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☆ Twitter's head of brand safety and ad quality to leave
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 2 (Reuters) - Twitter's head of brand safety and ad quality, A.J. Brown, has decided to leave the company, according to a source familiar with the matter on Friday, the second safety leader to depart in a matter of days. The latest departure adds to a growing challenge for new Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, even before she steps into the role. Musk's hiring of Yaccarino, former ad chief at Comcast's NBCUniversal, signaled that ad sales remained a priority for Twitter even as it works to grow subscription revenue. Twitter and Brown did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Persons: Brown, Linda Yaccarino, Ella Irwin, Elon Musk, Comcast's NBCUniversal, Tiyashi Datta, Sheila Dang, Maju Samuel, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Reuters, Wall Street, Tesla, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru, Dallas

Companies Tesla Inc FollowTwitter Inc FollowSAN FRANCISCO, May 16 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) boss Elon Musk, who has never used traditional advertising to sell cars, said on Tuesday that the automaker would try it and see whether it produced results. Musk said it was "ironic" that as CEO of Tesla, he now owns Twitter. The social media platform is highly dependent on ads and will soon be led by advertising veteran Linda Yaccarino, who he hired last week. Since Musk acquired Twitter in October, advertisers have fled the social media platform, worried that their ads could appear next to inappropriate content after the company lost nearly 80% of its staff. But on Tuesday, he said many people did not know about the affordability of Tesla cars and their "amazing" features and functionality.

Musk revealed those plans on Tuesday at the company's annual meeting, an about-face for the celebrity executive who recently acquired social media platform Twitter. Musk told CNBC he did not yet have a "fully formed strategy" for Tesla advertising. Tesla spent $151,947 on advertising in the U.S. in 2022, according to advertising intelligence firm Vivvix, which measured ads across places including TV, social media, Web banners and billboards. Diaz-Ortiz is a former Twitter manager who has written books about the social media company. Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Tesla shareholder Globalt Investments, sees Musk's embrace of advertising as a positive.

This year, advertisers and ad agencies may well use the strike as a bargaining tool, said Erin Firneno, vice president of business intelligence for researcher Advertiser Perceptions. The writers’ strike, which has entered its third week, is also injecting a new element of uncertainty for ad buyers, at a time when television viewership is declining and the possibility of recession looms. While the TV networks have long contended with splintered viewership amid the rise of social media and streaming, the writers' strike puts content production at risk, said Rishad Tobaccowala, a former executive at advertising and public relations giant Publicis Groupe and advisor on business transformation. Last year, NBC’s upfront presentation emphasized star power as the network returned to a live event after a COVID-19-imposed hiatus. Ahead of the upfront presentations, media executives sought to reassure investors about the strike’s impact.

May 12 (Reuters) - Elon Musk has named former NBCUniversal advertising chief Linda Yaccarino as Twitter's new CEO, as the company tries to reverse a plunge in ad revenue. "I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!" Last month, NBC parent Comcast said NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell was leaving after acknowledging an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, following a complaint that prompted an investigation. Musk, the CEO of electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), completed his purchase of Twitter in October for $44 billion. On Thursday, Musk tweeted that he had found a CEO without identifying Yaccarino.

[1/3] Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at the Google I/O 2023 conference, in Mountain View, California, U.S., May 10, 2023. Called the Search Generative Experience, the revamped Google can craft responses to open-ended queries while retaining its recognizable list of links to the Web. "We are reimagining all of our core products, including search," Sundar Pichai, Alphabet's CEO, said after he took the stage at the event. Generative AI can, using past data, create brand new content like fully formed text, images and software code. WHAT OUTFIT TO WEARWith the embedded AI, Google still looks and acts like its familiar empty search bar.

May 10 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google on Wednesday began unveiling more artificial intelligence in its products to answer the latest competition from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), which has threatened its perch atop the nearly $300 billion search advertising market. He said Google is integrating generative AI into search. For years the top portal to the internet, Google has found its position in question since rivals began exploiting generative AI as an alternative way to present content from the web. That has represented a technological affront and a business one: Microsoft said every percentage point of share it gained in search advertising could draw another $2 billion in revenue. Pichai said earlier this year that generative AI to distill complex queries would come to Google Search, as would more perspectives, "like blogs from people who play both piano and guitar."

May 10 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google on Wednesday is expected to unveil more artificial intelligence in its products to answer the latest competition from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), which has threatened its perch atop the nearly $300-billion search advertising market. For years the top portal to the internet, Google has found its position in question since rivals began exploiting generative AI as an alternative way to present content from the web. That has represented a technological affront and a business one: Microsoft said every percentage point of share it gained in search advertising could draw another $2 billion in revenue. Sundar Pichai, Alphabet's chief executive, this year said generative AI to distill complex queries would come to Google Search, as would more perspectives, "like blogs from people who play both piano and guitar." At Wednesday's conference, it is expected to announce a more powerful AI model known as PaLM 2, CNBC reported.

☆ TikTok advertisers stick by the app amid threat of U.S. ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

May 4 (Reuters) - Advertisers are committed to continue spending on TikTok due to its immense popularity with users despite threats of a potential ban in the U.S. over national security concerns, ad experts said. The short-form video app has already been banned from government-issued phones in multiple countries. Two media buyers at two different major ad agencies told Reuters that Washington's scrutiny over the app had yet to impact their clients' plans on TikTok. Still, several media buyers acknowledged the threat of a U.S. ban would be the "elephant in the room" during the advertiser presentation. TikTok said it is addressing advertiser concerns "head on in an open, fact-based and ongoing dialogue."

☆ TikTok to launch ad product that will give premium content creators 50% cut
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 3 (Reuters) - TikTok said on Wednesday it is launching a product that well let advertisers place ads alongside content produced by premium publishers, half of the ad revenue from which will be shared with those publishers. The social media platform said brands including Buzzfeed, DotDash Meredith, NBCUniversal, UFC and WWE will be the first to join at the launch of the product called Pulse Premiere on May 4. It is an extension of TikTok's Pulse program, which lets marketers place their brand next to the top 4% of content on the platform, the company said. TikTok in March said it had 150 million monthly active users in the United States, up from 100 million in 2020. Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru and Sheila Dang; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ TikTok's head of U.S. trust and safety will leave the company
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TikTok has long said that it has never shared data with the Chinese government and would not do so if asked. Han, who has been at TikTok since 2019, oversaw efforts like improving content moderation and reducing election misinformation. He ran trust and safety for the company's U.S. Data Security (USDS), a division that was created to store U.S. data in the country on servers controlled by Oracle, in an effort to appease security concerns. His upcoming departure also comes as TikTok is preparing to hold a presentation for advertisers in New York on Thursday. Reporting by Sheila Dang in New York; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"Twitter Blue is a mess. Within the next 48 hours, all but 110 of the most-followed Twitter accounts suddenly had verification through Twitter Blue, indicating Twitter likely gifted the check marks, independent researcher Travis Brown told Reuters. GRADUAL PULLBACKSince the initial rollout of the Twitter Blue service in November, imposter tweets have spread harmful misinformation. Imposter Twitter accounts also tarnished the online reputations of Lockheed Martin Corp(LMT.N) and Nintendo Co Ltd(7974.T). "The volume of imposter accounts seems to depend on several things -- Is the client doing a high profile event that week?

☆ Alphabet, Meta lure back advertisers as smaller rivals expected to struggle
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

This year, though, the social media ad market is expected to grow at a slightly faster pace than in 2022, according to a report last month from media and intelligence firm MAGNA. "Advertisers are simply going back to platforms they know, like and trust," said Brian Mulberry, a portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management. The social media advertising market overall is expected to grow 6% this year to $66 billion, according to MAGNA. Last year, the social media ad market grew 2% in part because privacy updates by Apple Inc (AAPL.O) made it more difficult for advertisers to gather user data to serve targeted ads. Digital pinboard company Pinterest is expected to post a 3% year-over-year rise in quarterly revenue on Thursday, according to Refinitiv data.

☆ Snap misses revenue expectations, warns on second quarter outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

While Snap said it was not providing formal financial guidance, its internal revenue forecast for the second quarter is $1.04 billion, which would be a 6% decline year-over-year. The internal forecast is below analyst expectations of $1.13 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. "Snapchat users primarily use the app for messaging, and messaging apps are notoriously difficult to monetize," she said. Along with AR, Snap has deepened its investment in artificial intelligence and recently expanded its chatbot called My AI to all Snapchat users globally. Snap said it expects between 394 million and 395 million daily active users in the second quarter.

☆ Twitter says removed more content in first half of 2022 than in previous six months
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 25 (Reuters) - Twitter on Tuesday said it required users to take down over 6.5 million pieces of content in the first half of 2022, before the social media platform was taken over by billionaire Elon Musk, a 29% increase from the second half of 2021. Publishing transparency reports is one of the requirements under the EU's new internet rules. The company said it received 53,000 legal requests from governments during the first half of 2022 to remove certain content, with Japan, South Korea, Turkey and India submitting the most requests. Twitter did not disclose the number of requests it complied with. Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Snap says Snapchat+ has 3 million paid subscribers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 19 (Reuters) - Snap Inc (SNAP.N) on Wednesday said its subscription service Snapchat+ now has 3 million users, as the tech company aims to diversify its business. The number of subscribers for Snapchat+ indicates the company is seeing success at a time when social media platforms are increasingly seeking to charge users for certain features. Snap's subscription service allows users to gain early access to new features. In February, Snap introduced a generative artificial intelligence chatbot called My AI, which can produce written responses to queries, rolling it out first to Snapchat+ subscribers. Last month, Snap launched an enterprise division to help other companies build AR experiences for their own apps and websites.

☆ Snap expands AI chatbot with ability to create images
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Snap's chatbot, called My AI, which can help users with everything from writing poems to searching for information, was built using startup OpenAI's ChatGPT technology. My AI is now available free to all Snapchat users and can be invoked to respond to questions in conversations between friends on Snapchat, Snap said on Wednesday. My AI's ability to respond to users with its own AI-generated images will be available first on Snapchat+, which has reached 3 million subscribers, Snap said. Snap analyzes conversations with My AI and has found that 99.5% of the chatbot's responses adhere to Snapchat's community guidelines, Spiegel said. The venture could also help Snap diversify beyond digital advertising, which currently makes up the majority of its revenue.

☆ Montana lawmakers pass bill to ban TikTok from operating in the state
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 14 (Reuters) - Montana lawmakers on Friday passed a bill to ban popular short-form video app TikTok from operating in the state, the latest threat to the Chinese-owned app's existence in the U.S. The bill, known as SB 419, would prohibit mobile app stores from offering TikTok for download to users in Montana. The Montana House voted 54-43 to approve the ban. Reporting by Sheila Dang in DallasOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: Twitter's advertising business seen facing slow recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Musk, who also runs electric carmaker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), earlier this week told the BBC that most of Twitter's advertisers are returning to the platform and the business was "roughly breaking even." Research firm Insider Intelligence this week slashed its forecast for Twitter's global ad revenue this year by 37% to $2.98 billion. That would represent a 28% decline from Twitter's 2022 ad revenue of $4.14 billion. 33 among Twitter's top advertisers before Musk's acquisition, according to Sensor Tower. Twitter's ad business is "eroding" and its subscription product Twitter Blue is seeing only moderate success, Similarweb said in a blog post.

☆ Snap hires Google ad executive to help improve ad performance
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 12 (Reuters) - Snap Inc (SNAP.N), owner of photo messaging app Snapchat, said on Wednesday it has hired a former Google executive to help the tech company improve the performance of its digital ads. Darshan Kantak, who previously led product management for search ads at Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google, joins Snap as senior vice president of revenue product. Snap is rebuilding its ad sales team after two key leaders left for Netflix Inc last year. Last month, Snap hired Rob Wilk, a longtime Microsoft ad executive, to lead ad sales in the Americas region. Kantak will lead the teams that develop ad formats and also focus on improving how to measure and optimize the effectiveness of Snapchat ads, the company said.

LOS ANGELES, March 24 (Reuters) - When Cassidy Jacobson was 13 years old, she posted a video of herself dancing on the popular app TikTok. Jacobson dreams of using her success on TikTok - an app used by 150 million Americans - to start her own curly hair care line and inspire others to love their natural curls. Last week, TikTok said the Biden administration demanded its Chinese owners divest their stakes or face a potential ban. Whether it’s creating all new content for YouTube reels or taking her TikTok content and transferring it over to Instagram, the influencer is making sure to diversify her content. Beyond popularity and fans, TikTok backers believe it provides livelihoods, paths to social change and a sense of community.

March 23 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers at a congressional hearing on Thursday accused TikTok of serving harmful content and inflicting "emotional distress" on young users, grilling the Chinese-owned app's CEO on the company's outsized influence on teens. Like other social media platforms, TikTok has long faced scrutiny over its policing of content on the app. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein 1 2Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey, said content on TikTok "exacerbated feelings of emotional stress" in children. Pew Research Center said 67% of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 use TikTok, and 16% of all teens say they use the app almost constantly. Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas and Rami Ayyub in Washington; Editing by Mark Porter and Lincoln Feast.

REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinMarch 23 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers at a congressional hearing on Thursday accused TikTok of serving harmful content and inflicting "emotional distress" on young users, grilling the Chinese-owned app's CEO on the company's outsized influence on teens. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington, kicked off the hearing with TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew saying that within minutes of creating an account on TikTok, the content algorithm promotes self-harm and eating disorder content, and encourages "dangerous" challenges that can put kids' lives at risk. Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey, said content on TikTok "exacerbated feelings of emotional stress" in children. Lawmakers quizzed Chew about whether Americans' user data could be accessed by the Chinese government as well as how it prevented harmful content from reaching young users. Chew later said during the hearing that content such as dangerous challenges were prohibited from TikTok.

☆ Potential TikTok ban sends advertisers scrambling
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

In recent discussions with ad buyers, TikTok representatives have stuck to the company's current talking points. TikTok employees have played up ongoing plans to separate the user data of Americans and store it in the country. In a section of the email titled "Can the Chinese government request TikTok U.S. user data?" Even with talk of a ban, most advertisers have not changed their spending plans on TikTok, media buyers said, because discussions of a ban have lingered since 2020 without any result. "A ban isn't a ban until it's a ban," he said.

☆ Snap launches enterprise division to help businesses build AR features
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 23 (Reuters) - Snap Inc (SNAP.N), owner of photo messaging app Snapchat, launched a new division on Thursday that will help other companies build augmented reality features for their websites or apps. The division called AR Enterprise Services (ARES) marks the first time Snap will sell to business customers its AR technology, which can enhance photos and videos of the real world with computerized images, said Jill Popelka, head of ARES, in an interview. Certain arrangements with clients could allow Snap to earn a cut of product sales driven by Snap's AR tools, she added. Artificial intelligence is also helping advance Snap's AR capabilities. The company is using AI to take a two-dimensional image and make it appear 3D without the need to first build a 3D model.

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