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A group formed by Meta, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and TomTom is releasing data that could enable companies to build maps that rival products from Google and Apple.

Of note because I think maps will become an increasingly important OS later moving forward. With AR, AI on the edge and ambient computing devices, and self-driving cars (maybe). All benefit from geospatial awareness.

Also, I think TomTom used to help Apple with its maps. And Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon could be an interesting team up elsewhere.

Meta, Microsoft and Amazon team up on maps project to crack Apple-Google duopoly

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I stand by the opinion that podcast advertising is woefully underrepresented as a percentage of most marketing medium portfolios.

Almost 42% of the US population now consumes podcasts monthly, with a remarkable 75% of podcast listeners having made or contemplated a purchase after hearing a product or service promotion on their favorite shows.

Quantifying brand marketing uncertainties and risks, Veritonic says audio is paramount

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TikTok’s looking to align its ad targeting processes with emerging data privacy shifts through the addition of a new offering, called PrivacyGo, which would enable advertisers to match their own CRM info with TikTok’s audience insights, in a privacy-protective way.

The process would essentially function like a data clean room, where collaborating parties share their data into a protected digital space.

Does the Chinese gov’t have a key to the clean room?

But seriously, CRM data will become increasingly important as cookies crumble.

TikTok’s Testing New Privacy-Protective Ad Targeting Tools

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What’s hot like Hansel on YouTube?

  • Popular media as a muse: inspired by big media events, like the Barbie movie (aka newsjack mass culture moments)
  • The Rise of the Rizz: virality via participation in a viral trend (aka newsjacking viral youth movements)
  • Skibidi Toilet: short-form narrative content that leaves open space for the viewer to fill the blanks (basically video as poetry)
  • Permission to flex: personality types (or horoscopes) as vehicle for self-sharing without feeling self-promotional
  • Chess: ♟️ (or, put a new twist on something old)

YouTube Highlights Latest Shorts Trends to Help Inform Your Content Approach

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What are the kids doing these days?

If they’re between the ages of 6-12, they might be listening to podcasts.

Twenty-nine percent of U.S. Kids Ages 6-12 Listen to Podcasts Monthly

A great medium for screen-wary parents.

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I’ve been waiting for this since the #BanTikTok fervor.

The Record: Lawsuit: ByteDance’s CapCut app secretly reaps massive amounts of user data

The ByteDance-owned CapCut video editing app gathers significant amounts of private data, including facial scans, from its 200 million active users, generating huge profits and potentially allowing the Chinese government to access that data, according to a proposed class action lawsuit filed in an Illinois federal court.

It’s not about the name of the app, it’s about who has access to the database. (Thus, Apple vs. UK over iMessage & FaceTime.)

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🚨 New variants found of malware that targets Facebook business accounts 🚨

To gain access to target systems, hackers used phishing links, tricking victims into downloading files that contained the malicious infostealer, Unit 42 said.

Once the malware is executed, it checks for any logged-in Facebook business accounts in the default browser and proceeds to hack them. It steals various information about the target, such as their follower count, user verification status, account credit balance and ad information.

Be careful with those Meta-looking messages!

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The Drum: Nearly 90% of consumers no longer trust influencers

Is this why Pinterest basically avoided (~9:43) the word “creator” in its last investor call? (A stark turn from previous calls for the inspiration platform.)

Or maybe it finally realized it’s social bookmarking, not media.

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More ads in more places.

Walmart: more self-checkout screen and in-store radio spots

Uber: not really new placements (though video is still new-ish and others might be coming), but more advertisers using the platform

Giphy?: new ad platform rolling out later this year

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The race for a generative AI-powered smart assistant is on.

Axios: Google Assistant to get an AI makeover

Axios: Amazon wants Alexa to bring AI into the home

It was bad timing for Microsoft that Cortana was sunset before the OpenAI partnership. But maybe The Windows Co wants to focus on enterprise and workplace solutions (where voice can be inconvenient).

This is another space where Apple could dominate had Siri not been left to languish. Siri + generative AI + market saturation + Airpods = conversational computing platform