DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ I left teaching and now make $450,000 in revenue a year covering up scars and stretch marks with tattoos. Here's how I built my lucrative business from scratch.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Natalie Rahhal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Laura Lara, a paramedical tattoo artist, who lives in El Paso, Texas. In 2022, I made $457,000 in revenue working full-time for myself in the paramedical tattoo industry. There's also pigment camouflage, which is done when the stretch marks are flat, white, and over a year old. Some people think paramedical tattooing is just for women, but stretch marks don't discriminate. Paramedical tattooists are changing people's lives and that's the best part of itThe paramedical tattoo industry is growing and evolving.

☆ Sydney Cricket Ground gates named after Tendulkar, Lara
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, April 24 (Reuters) - A set of gates at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) have been named in honour of Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara to mark the Indian's 50th birthday and the 30th anniversary of the West Indies batsman's innings of 277 at the ground. Cricket Australia said that visiting players would pass through the gates on their way to the pitch from the away dressing room in the Members Pavilion. Home players access the field via gates named after Australian great Don Bradman. "The Sydney Cricket Ground has been my favourite ground away from India," Tendulkar, who scored three centuries in five tests at the SCG and celebrated his birthday on Monday, said in a Cricket Australia news release. "I'm deeply honoured to be recognised at the Sydney Cricket Ground, as I'm sure Sachin is," said the 53-year-old Trinidadian.

Google's monolithic search ads business is starting to see real competitionMost of Google's ad revenue is driven by its ubiquitous search engine. But neither pose the threat to Google's search dominance that ChatGPT-powered Bing does today, according to an agency source. But ChatGPT-Bing has a bigger opportunity to grab budgets earmarked for Google search because it will change the entire way consumers search for information. But Amazon, which has a $31 billion ad business, and Walmart, which has a $2.7 billion ad business, grab roughly 80% of retail ad spend. Morgan Stanley recently estimated that adtech firms are poised to win $26 billion out of a $130 billion retail media market by 2025.

☆ 'DONE WITH FOX': Right-wing pundits, politicians, and influencers (and Glenn Greenwald) rage against Fox News after it parts ways with Tucker Carlson
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Nicholas Carlson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tucker Carlson and Fox News parted ways Monday. "I think that'll kill Fox," Glenn Beck said during his streaming show . "Wherever Tucker Carlson goes, America will follow!" Eric's brother Donald Trump Jr. was also upset:Starting midday Monday, the phrase "DONE WITH FOX" started to trend on Twitter. — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 24, 2023

☆ Western Weapons Supplies Fall Short of Ukraine’s Needs, Documents Show
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Lara Jakes | John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Western allies this week delivered some of the most powerful weapons that Ukraine says it will need for a looming counteroffensive against Russia: a Patriot air-defense system from Germany and the Netherlands. More 155-millimeter artillery from the United States. And on Friday, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III announced that Ukrainians would soon begin training, for the first time, on American M1 Abrams tanks — an important step to getting the sophisticated weapon to the battlefield. But the reinforcements still fall short of what even American military planners have assessed that Ukraine needs to make the most of an offensive expected to begin in coming weeks to retake more territory captured by the Russians. Classified military assessments dating to February and March, from leaked documents, show dire gaps in what allies had pledged to Ukraine and what, at least by then, had been delivered.

☆ Check out the pitch deck identity management startup Lockr used to raise $2.5 million in pre-seed funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Identity and email management company Lockr raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding this week. Check out the pitch deck that convinced investors like Mozilla Ventures to join the funding round. Lockr, a digital identity management startup, said this week it had raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding, investment it plans to use to grow its team, scale its userbase, and add more features to its consumer product. For publishers and marketers, the company provides Lockr Identity. Investors in Lockr's pre-seed funding round included Mozilla Ventures, Junction Venture Partners, and Grit Capital Partners, as well as individual investors.

The group represents a range of roles at adtech companies, publishers, retailers, and advertisers. They are helping the ad industry grab new opportunities, like retail media and streaming TV ads. Adtech companies are jockeying against each other to capture market share in streaming TV advertising, servicing the needs of content owners like Netflix, Warner Bros. They're also trying to strike gold in retail media, a relatively new category that could represent a $26 billion market for adtech companies, according to Morgan Stanley. We considered nearly 90 people from adtech companies, publishers, and advertisers.

☆ From 'Queer Eye' to gay ghost hunters, Scout Productions execs reveal how they built a reality TV powerhouse that's well armed for a Hollywood writers' strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Reality TV powerhouse Scout Productions is betting its time is now, with a Hollywood writers' strike looming. It's working with Kristen Stewart on a "super-gay ghost hunting" reality series, as the star touted it on Instagram. The company also revealed to Insider that it's developing an unscripted series with Janelle Monáe and her production company, Wondaland. It's also plotting a return to its scripted content roots. "They are very Scout shows in our storytelling process, but they're also shows that fit, that can be international, they can be domestic only.

☆ Google-parent stock drops on fears it could lose search market share to AI-powered rivals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Samantha Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Shares of Google-parent Alphabet fell more than 3% in early trading Monday after a report sparked concerns that its core search engine could lose market share to AI-powered rivals, including Microsoft’s Bing. In an effort to address the heightened competition, Google is said to be developing a new AI-powered search engine called Project “Magi,” according to the Times. Google’s search engine has dominated the market for two decades. That’s particularly true when it comes to search engines, a product that many use to find accurate and reliable information. “This is going to impact every product across every company and so that’s, that’s why I think it’s a very, very profound technology,” he said.

☆ Dominion’s case against Fox News goes to trial next week. Is the First Amendment really on the line?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

But even by the standards of the profession, the language in Dominion's $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News has been downright apocalyptic. A victory for Dominion against Fox, they say, could wreak havoc for other journalism organizations across the country. The sheer closeness between Trump and Fox News makes a case like this unlikely to harm journalism organizations down the line, Goodale said. The vast majority of defamation cases against media organizations are settled, which gives few high-profile precedents to the Dominion lawsuit. "And that's the balance that the Sullivan court strike tried to strike in 1964.

☆ Softbank-backed adtech firm Permutive announces further layoffs, which could affect up to 40% of staff
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Permutive told staffers this week it's preparing a round of layoffs that may affect up to 40% of staff. It follows an earlier round of layoffs in August last year, which reduced its then-headcount by 12%. Permutive said it wants to focus on profitability amid a challenging economic environment and drop in venture funding. UK-based adtech company Permutive this week announced a layoff that is expected to affect just under 80 staffers, or about 40% of its headcount, Insider has learned. UK employment laws stipulate employers laying off more than 20 staff must consult with employee representatives over redundancy plans.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter is using a Wikipedia list to help decide which news organizations are labeled 'government-funded media'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk says Twitter is relying on Wikipedia to help decide which news outlets to label "government-funded media." It recently labeled NPR "state-affiliated media," a move Musk later said might have been wrong, before changing it to "government-funded media." Elon Musk told as much to NPR reporter Bobby Allyn, and Twitter's Help Center page about government and state-affiliated media labels confirmed the policy. Twitter recently slapped a "state-affiliated media" label on NPR's Twitter account. Musk reportedly later admitted adding the "state-affiliated media" label to NPR's account might have been a mistake.

He had told Oxford Gold that he wanted to "get the lay of the land" ahead of picking up a $9 million order for 151 gold kilo bars. But most unusual was that Mancuso wanted to pick up the order from the Oxford Gold office, the source said. The next day, Mancuso contacted Oxford Gold about buying $9 million worth of gold, and the company agreed to sell him 151 gold kilo bars. But Oxford Gold was alerted on December 2 that this was a fraudulent transaction, said a source with direct knowledge. Unsure what to do, Oxford Gold contacted the Beverly Hills Police Department, and eventually got in touch with the FBI, this source said.

☆ Meta's layoffs are affecting customer service and leaving influencers and businesses on Instagram and Facebook in the lurch, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Meta's mass layoffs have affected over 20,000 employees, including its customer support teams. One Instagram influencer told CNBC that her requests for support are going "into the void." The layoffs, which saw thousands of employees leave the company, affected staff in Meta's client support and customer experience and communities teams, former staff told CNBC. The company declined to provide comment to CNBC but provided the outlet with examples of its investment in customer service in recent years. The company has started building a customer service division, Bloomberg reported last year.

☆ Trump praised his family in his post-arraignment speech, but didn't mention Melania, who was nowhere to be seen
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Neither Melania nor Ivanka Trump were seen during Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago speech Tuesday. Donald Jr, Eric and Tiffany Trump all showed up to hear the former president speak. While Donald Jr, Eric and Tiffany Trump and their partners were seen in the ballroom, his wife and eldest daughter were notably absent. During his speech, Trump singled out several family members for praise, including Ivanka — but notably didn't mention his absent wife, a transcript of the speech shows. Speaking about the "fantastic job" his "great family" have done, he indicated Donald Jr, Eric, Ivanka, and Barron Trump, per the paper.

Generative AI has exploded in popularity, and advertisers are figuring out how to use it. Insider profiled 15 ad execs leading generative AI projects for their own agencies and major brands. They're using AI tools to build creative assets quickly, kickstart ideas, and automate boring tasks. Generative AI has taken the world by storm, but many in the advertising industry were experimenting with it well before OpenAI's ChatGPT catapulted the technology into the zeitgeist last November. Insider has identified 15 ad industry experts who are leading the charge around generative AI by figuring out what it can and can't do, and teaching their colleagues and clients how to get the best results.

☆ Read the full 'Myth vs. Fact' document TikTok sent to advertisers after US lawmakers grilled its CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

TikTok sent advertisers a document titled 'Myth vs. TikTok is seeking to reassure advertisers over national security concerns raised by lawmakers. On Friday and over the weekend, TikTok emailed advertisers and their agencies a document entitled "Myth vs. Many TikTok advertisers have simply adopted a wait and see approach to the potential for a TikTok ban in the US, as The Wall Street Journal and other outlets have previously reported. Fact" document TikTok sent to advertisers below:Source-providedSource-providedSource-providedSource-provided

☆ WPP is nearing a deal to acquire influencer marketing specialist The Goat Agency
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

WPP is in late-stage talks to acquire UK-based influencer marketing agency The Goat Agency, sources said. Sources said the deal could value The Goat Agency between $121 million million and $425 million. The Goat Agency said last year it "was on a fast track" to reach $100 million in revenue. Advertising giant WPP is closing in on a deal to acquire the fast-growing influencer marketing specialist The Goat Agency, according to people familiar with the matter. Sky News in April reported that The Goat Agency had appointed financial advisory firm GP Bullhound to help explore its strategic options.

☆ A Spanish firm wants to kill one million octopuses a year using 'ice slurry' baths at first-ever factory farm
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A proposed commercial octopus farm is sparking outrage among experts and animal rights campaigners. The farm would slaughter roughly one million octopuses each year by submerging them in icy water. In a report released Thursday, the activist group said that Nueva Pescanova intends to slaughter around one million octopuses each year by submerging them in a freezing "ice slurry." In particular, it said, the slaughter of the octopuses "involves proper handling that avoids any pain or suffering to the animal." "To kill them with ice would be a slow death," Dr. Peter Tse, who studies octopus cognition at Dartmouth, told the BBC.

☆ Uber is making its biggest play yet for the $10 billion US out of home ad market
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Uber is rolling out a self-service platform for advertisers to access its cartop ad network. Uber is targeting $1 billion in ad revenue by 2024. The new ad platform currently offers advertisers access to around 3,500 cartops in seven markets in the US, including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. It also offers data on whether ad campaigns led to increased activity on the Uber Eats app. Uber also offers marketers ads on both the Uber and Uber Eats apps and within emails.

☆ Inside Microsoft's plan to use the new OpenAI-powered Bing to steal share from Google and net billions of dollars in ad revenue
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Microsoft has begun to showcase ad formats within the OpenAI-powered new Bing search engine. A slide from a Microsoft Advertising roadshow event held in Amsterdam in March. Dennis WesterbeekAdvertisers can't currently buy ads specifically on the new Bing chatbot; their current Bing ad campaigns will extend to the chatbot automatically, agency sources said. Dennis Westerbeek, a senior digital advertising marketer at digital ad agency Adwise, was excited when he saw the new search ads. Westerbeek, who attended a Microsoft Advertising roadshow in Amsterdam, said he was also impressed that the new Bing had reached 100 million daily active users.

☆ TikTok is about to crash Google and Microsoft's search ad wars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

TikTok search ads have been in beta testing for almost a year on an invite-only basis. One agency source predicts TikTok search ads will become more widely available by Q3. As Google and Microsoft duke it out over the future leadership of artificial intelligence-powered search, TikTok is quietly preparing a big search advertising play of its own. These moves, as well as recent TikTok job posts looking for search ads engineers to develop a "large-scale ads system," indicate a wider rollout of TikTok's search ad product. A TikTok spokesperson said the details it could share about TikTok search ads were limited during its initial testing phase.

☆ Shiffrin claims fifth overall World Cup title
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 4 (Reuters) - Mikaela Shiffrin secured her fifth overall women's World Cup title when she took fifth place in the downhill in Kvitfjell, Norway, on Saturday, but her wait for a record-equalling 86th World Cup win continues. Shiffrin, who won three consecutive overall World Cup titles from 2017-19 as well as one in 2022, is now one shy of the women's record held by Austrian Annemarie Moser-Proell, winner from 1971-75 and in 1979. Shiffrin is also one race win away from equalling Swedish men's slalom great Ingemar Stenmark's decades-old record of 86 World Cup victories. She broke the women's record of 82 World Cup wins in January. Home favourite Kajsa Vickhoff Lie won the race, becoming the first-ever Norwegian woman to win a World Cup downhill.

☆ One month after earthquake, survivors shelter in tents, rubble and trains
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Jeremy Schultz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Eftelya Arslan, 7, kisses her father Ahmet Arslan as he cares for his daughter Lara, 11, outside their tent in Orhanli tent city in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, in Antakya, Hatay province, Turkey. Ahmet Arslan lost his wife and two other...moreEftelya Arslan, 7, kisses her father Ahmet Arslan as he cares for his daughter Lara, 11, outside their tent in Orhanli tent city in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, in Antakya, Hatay province, Turkey. Ahmet Arslan lost his wife and two other children during the earthquake. His daughter Lara, who's physically and mentally impaired, is having a very difficult time coping. "This is no place for her, but if they take her away from us, she's going to be even worse off," Arslan says.

☆ Apple's advertising business is expanding into new areas this year such as TV. Here are 14 behind-the-scenes Apple executives building its advertising empire.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Right now its roughly $5 billion-in-revenue ads business largely consists of search ads sold within the App Store. We asked more than a dozen advertising industry insiders and former Apple advertising staffers to identify the most important executives building Apple's advertising business. Teresi's ascent coincides with the explosive growth of Apple's ad business in recent years. A former Yahoo and Quantcast staffer, Crawford first joined Apple in 2011 to work on global operations for iAd. Lauren Fry - Apple TV+ ad salesApple hired Fry, a TV and video ad sales veteran, in February this year, The Information reported.

Search resuls for: "LARA"

25 mentions found