A follow-up to Open, Closed, and Privacy, then multiple notes on Facebook’s earnings: the company’s executives sounded confident, and they should be.
Open, Closed, and Privacy
Just as encryption is only viable on closed systems, so it is that increased privacy regulations will only entrench walled gardens. That should affect thinking on regulation.
Apple Acquires Texture; The Problem with Magazines; Texture, Apple News, and Bundles
Apple acquired Texture and is taking the last, best shot at building a digital text bundle.
Lessons From Spotify
Spotify has a marginal cost problem, but while the cause is unique to Spotify, the challenges are more applicable than it seems.
More on Chrome and AMP, The Case Against Google, Decentralization and Paradigm Shifts
More on Chrome and AMP, and what The Case Against Google gets wrong about Microsoft. Then, why decentralized networks are aggregator kryptonite.
The Aggregator Paradox
Google is winning with AMP and blocking ads in Chrome: both seem bad, but aren’t they actually good for consumers? That is the paradox of aggregation.
Olympics Ratings, P&G and Olympics Advertising, Total Audience Advertising
Olympic Ratings are down, but less than expected! Unfortunately for NBC, so is revenue. That, though, is expected: sports and its advertisers remain interconnected. Then, at least NBC finally figured out how to manage multiple mediums.
Twitter Earnings; The End of TellApart; Direct Versus Brand Marketing, and Size
Twitter’s earnings were both less and more impressive than they appeared; plus, a lesson I have learned about direct versus brand advertising, and what it means for both Twitter and Snap.
Snap Earnings, Fox Signs Deal for Thursday NFL Football, The Sports Linchpin and Snap et al.
Snap had strong results that build on progress made last quarter; the company is looking less like Twitter, at least for now. Then, FOX spends on football, even as the Sports Linchpin weakens.
Google Earnings, Amazon Earnings
Google gives greater clarity to its acquisition costs, and cloud continues to grow. Amazon, though, still has a big lead, funding the rest of the company (still).