Month: March 2018

LinkedIn is introducing auto-playing video ads

Dianne Jacobs

In a move that was probably inevitable, LinkedIn is introducing video advertising as one of its Sponsored Content formats. Although my LinkedIn newsfeed already includes plenty of video, Abhishek Shrivastava, director of product for the Socail network’s Marketing Solutions, explained for advertisers, the only way to incorporate videos was to link to other websites. Now, the Microsoft -owned professional network is rolling out a native ad format, where video ads will appear as standalone posts in the feed. The video ads will play automatically, though with the sound turned off…

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Facebook will cut off access to third party data for ad targeting

Dianne Jacobs

In a surprise change, Facebook will give up one major data source that the company uses to help advertisers target relevant users on the platform. The company just announced that it will end a feature called Partner Categories, launched back in 2013 out of a partnership between Facebook and major data brokers. Facebook confirmed that the change is permanent, not a temporary precaution. In order to leverage the deep pool of data Facebook collects on users, the company mixes information that it obtains from users themselves (Pages a user liked,…

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Telstra announces First Global 5G Wi-Fi hotspots

Dianne Jacobs
Safaricom

Telstra has announced switching on the world’s first 5G-enabled Wi-Fi hotspots in the Gold Coast ahead of the Commonwealth Games next month, with visitors to the region able to gain access to the free service. While no smartphones or tablets currently support 5G, Telstra said it is using 5G backhaul and infrastructure in its newly launched 5G Innovation Centre in the Gold Coast to power standard Wi-Fi access points. Telstra Networks MD Mike Wright said in an interview on Tuesday afternoon that there are seven or eight hotspots in the…

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Twitter Bans Cryprtocurrency ads.

Dianne Jacobs

Twitter has began blocking cryptocurrency-related ads. The move follows other social media platforms like Reddit back in 2016, and more recently, Facebook and Google, which have already banned cryptocurrency ads. “We are committed to ensuring the safety of the Twitter community. As such, we have added a new policy for Twitter Ads relating to cryptocurrency,” the company says. “Under this new policy, the advertisement of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and token sales will be prohibited globally.” Rumors initially circulated a week ago that Twitter would ban such ads. Earlier this…

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Uber Blocked from Testing Self-driving Cars on Arizona Roads

Dianne Jacobs

Uber has been barred from testing its self-driving cars on public roads in Arizona following the accident last week involving one of its testing vehicles that killed a pedestrian crossing the street in its path. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey released a letter sent to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in which he described the accident as captured by onboard cameras as “disturbing and alarming.” The governor, who has been a strong proponent of self-driving testing in the state up until this point, advocating for Uber and other companies to bring their…

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Are corporations that use Wikipedia giving back?

Dianne Jacobs

YouTube’s plan to combat conspiracy videos with information sourced from Wikipedia got push back from a number of different quarters — including, surprisingly, Wikimedia itself. Seems Google didn’t mention the plan to the foundation before unveiling it at SXSW earlier this month. Wikimedia executive director Katherine Maher responded with an even-keeled statement reiterating that, while the crowd-sourced encyclopedia’s information is, indeed, free to use, well, it might be nice if corporations that used it gave a little back. “Wikipedia’s content is freely licensed for reuse by anyone,” Maher wrote, “and…

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Uber CEO says there will be no more global exit deals

Dianne Jacobs

Uber has exited three global markets by selling to rivals, but enough is enough after its deal with Grab so says CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Following today’s announcement with Grab which sees Uber leave Southeast Asia hot on the heels of exits in China (2016) and Russia (2017), Khosrowshahi told employees that there will be no more repeats under his leadership. It is fair to ask whether consolidation is now the strategy of the day, given this is the third deal of its kind, from China to Russia and now Southeast Asia. The…

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Panacea:Transforming the Education Sector in Africa

Dianne Jacobs

After recently launching its Android App, Panacea, a Nigerian e-library startup, is geared towards revolutionizing the education sector in Africa. The IBCA caught up with its founder who shed some light on what it is all about and their future plans. How can you define the technology sector in Nigeria? Panacea: Technology in Nigeria is growing and growing fast. Both government and private sectors are embracing technology as quick as possible. Technology adoption across Nigeria has also been very encouraging lately.This is evident in the number of tech startups springing…

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Amazon Japan offices raided in competition probe

Dianne Jacobs
Amazon CloudFront Edge

Amazon Japan said its offices have been raided by the country’s fair trade regulator on suspicion of anti-trust violations. The online retailer is suspected of asking suppliers to shoulder costs incurred for selling their products at a discount, according to media reports. The firm said it is cooperating with the investigation by Japan’s Fair Trade Commission (JTFC), Reuters reported. JTFC declined to provide more details on the case when contacted by the BBC. It’s not the first time Amazon Japan has been investigated over anti-trust breaches. In 2016, JTFC raided…

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Google will now ban ads on cryptocurrencies and related products

Dianne Jacobs

Alphabet Google said on March 14 it will ban advertisements for cryptocurrencies and related content starting in June. Under the new policy, the company will ban ads for unregulated or speculative financial products like binary options, cryptocurrency and financial spread betting among others. In a separate blog post, Google said it took down 3.2 billion ads that violated its advertising policies in 2017, nearly double the number of ads it removed in 2016. “Improving the ads experience across the web, whether that’s removing harmful ads or intrusive ads, will continue…

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