Month: September 2020

A new study from Pew Research Center found that 54% of adults in the U.S. believe social media companies should not allow political ads, while 77% believe those platforms’ use of data about their online activities to show them political ads is not very or not at all acceptable. On the flip side, 45% of…

A new startup wants to make video production as easy as choosing a spokesmodel, a tone of voice and typing out a script. Bangalore-based Rephrase.ai raised $1.5 million this week in a seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and AV8 Ventures for a platform that uses the same technology behind deepfakes to allow brands…

Apple reversed course and agreed not to collect its 30% iTunes App Store cut of paid online event transactions via Facebook through the end of this year, paving the way for the social network to enable businesses to keep 100% of their earnings from paid online events from now through Dec. 31. Apple’s exception does…

Key Insights: While Quibi is still collecting downloads, its growth rate hasn’t met the company’s own projections. Under-deliveries for advertisers and an ad sales climate centered on flexibility are both likely to affect next year’s advertising discussions. Over the summer, Quibi contacted a production company with a very specific request: Pitch us an interactive game…

Did you know that you can add text to your Instagram Reels videos? Our guide will show you how this is done. Note: These screenshots were captured in the Instagram application on iOS. Step 1: Once you’ve taken one or more clips in Reels, tap the right arrow (“>”) in the bottom-right corner of the…

IPG media agency network Mediahub is growing with the addition of Minneapolis-based media agency CompassPoint. Also part of the IPG family, CompassPoint will move from McCann WorldGroup to Mediahub through the remainder of 2020. With the completion of the transition, Mediahub’s new combined billings will be over $2 billion, and it will have over 550…

In an unusual collaboration, Publicis Media’s Spark Foundry has turned to a supplier of media to train and educate its staff on how to plan and buy its medium. The collaboration with radio and audio
advertising giant iHeartMedia grew out of a series of brainstorming events and meetings about the growing complexity of the medium, so they teamed to create a new media training curriculum for the
Spark Foundry staff dubbed the Audio Academy.

A federal judge has ruled in Fox News’ favor in the defamation suit brought against it by Karen McDougal. Her ruling is in line with protecting political free speech — but her argument leaves out one
critical word, in my view.

P&G, among the biggest TV advertisers, wants to switch gears. Possibly no upfront deal-making or at least more flexible upfront deals.

Plus: Silicon Valley’s reaction to Snowden, journalists’ relationships with their subjects, and an unpleasant surprise for hikers.