Amazon.com was showing signs of being a Day Two company, including the alleged manipulation of search. There is reason, though, to be optimistic that the company has gotten back to Day One. Plus, where are the other big tech companies?
Apple Versus Project Zero, Apple’s Poor Response, The China Paradox
Apple took on Google’s Project Zero over the weekend, and didn’t come out looking particularly good, particularly since China is a huge paradox for Apple.
Slack’s Earnings, Slack’s Sales Cycle, The FTC Fines YouTube
Slack’s earnings were fine, but lacked the explosive growth their valuation needed. Understanding Slack’s past and future product-market fit explains why. Then, the real problem with the FTC’s fine of YouTube is a lack of transparency.
Privacy Fundamentalism
The current privacy debate is making things worse by not considering trade-offs, the inherent nature of digital, or the far bigger problems that come with digitizing the offline world.
Why Cloudflare Matters, The Absence of Gatekeepers, Promotion Versus Moderation
More on moderation, including why Cloudflare is important systematically, a reminder that there are no more gatekeepers, which means moderation is always reactive, and why Facebook and YouTube still deserve the most scrutiny.
Revisiting Google’s Cloud Numbers, Apple’s Earnings, Additional Notes on Apple’s Earnings
Google’s cloud numbers are probably much worse than they appear. Then Apple delivered post-iPhone earnings that were impressive in what they said about Apple’s future.
Google’s Earnings, Amazon’s Earnings
Google’s earnings came with the usual dearth of information, although it appears that Google Cloud is growing more than expected. AWS growth, meanwhile, is definitely slowing as Amazon’s business broadly is running out of low-hanging fruit.
Tinder Bypasses Google Play Payments, App Store Fees and Differences, Apple Entering Modem Business?
Tinder is moving away from Google Play Store’s payment system, which makes sense given the app’s pricing power. Then, how the app store tax warps costs, and why Apple may not see much upside from getting into modems.
Delrahim’s Speech on Tech and Antitrust; Tech and Antitrust, Updated; YouTube and Instagram’s Scale Defense
The Department of Justice antitrust chief gave a speech yesterday that should make tech nervous, particularly Google and Facebook. Then, why Google and Facebook’s scale defense is not sufficient.
Tech and Antitrust Follow-up, Google Buys Looker, Salesforce Buys Tableau
Sometimes analysis is about what will happen, not what should happen. Then, two big acquisitions in the data analytics face: Google’s purchase of Looker makes sense, while Salesforce is paying a steep price for Tableau.