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☆ A TikToker said he won an award for being the first to Google an obscure phrase. The elaborate hoax reached millions and sparked a copycat trend.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Andrew Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A TikToker went viral after he claimed to win an award from Google after searching a unique phrase. The next day, Justin shared a follow-up video that was viewed 3 million times, with the on-screen caption "I got another!!" Not everyone believed Justin, but his videos sparked a trend regardlessCombined, the videos received over 2,500 comments, many of which speculated whether the award was authentic. Soon after, multiple TikTok users started documenting their attempts to win an award from Google for a unique search. A spokesperson for Google confirmed to Insider the award "does not currently exist" and said 15% of the searches they see every day are new.

☆ 12 ways to save on groceries during inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Jamie Johnson | Jamie Johnson Is A Kansas City-Based Personal Finance Writer Whose Work Has Been Featured On Several Of The Top Finance | Business Sites In The Country | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

12 ways to save money on groceriesGroceries are an unavoidable purchase, but by shopping strategically, you can avoid paying full price at the store. You can also use loyalty programs to save money at your favorite stores. Retailers like Walmart, Target, and Kroger all offer membership programs where you can earn free delivery for groceries, save money on gas, and learn about in-store promotions. Buying in bulkYou can save on groceries during inflation by buying household products in bulk at warehouse stores like Costco and Sam's Club. Get organized and plan aheadOne of the best ways to avoid overspending is to go to the grocery store with a plan.

Jan 18 (Reuters) - A New York state Senate panel on Wednesday rejected Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul's nominee to become the state's chief judge after some lawmakers and advocacy groups expressed concerns he was too conservative for the job. The Democrat-led Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-2 against sending the nomination of Hector LaSalle, the presiding justice of a Brooklyn-based state appeals court, to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. If confirmed, LaSalle would be New York's first Latino chief judge. New York's chief judge heads the seven-member Court of Appeals, which has the final say in interpreting state laws, and oversees the state court system. While Democrats have a strong hold on state government, the Court of Appeals has leaned conservative since former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore joined in 2016.

☆ Qantas plane lands safely after mayday call over Pacific
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

A Qantas flight traveling from New Zealand to Sydney landed safely on a single engine after it issued a mayday call over the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday. Qantas Flight 144 with 145 passengers aboard landed at Sydney Airport from Auckland, New Zealand, after a 3.5-hour flight between the neighboring nations’ most populous cities. Passengers told reporters in Sydney that they were told when they left the plane that an engine had failed. Sydney Airport said emergency crews were put on standby as a precaution, including firefighters, ambulances and police. Neil Hanford, chairman of Strategic Aviation Solutions, a Sydney-based industry consultancy, said 737s can fly quickly and land safely on a single engine.

☆ Canada's Rogers, Shaw say merger must be allowed to proceed
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Canada's antitrust tribunal approved the transaction on Dec. 30 that would create the country's second-largest telecom firm but the competition bureau later appealed the tribunal's ruling. Shaw called the appeal an "unmeritorious challenge" by the competition bureau to do a "once-in-a-generation" transaction in a separate court document filed later on Tuesday. The companies will face off against the competition bureau in a Federal Court of Appeal hearing on Jan. 24. "This pro-competitive transaction has been delayed long enough and must be allowed to proceed," Rogers said in its filing. Shares of Shaw closed up 0.4% at C$38.28, below Rogers' offer price of C$40.50 from March 2021.

☆ Retail advertising will make $45 billion this year — here are 3 ways companies like Nordstrom and Albertsons are looking to cash in
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Many big retailers are building ad businesses this, which Insider Intelligence predicts will be a $45 billion opportunity in the US this year. Leaders from Albertsons and Nordstrom spoke during the panel about how they plan to grab that money. But retailers also need to grow their advertising businesses beyond those companies to so-called non endemic advertisers, like automakers and insurance companies. Argyilan said Albertsons is also working on a tool to help advertisers plug Albertsons' measurement into their broader measurement efforts. "I think measurement needs to grow up quite a bit in retail media space," she said.

☆ See 32 pitch decks that some of the hottest proptech startups used to raise millions from top VCs like SoftBank and a16z
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Alex Nicoll | James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

VC investment fell by 38% in 2022, but the technological transformation of real estate continues. investment fell by 38% in 2022, but the technological transformation real estate continues. Early innovators like Zillow showed that there was a place for real estate on the internet, while investments from firms like SoftBank showed that big money was paying attention. Insider has collected 32 pitch decks that successful firms have used to raise funding from VCs and private-equity firms. Clockwork AnalyticsThe pandemic laid bare the necessity of a technological transformation of commercial real estate.

☆ New Biden Law Won’t Kill Drug Cures. It Will Reshape Them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( David Wainer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Big pharma loves to bemoan the impact on future drug research when lawmakers get tougher on the industry. The truth is usually a lot more complicated. In a 2021 study, for instance, three academics including Massachusetts Institute of Technology finance professor Andrew Lo looked at what happened to innovation when drug companies were no longer able to resort to one of their favorite tactics: paying generic makers to stay off the market, known as “pay-for-delay.” A 2013 Supreme Court ruling had essentially barred such agreements. What the researchers found was that companies actually responded by increasing their research and development spending to find new drugs.

☆ The best social-media moments and trends last year, according to rising stars of the creator economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

We asked 22 rising stars in the creator economy what their favorite social-media moment was in 2022. As part of Insider's inaugural list highlighting the next generation of leaders in the influencer space, we asked individuals what their favorite social-media moment was in 2022. These rising stars have spent the past year making tangible change through their work on products, content, or initiatives at startups or social-media giants. (Read our full list of 22 rising stars of the creator economy.) Read the full list of rising stars for more favorite moments and details about their careers:

☆ 17 Gifts for the Ultimate New Year’s Eve Host
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Sarah Medford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo: Clockwise from top left: Courtesy of Ralph Lauren, Courtesy of Carolina Herrera, Jonas Marquet, Andrew Lipovsky, Courtesy of Silvia Furmanovich, Courtesy of Abask, Courtesy of Carolina Irving & Daughters, Alfredo Paredes Studio, Courtesy of MatoukIn the PinkWhat to give the seen-it-all host? Something handmade, like this ceramic platter shaped and painted in Portugal by craftspeople who collaborate with Carolina Irving & Daughters. Gigi Pink Oval Platter by Carolina Irving & Daughters, $295. Period PieceFor the host who can’t stop channeling the ’60s, send a vintage Italian decanter dressed in a silverplate turtleneck. 1960s Italian Decanter, $1,235.

☆ Amazon bulked up its advertising behemoth in 2022 — and its becoming an even bigger threat to Meta
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Amazon's digital ad business is only behind Google's and Meta's — and it's already stolen budget from Meta. Today, that advertising business is no longer simply a way to drive product sales on Amazon. Amazon's ad business, which generated $9.5 billion during the third quarter of 2022, dwarfed Microsoft and Snap and ranked third behind Google and Facebook parent, Meta. There are now nearly 600 advertising partners in Amazon's advertising ecosystem, according to Amazon's directory of companies in the space. As part of its ambitions to grow advertising, Amazon also pitches a data clean room called Amazon Marketing Cloud.

☆ CEOs who resist America's growing union wave are making a 'huge mistake' in the war for talent
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

America's unionization wave doesn't show signs of dissipating, and CEOs would be better suited adjusting their leadership style to meet it, especially as the war for talent continues. "Taking it very personally, and making it very personal, has been a huge mistake that employers have made," Bronfenbrenner told Insider. It's a measure that workers want things that employers can't give them and only a union can give them." "When more workers have unions, wages rise for union and non-union workers," Janelle Jones, the chief economist at the Department of Labor, wrote on the department's website. "But there are other measures — if you have a union, you'll have lower turnover, workers will be more productive.

watch nowAfter more than three decades, "The Phantom of the Opera" is getting ready to hang up its mask on Broadway. Casting director Tara Rubin has helped hand-pick the actors for the beloved musical for more than three decades — working just down the street from the Majestic. "Phantom of the Opera" Casting Director Tara Rubin CNBC"I never really dreamed that I would have a job like this," Rubin told CNBC. Rubin is just one of 20 "lifers" who have worked on the show for more than three decades. "Phantom of the Opera" Head Electrician Alan Lampel CNBCThe one-ton chandelier is the centerpiece of the show.

☆ Starbucks and Amazon's PR nightmare is coming true as one of their combined stores pushes to unionize
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Alex Bitter | Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

About 30 Starbucks employees at the New York store will participate in the vote, Bloomberg reported. One of the Starbucks Amazon Go stores is considering unionizing this week. Roughly 30 Starbucks employees at the Times Square location will decide on December 15 whether to join Starbucks Workers United. The workers were protesting "short staffing and the company's failure to bargain with union stores," Starbucks Workers United said in a press release. A Starbucks Amazon Go cafe StarbucksBoth Amazon and Starbucks have cultivated reputations as progressive employers and pushed back against unionsBoth companies have painted themselves as forward-thinking on worker treatment and benefits.

☆ Turkey is stopping oil not under Russian sanctions, raising global energy market supply concerns
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Cargo ships and vessels transit the Bosphorus Strait, a body of water connecting the Black Sea to the Marmara and Mediterranean Seas through Istanbul, Turkey. Above, the Russia-flagged vessel Volga River Taganrog oil tanker passes south through the Bosphorus Straits in October 2022. "It appears that all but one of the roughly twenty loaded crude tankers waiting to cross the straits are carrying Kazakh-origin oil," a price cap official told CNBC. If delays mount, refiners will seek alternative supplies from other countries or they will reduce operating capacity because they don't have enough oil, which impacts the supply of gasoline and diesel, said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "If this continues for another week we will begin to see an impact on the oil market," Lipow said.

☆ Florida deputy killed after officer roommate 'jokingly' fires gun he thought was unloaded, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A 23-year-old Florida sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot by his fellow deputy roommate over the weekend, in what the sheriff described as a “clearly dumb and avoidable accident.”Brevard County Sheriff’s Office deputy Austin Walsh was killed Saturday morning in Palm Bay by his roommate Andrew Lawson, Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a Sunday news conference. A single bullet was fired, struck Walsh, and killed him, officials said. Brevard County Sheriff's OfficeLawson immediately called 911 saying he accidentally shot his roommate and needed help, Ivey said. NBC News has reached out to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for comment. Walsh had served with the agency since he was 18 and was part of its Explorers youth program before that, according to the Brevard County Sheriff's Office Facebook page.

Broadway actor Quentin Lee passed away from colon cancer on Tuesday morning. Lee is most known for his portrayal of the phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. "The Phantom family is saddened to hear of the passing of Quentin Oliver Lee," the broadway production captioned a picture of Lee on Instagram. Lee announced that he had stage 4 colon cancer on his Instagram account in June. In addition to his wife, Lee is survived by his daughter, Samantha.

☆ 'The Phantom of the Opera' extends Broadway run due to demand
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Marianne Garvey | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

The Broadway musical “The Phantom of the Opera” announced in September that it would be closing in February because of declining ticket sales, but plans have changed. On Tuesday, the show’s producer, Cameron Mackintosh, announced the show will now run until April 16. An unexpected bolster in sales, as well as a busy Thanksgiving week, helped the longest-running show in Broadway history earn $2.2 million in sales last week, according to The New York Times. “We’ve sold out virtually everything that we have on sale.”The musical will celebrate its 35th anniversary in January. With music by famed composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, “Phantom” features a masked music lover who haunts the Paris Opera House.

☆ Criteo has bet big that e-commerce ads will contribute to $1 billion in revenue by 2025. But a new crop of startups are also coming for those dollars.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Adtech firm Criteo is battling for retailers' ad businesses with new competitors like CitrusAd. E-commerce advertising is driving much of Criteo's growth, with the firm hoping to hit $1 billion in revenue from retail media by 2025. Criteo's technology has moved beyond search ads to include display ads and ads that appear off the retailer's site. Not all retailers outsource their ad businesses, creating more competition with CriteoCriteo also faces competition from retailers themselves. Some retailers don't want Criteo or CitrusAd managing their ad businesses and license technology to build ad businesses that they manage themselves.

☆ How Cyber Monday surpassed Black Friday to become the biggest shopping event of the holiday season
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Cyber Monday is the biggest holiday-shopping day of the year by sales, outpacing even Black Friday. But the shopping holiday wouldn't have been what it is today without retailers eager to make it a success. That year, shop.org, NRF's online arm, issued a press release in November declaring: "'Cyber Monday' Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year." "This year, online retailers will be capitalizing on the increased traffic by offering special promotions and discounts." In five years, it had gone from obscurity to the highest-grossing shopping day of the holiday season.

☆ Only a handful of psychedelics companies have gotten funding from established biotech investors. Here's what they've done right, according to a top VC.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

RA Capital is one of the few mainstream biotech VCs wading into the psychedelics space. The number of companies touting the benefits of psychedelics for healthcare is rapidly growing, but not all biotech investors are on board yet. Last year RA Capital made two investments into the psychedelics spaceIn 2021, RA made its first investments into the psychedelics space by funding two startups: GH Research and Delix Therapeutics. Dublin, Ireland-based GH Research is one of the only psychedelics companies to have garnered a flurry of interest from mainstream healthcare investors including RA Capital, RTW Investments, and BVF Partners. Lusaris' treatment is designed to be taken sublingually — placed under the tongue — for treatment-resistant depression.

☆ 'The Walking Dead' series finale review: Episode 24 of the extended 11th season finally comes to an end, after biting off more than it could chew (SPOILERS)
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers about “The Walking Dead” series finale, “Rest in Peace,” which premiered November 20. CNN —Forgive AMC, at least a little bit, for almost drunkenly celebrating “The Walking Dead” in its heyday by feeding audiences as much content related to the zombie drama as they possibly could. In its early seasons, “The Walking Dead” excelled in part because of its unpredictability, as the montage of characters who had died reminded the audience. Those plans later morphed into a limited series, but the sense that “The Walking Dead” was no longer the priority in AMC’s “Dead” universe had been pretty well cemented. Television is always hungry for another hit, and at its height “The Walking Dead” was the TV equivalent of a supernova.

☆ Meet Prenuvo, a company that says its whole-body MRI scan can detect the earliest stages of disease. Experts say it could do more harm than good.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Sarah Braner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Prenuvo, a company offering preventive MRI scans, raised a $70 million Series A in October. Some say healthy people probably don't need whole-body scans, which can lead to risky procedures. On October 18, the company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, said it had raised a $70 million Series A to provide whole-body MRI scans to consumers. The website says the scans are performed by MRI technologists and analyzed by radiologists trained to read Prenuvo scans. PrenuvoWhole-body MRI scans aren't accessible for everyoneSafavi said whole-body MRI scans have been available for more than two decades for people curious about what might be in their bodies undetected.

Over recent years, NATO allies and Russia have scaled up military exercises in the region; Chinese and Russian warships conducted a joint exercise in the Bering Sea in September. Four Arctic experts say it would take the West at least 10 years to catch up with Russia's military in the region, if it chose to do so. "NATO is increasing its presence in the Arctic with more modern capabilities," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters. Now NATO and Arctic allies are changing their stance. Sweden and Finland have begun investing in surveillance and deterrence capabilities and military hardware including jets so their air forces can fight alongside Arctic NATO allies.

☆ How OneSchema, a Y Combinator-backed data-importing startup, raised $6.3 million from Sequoia and General Catalyst without a pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Here's how OneSchema raised $6.3 million from General Catalyst and Sequoia without a pitch deck. Luo's experience inspired him to start OneSchema alongside his cofounder, Christina Gilbert, to try to streamline the data-importing process for companies. The startup recently raised a $6.3 million seed round led by General Catalyst with participation from Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, Elad Gil, and Contrary Capital. Because of inbound investor interest, OneSchema was able to raise its seed round without a pitch deck, Gilbert told Insider. A decade ago, many might have argued that OneSchema's focus would someday become obsolete because of the development of automated methods to transfer data, Gilbert told Insider.

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