav told a conference call. Warner Bros posted a third-quarter loss of $2.3 billion, or 95 cents a share, which includes $1.5 billion in pre-tax restructuring charges. Warner Bros Discovery, home to hit franchises such as "Batman" and "Euphoria," added 2.8 million new streaming subscribers in the third quarter, bringing its total to 94.9 million. A merger of HBO Max and Discovery+ will debut on an accelerated timetable, in spring of 2023.

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