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☆ Dotdash Meredith's CEO explains why its $2.7 billion acquisition of Meredith has been tough as the ad industry gets creamed
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

CEO Neil Vogel said an ad market slowdown and culture challenges have been hard. IAC-owned Dotdash Meredith is about a year into its $2.7 billion acquisition of magazine giant Meredith, and a rough ad market has made the transition to become a big player for advertisers tough. "The market is hard," said Neil Vogel, CEO of Dotdash Meredith. Dotdash Meredith owns more than 40 brands including People, The Spruce, and Food & Wine. At the same time, the ad market soured last year as advertisers reigned in spending.

☆ Washington Post begins layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Washington Post on Tuesday became the latest media company to conduct layoffs, people familiar with the matter said, a move that publisher Fred Ryan had indicated last month the newspaper would take in early 2023. But The Post said at the time of Ryan’s announcement that it anticipated the layoffs being in the “single digit percentage” of its workforce. The Post also stressed the layoffs would ultimately not result in a “net reduction” of its workforce as it would invest in other areas. Ryan’s December announcement about future layoffs prompted fury inside the Post newsroom, nearly a dozen employees at The Post told CNN at the time. “The mood is really grim,” one staffer had told CNN.

☆ Here are the companies that have laid off employees this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Tech firms went on a hiring spree. “Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in an email to employees. The crypto brokerage announced in early January that it’s cutting 950 people – almost one in five employees in its workforce. Departments from human resources to the company’s Amazon (AMZN) Stores will be affected. They’re not in heavy people expansion mode every year,” CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to employees.

☆ Media Companies Cut Jobs as They Brace for Advertising Slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Alexandra Bruell | Joseph De Avila | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

News publishers across the U.S. are trimming staff, as a challenging economic environment is leading advertisers to pull back on spending. Vox Media, the publisher of New York Magazine, Curbed and SB Nation, on Friday told employees it would lay off approximately 7% of its staff, which people familiar with the matter said amounted to about 130 people losing their jobs. The cuts at Vox come as other media companies, including Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. and BuzzFeed Inc., are resorting to layoffs.

☆ Vox Media to lay off 7% of workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Vox Media, the publisher of news websites such as Vox and The Verge, in addition to New York magazine, will lay off 7% of its workforce, chief executive Jim Bankoff said in a Friday morning memo to staff. The union representing Vox Media employees said it was “furious” over the announcement. The media and technology sectors have been battered in recent months as advertisers tighten spending amid broader economic uncertainty. Alphabet said it had made the decision to eliminate 6% of its workforce, which translates to approximately 12,000 jobs. Bankoff said the tough economy had forced Vox Media to focus on its core business.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried's $10 million in investment in Semafor will be held in custody until authorities decide its fate
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Bankman-Fried invested $10 million in news startup Semafor, according to the New York Times. But the scale of Bankman-Fried's investment was unknown until Wednesday's New York Times report. His $10 million investment was part of an initial funding round that raised a total of $25 million. Smith also has maintained that SBF's investment didn't give him any tangible shares in Semafor thanks to its dual-class ownership. If Bankman-Fried's stake had been converted to equity, then he would have been entitled to a single-digit minority stake, according to the Financial Times.

☆ BuzzFeed's $300M purchase of Complex promised to grow both brands, but insiders say strategies have clashed and Complex's culture is being 'completely gutted'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Complex insiders worry that the cuts threaten their brand's culture and future. Clashing video strategies as some fear Complex culture is being 'completely gutted'Kevin Hart appeared on Complex's "Hot Ones" series. Before joining with BuzzFeed, Complex's then-CEO Rich Antoniello had conversations with Vice Media and Vox Media. But Complex insiders felt especially aggrieved when, this fall, BuzzFeed announced a global expansion for ComplexCon. To Complex insiders, BuzzFeed's plan to take the event to Australia, Europe, and Asia simultaneously was unrealistic and under-resourced.

☆ Complex insiders say owner BuzzFeed has shed key talent, failed to invest in core content, and threatens to dilute the hip culture brand: 'The BuzzFeed ethos does not get it'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Clashing video strategies as some fear Complex culture is being 'completely gutted'Kevin Hart appeared on Complex's "Hot Ones" series. Before joining with BuzzFeed, Complex's then-CEO Rich Antoniello had conversations with Vice Media and Vox Media. Rubbing salt in the wound, Complex insiders said they felt their brand was scrappier and more culturally relevant than BuzzFeed, which many consider past its prime. But Complex insiders felt especially aggrieved when, this fall, BuzzFeed announced a global expansion for ComplexCon. To Complex insiders, BuzzFeed's plan to take the event to Australia, Europe, and Asia simultaneously was unrealistic and under-resourced.

☆ Google execs warn company's reputation could suffer if it moves too fast on AI-chat technology
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Some of them are wondering where Google is in the race to create sophisticated chatbots that can answer user queries. After all, Google's prime business is web search, and the company has long touted itself as a pioneer in AI. Billions of people across the globe use Google's search engine, while ChatGPT just crossed 1 million users in early December. Taking Google 'for granted'Employees had other concerns about Google search. Industry estimates still show that Google holds at least 90% of the search market, and the company remains under scrutiny by regulators.

☆ Idealab founder Bill Gross started selling solar energy kits in 1973 at 15 years old. Now he's leading solar tech company Heliogen
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Idealab and Heliogen Founder Bill Gross speaks onstage during Vox Media's 2022 Code Conference on September 08, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California. "Because I was reading Popular Science magazine, I saw people used to take out little ads in the back," Gross told CNBC. One limiting factor for solar energy is its intermittency, which means it only delivers power when the sun is shining. But we're delivering the energy continuously because the energy is coming out of the rock bed," Gross told CNBC. The price of fossil fuels after Russia invaded Ukraine is a game changer," Gross told CNBC.

Over a dozen current and former employees told Insider's Eugene Kim that the division is in crisis — and the mounting losses and massive cuts underscore the swift downfall of Alexa. Go inside Amazon's Alexa unit. Jerod Harris/Getty ImagesWalt Disney stunned Hollywood this week by reinstating Bob Iger as its chief executive, and company insiders told us that his return to the throne came together in a matter of days. Getty ImagesTwitter's remaining employees are now expected to keep its CEO Elon Musk up to date on everything they work on each week. Responding to a tweet citing correspondent Kali Hays' report on the leaked email, Musk said the decision was "not unreasonable."

☆ We're sticking with Apple despite questions about holiday-quarter iPhone production delays
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

He continued, "If sales in the quarter are back-end loaded because of production delays, the week could be a notably strong one for Apple." We're not recommending investors step in and buy Apple shares here, recognizing the macro environment is complicating the valuations for large-cap tech stocks. This is part of the reason why we lowered our price target on Apple shares last week despite its better-than-expected fiscal fourth quarter , also referred to as the September quarter. Apple shares on Wednesday are trading at roughly 22 times forward earnings, above their five-year average of 21.4, according to FactSet. In Wednesday's note, Sacconaghi suggests an undertone of demand softening could be at play with the aforementioned iPhone production cuts.

☆ Bloomberg and CNN won't pay for Twitter verification for reporters, as newsrooms consider Musk's new plan
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Steven Perlberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter is planning to require users to pay to keep their verification. When reports emerged that the Elon Musk-operated Twitter planned to require users to pay to keep their blue verification badges, a question blossomed in newsrooms: Would media companies front the bill for their reporters? One media company, however, would certainly cover the cost of Twitter verification: Puck. Musk wrote on Twitter last week that he planned to charge $8 per month for a "Twitter Blue" subscription that would include verification. Long considered Twitter power users, journalists make up a large contingent of verified users on the platform, along with celebrities, organizations, and brands.

☆ Newsrooms consider whether to pay for Twitter verification for journalists. For CNN, it's 'highly unlikely,' but for Puck, it's a resounding yes.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Steven Perlberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter is reportedly planning to require users to pay $20 a month to keep their verification. CNN is unlikely to pay for everyone, while Puck said doing so for its dozen writers was a no brainer. One media company, however, would certainly cover the cost of Twitter verification: Puck. "It's a negligible amount of money for most media companies, even the largest that employ thousands of journalists," Kelly said. Long considered Twitter power users, journalists make up a large contingent of verified users on the platform, along with celebrities, organizations, and brands.

☆ New York Magazine cut digital ads on abortion-related content so readers wouldn't be tracked — showing the challenges publishers face post-Roe v. Wade
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Elizabeth Pham Janowski | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Vox Media, which owns the magazine, pulled ads from the digital versions of the articles to protect readers from being tracked. Walton told Insider that Vox Media made the decision because the priority was to "provide a utility and service" to their audience. Vox Media declined to comment on the financial loss from pulling ads and removing the paywall. Shah said that in his view, Vox Media took all reasonable measures to mitigate reader privacy risks by pulling digital ads. Shah agreed that these ad products minimize opportunities for readers' data to leak out to third parties.

☆ New York Magazine axed digital ads on abortion-related content so readers wouldn't be tracked — and it shows the new challenges publishers face post-Roe v. Wade.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Elizabeth Pham Janowski | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

☆ What to expect from Netflix's new subscription with ads
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

After months of talking about it, Netflix has finally released more details about its newest subscription tier, "Basic with Ads." I've got the deets you'll want to know about Netflix's new plan, so let's get into it. At $6.99 per month, the subscription is $3 less than Netflix's basic ad-free plan — but it will also come with more restrictions. Here's what we know about the plan, "Basic with Ads," available starting next month:If you subscribe to the ad plan, Netflix says you can expect four to five minutes of ads per hour. Basic with Ads will become available in Canada on November 1, and in the US and UK on November 3.

On the agenda today:But first: This week, Insider launched its inaugural Climate Action 30, a prestigious list of leaders working toward climate solutions. Lily Katzman, an associate editor on our Special Projects team, gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the project. InsiderWhen we say climate heroes, the usual suspects — think Greta Thunberg and Al Gore — come to mind. That's where Insider's Climate Action 30 comes into play. ReutersDavid Solomon, Goldman Sachs' CEO, moonlights as an electronic-music DJ, playing high-profile gigs like the Lollapalooza music festival and Tomorrowland, a Belgian music festival.

☆ Amazon's new unit has more than 400 employees, focused on helping engineers avoid rote work
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Today, we're kicking things off with my colleague Eugene Kim's look at a (secret) new team at Amazon. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is trying to fix the company's crumbling engineering culture. According to leaked documents, Amazon formed the "Amazon Software Builder Experience" group to "focus on improving the experience of software builders across Amazon." Some Amazon engineers have expressed that they're "overwhelmed" by mundane software upgrade work, manual testing and deployment, and hard-to-use developer tools. The Meta CEO announced on Instagram: "Happy to share that Max and August are getting a new baby sister next year!"

☆ Amazon CEO says the company has no plans to make its corporate employees return to the office
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-08 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company isn't planning to force employees back to the office. He noted that most of Amazon's corporate workers are already on a hybrid scheme. Jassy noted that most Amazon corporate employees are working on a hybrid work schedule and that certain sections of the company, like its hardware and creative teams, are in the office more often, per CNBC. In contrast to Amazon's approach, other high-profile companies have required employees to report for work at their offices at least several days a week. Jassy had previously called off Amazon's company-wide plan to require corporate and tech workers to be in the office at least three days a week starting in January.

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