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By: The New York Times
Advertising Hall of Achievement, Washington, which honors industry professionals ages 40 and younger, selected its inductees for 2013. They are Adam Bain, president for global revenue at Twitter; B. Bonin Bough, vice president for global media and consumer engagement, Mondelez International; Robert Candelino, vice president of branding for skin care, Unilever; Tara Walpert Levy, managing director for ads marketing at Google and YouTube; Lynn Lewis, global managing partner, J3 UM, part of Universal McCann; Todd Pendleton, chief marketing officer at Samsung Telecommunications America; and Emmanuel Seuge, head of global sports and entertainment at the Coca-Cola Company. Ms. Lewis will also receive the Jack Avrett Volunteer Spirit Award, for public service. The honors are to be presented on Nov. 5 at a luncheon at the Beverly Hilton hotel.
Amazon, Seattle, named Initiative, part of the Mediabrands division of the Interpublic Group of Companies, as its worldwide media agency. The assignment, with spending estimated at $300 million, had been handled by Mindshare, part of the GroupM division of WPP.
Anomaly, New York, part of MDC Partners, said it would open an office in Shanghai, its first in Asia. The agency also has offices in Amsterdam, London and Toronto. The office is the second for an MDC agency in China; Allison & Partners has a global China practice based in Beijing.
Apple remained in first place in the 2013 edition of the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, commissioned by WPP, London, and conducted by the Millward Brown Optimor unit of its Millward Brown division. However, the value of the Apple brand grew only 1 percent compared with 2012, according to the study. The rest of the top 10, in descending order, were: No. 2, Google, which was No. 3 in 2012; No. 3, I.B.M., No. 2 last year; No. 4, McDonald’s, again in fourth place; No. 5, Coca-Cola, up a notch from No. 6; No. 6, AT&T, up from No. 8; No. 7, Microsoft, down from fifth; No. 8, Marlboro, down from No. 7; No. 9, Visa, a gain from 15th; and No. 10, China Mobile, unchanged.
Association of National Advertisers, New York, is offering for the first time an award that is to recognize leadership in using analytics to help produce successful marketing programs. Members of the association will be eligible for the award, which is being sponsored by MarketShare and offers a $50,000 cash prize. The first Marketing Analytics Leadership Award is to be presented at the association’s annual conference, to be held in Phoenix Oct. 3- 6.
Clio Awards, New York, part of Guggenheim Digital Media, plans to produce a new event honoring creative excellence in the fashion and beauty industries, called the Clio Image Awards. Women’s Wear Daily, owned by Advance Publications, will be the founding media partner for the new awards. Entries will be accepted from November through March 2014, with the first awards to be presented in May 2014.
Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago, kept a large account as its New York office won a large account. Porsche Cars North America, Atlanta, which is owned by Volkswagen, decided to keep its creative account at Cramer-Krasselt, which has handled the assignment since 2007. The decision came after a six-month review that also included four other agencies: Crispin Porter & Bogusky, part of MDC Partners; Droga5; McKinney, part of Cheil Worldwide; and Olson. Porsche Cars spends more than $20 million a year on advertising. And the Patrón Spirits Company, Las Vegas, named the Cramer-Krasselt New York office as the agency of record for United States brand positioning and advertising for Patrón tequila, in a decision that came after the agency created the Patrón Christmas holiday campaign last year. The assignment, with annual spending estimated at $20 million, had previously been handled by the Richards Group, Dallas.
Effie Worldwide, New York, presented its annual awards for North America. The North American Grand Effie, the award for best in show, was presented to “The Vet and the N00b,” a campaign to promote the Activision Blizzard video game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.” The campaign was led by 72andSunny, part of MDC Partners; the other agencies participating were OMD, part of the Omnicom Group; SapientNitro, part of Sapient; and Edelman, part of Daniel J. Edelman Worldwide. Also, based on an annual analysis of data about winners of and finalists for the North American Effie Awards, Procter & Gamble was named the most effective advertiser; Mizuno, most effective brand; Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, part of WPP, most effective advertising agency network; Ogilvy & Mather New York, most effective individual agency office; and Wieden & Kennedy, most effective independently owned advertising agency.
Barry Frey joined the Digital Place-Based Advertising Association, New York, as president and chief executive. He succeeds Susan Danaher, to left to become executive vice president and chief revenue officer at Adspace Digital Mall Network. Mr. Frey had most recently been a senior adviser at Sonenshine Partners, New York, and before that worked at Cablevision.
Marianne Gambelli joined Horizon Media, New York, as executive vice president and chief investment officer. She assumes duties from Aaron Cohen, executive vice president and chief media negotiation officer, who, the agency said, is moving to a senior advisory role, reporting to Bill Koenigsberg, president and chief executive. Ms. Gambelli had most recently been president for NBC broadcast sales at NBCUniversal, New York, part of Comcast.
Jayne Jamison, vice president, publisher and chief revenue officer at Seventeen, New York, part of the Hearst Magazines unit of the Hearst Corporation, will also oversee Redbook magazine, taking the new title of vice president and publishing director for Seventeen and Redbook. She assumes the duties for Redbook from Mary E. Morgan, who had been vice president, publisher and chief revenue officer. Ms. Morgan resigned, Hearst Magazines said.
Salar Kamangar, chief executive of YouTube and senior vice president for video at the parent, Google, will be honored on June 19 as the Media Person of the Year for 2013 at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The festival, the 60th, will be held in Cannes, France, from June 16 through 22.
Kevin Kohn joined the New York office of Lotame Solutions in a new post, chief revenue officer. He had most recently been senior vice president and general manager of general markets at LivePerson, New York.
JP Kyrillos joined The Daily Meal, New York, part of the Spanfeller Media Group, as president, filling a vacant post. He had most recently been publisher at Travel & Leisure magazine, part of the American Express American Express Publishing Corporation, which is a unit of the American Express Company and is managed by the Time Inc. unit of Time Warner.
Late July Organic Snacks, Barnstable, Mass., chose Haberman, Minneapolis, to handle the brand’s 2013 campaign and social marketing expansion. Billings were not disclosed. There had been no previous agency.
Jason Shafton joined Comedy Central, New York, part of Viacom, as vice president for brand marketing. He succeeds Deena Stern, who left in February to join the new Esquire Network, part of the NBCUniversal division of Comcast, as head of marketing. Mr. Shafton had been head of the Google Play product and social marketing at Google.
Signature Brands, Ocala, Fla., chose Eric Mower & Associates, Syracuse, to help the company introduce Breyers Ice Cream Toppings. Spending has not been determined. Signature is using the Breyers name under a licensing agreement with the Breyers parent, Unilever. The account is being managed from the Mower office in Buffalo; many of the elements of the campaign are being produced agencywide.
Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement, New York, said that its board had approved financing for research into measurement of digital billboards. The organization already measures audiences for other types of outdoor signs as part of its Out of Home Ratings system. The goal of the new initiative is to find a way to report the audiences for each ad that appears on a digital sign rather than a rating for the sign itself. The organization will work with Inrix, which provides traffic information, and Perception Research Services, the primary supplier for the original eye-tracking study as the Out of Home Ratings system was brought out.
Steve Woolway joined Aerify Media, New York, in a new post, chief revenue officer. He had been vice president for sales and business development at Mediaocean, New York.
Jay Zasa rejoined R/GA, New York, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, as senior vice president and executive creative director for campaigns, which the agency described as a new role. He had been an executive creative director at the Barbarian Group, New York, owned by Cheil Worldwide, and before that spent five years at R/GA, most recently as an executive creative director.


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Roblox Corp. Shares of the company fell on Friday following a report that the social-gaming company’s app in China would be unavailable for an undetermined period after it was shut down in December.
Shares fell as much as 7% in Friday’s trading and were last 5% lower at $84.59. Shares are up more than 80% compared to the $45 reference price established when the company went public in March, but are down about 40% from their peak of $134.72 in mid-November.
Back in December, Roblox acquired Tencent Holdings Inc. Pulled its app to a service separate from Roblox for the Chinese market called “LuoBuLesi” in partnership with 700,
And the July release of the app was called a . portrayed as testing, In a statement to Reuters, Roblox revealed that it has taken the app down completely to create “the next version of Luobulacy”, but did not indicate when that version would return.
“It is important that we now make the necessary investments, including investments in our data architecture, to realize our long-term vision,” Roblox told Reuters.
In Roblox’s S-1 filing last year, the company said it controlled 51% of its joint venture with Tencent, which will operate and publish LuoBuLesi in China. Roblox said that LuoBuLeSi will “create a special foundation to increase our penetration of the China market.”
Roblox shares fell in the double digits after the release of lower-than-expected user numbers since November last month, and have yet to recover. The news that Chinese users have been unable to access their version of the game since early last month could be a warning for future usage numbers.
“It is not clear whether this is related to the regulatory gaming environment in China, but we see this as an unlikely unexpected headwind to user metrics in the near-term,” analysts at KeBank Capital Markets wrote in a note Friday morning. ” “China’s long-term potential remains huge, but this would suggest a slow, iterative process that investors should expect.”

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An animal welfare campaign scored a major hit Wednesday when it pressured Ben & Jerry's Homemade, makers of Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia ice cream, to dump a Minnesota egg producer accused of mistreating its chickens.
The campaign by the Humane Society of the United States became an embarrassment for Ben & Jerry's when a news report surfaced this week that the company bought the eggs for its ice cream and frozen yogurt -- about 2 million pounds a year -- from Michael Foods Inc.
Michael Foods became a Humane Society target over animal welfare violations sparked by a video taken inside a Michael Foods plant.
A day after the story appeared, Ben & Jerry's CEO, Walt Freese, told the Associated Press that dropping Michael Foods "seemed like the right thing to do."
A spokesman for Michael Foods said late Wednesday that the company had no comment.
The undercover video, shot last winter in Wakefield, Neb., shows dead and dying chickens stuck in cages. Some of the images show small cages shared by seven or more birds. A narrator says birds died of starvation and thirst. The images have become the centerpiece of the campaign to stop an industry practice of using "battery caged" hens for egg production.
The campaign has focused on Michael Foods, saying the company does not follow voluntary guidelines issued by an industry group, United Egg Producers, that require 67 square inches of space for each bird. That's about two-thirds the space covered by a standard sheet of paper. "Michael Foods doesn't even follow these extremely modest guidelines," said Paul Shapiro, a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States.
A Michael Foods spokesman told the Associated Press that the company plans to give more space to its chickens that will exceed the guidelines, which Shapiro said was a small step in the right direction.
"They should do the right thing and end confinement of birds in battery cages," he said.
No one at Ben & Jerry's had given much thought to where the eggs came from before learning of the cage-free campaign, said Sean Greenwood, a spokesman for Ben & Jerry's.
"We're not chicken experts; we're ice cream experts," he said.
The ice cream company, founded in 1978 by childhood friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, has long billed itself as a progressive organization concerned with issues far beyond the nation's sweet tooth.
A statement on its website says Ben & Jerry's "seeks to meet human needs and eliminate injustices," adding that the company's focus includes sustainable agriculture on family farms.
The company was sold for $326 million in August 2000 to the Dutch conglomerate Unilever.
The ice cream company was only the latest to succumb to pressure from the Humane Society over caged hens. Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Trader Joe's and several university food service companies have also signed on to the campaign.
Michael Foods sells eggs to industry buyers and under its own retail labels of Better'n Eggs, Crystal Farms, Simply Potatoes and Diner's Choice.
The company is one of the nation's largest wholesalers of egg products. Its eggs turn up in a range of products including Twinkies and Hellmann's mayonnaise.
The public relations blow delivered Wednesday comes at a bad time for Michael Foods. Not only has the company struggled lately -- reporting a 40 percent drop in profits in its first quarter this year -- but rumors of an impending sale have shown up in the industry press this month.


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Renault Kenya has launched the new 2019 Renault Duster in the Kenyan market. The new car is now available in 4×4 automatic and 4×2 automatic. They plan to bring the 4×4 manual in the future.
It comes with a 1.6 litre petrol engine and an exterior redesigned with a wider stance, new lines and new folds. The interior of the New 2019 Duster has a 7 inch touchscreen infotainment system, navigation with Kenya maps, automatic air conditioning, soft touch piano key dashboard and keyless access. It has a fuel economy of up to 22 km per litre.
Renault Kenya is targeting urban customers who go off-road sometimes with the new car. It also helps that the Duster is high so it can tackle even potholes in the city.
The Renault Duster 2019 is retailing for Ksh. 3.1 million for the 4×2 and Ksh. 3.45 million for the 4×4. Renault Kenya has partnered with Stanbic Bank to offer financing og up to 100% with a repayment period of up to 60 months. In addition, customers purchasing the Duster will enjoy a discounted facility fee of 1.5%.
Since the launch of Renault in Kenya in 2015, Renault Kenya have sold over 200 units of Duster making it the best-selling model in the market.
Simba Caetano Formula is the Renault official distributor in Kenya. The company is a collaboration between Simba Corporation and Salvador Caetano Group. Renault Kenya has branches in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Kisii and will be expanding further in the future.
Renault cars available in Kenya include Kadjar, KWID, Koleos, Megane Sedan, and the Kangoo Express. Renault Kenya recently partnered with Taxify and Stanbic to provide drivers with KWID cars on loans.


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Major new guide aims to help businesses better align sustainability efforts with public affairs operations
How do you judge a business's green credentials? Is the measure of a company's green progress to be found in their investment in clean technologies and efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions? Or is a...
‘Big Livestock’ is just as damaging to the planet as the fossil fuel industry, campaigners warn, yet UK banks continue to be among the sector's largest creditors, pouring tens of billions into carbon-intensive companies fuelling deforestation
Aldi said it would work with suppliers to remove the equivalent of 2.2 billion single items of plastic of its shelves within the next five years
World's first net zero emission McDonald's opens at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, with solar arrays set to provide as much power as the site uses each year


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Google was recently slammed by 36 antitrust lawsuits in the US over its dominating the Play Store on Android platforms. Now, CNET reports that it’s been served another antitrust lawsuit by two Massachusetts companies accusing it of giving Facebook an unfair advantage in online advertising.
Google gets served
The suit is calling for “class-action status” for other advertisers that the plaintiffs believe were damaged by Facebook and Google’s collusion, which has been alleged since December of last year.
According to CNET, Facebook threatened that it would pursue a technique of ad buying called “header bidding”, also known as advance bidding, which is also the major alternative to Google’s method of “waterfall” ad buying. Waterfall buying ensures that the first-in-line advertiser is sold ad space, whereas header bidding gives it to the highest bidder. And Facebook has a lot of dough to bid.
According to the lawsuit, the search engine and internet giant offered Facebook “special information, a speed advantage to assist Facebook in succeeding in the auctions, and a guaranteed win rate,” in supposedly fair ad auctions.
Furthermore, Google allegedly agreed to fix prices and specifically allocate markets to Facebook in auctions for in-app and website advertising space, and “given the scope and extensive nature of cooperation” between the two platforms they were aware they could be in violation of antitrust laws.
Both parties have brushed off previous similar allegations, with Facebook at one time telling CNET that partnerships between big names in this industry are commonplace. Facebook, ever the centre of bad publicity, has also been caught banning several NYU researchers from investigating its targeted political ads.


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According to the voluntary recall, the product was sold between January 17th-31st.
We have issued a recall on Publix Deli Popcorn Chicken. This recall is due to finding foreign material from the production facility in the product. More details and stores impacted: https://t.co/hISKiMIRQ4 pic.twitter.com/HT665qsYKr
— Publix (@Publix) January 31, 2019


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China is proving a valuable source market for Vietnam amid surging international arrivals, and tourism players claim that the country has the right ingredients to tap into China’s top tier of travellers.
According to the latest figures from Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), nearly four million Chinese visited Vietnam in the first nine months of 2019, marking a 4.4 per cent year-on-year increase.
With this figure expected to continue to rise, the country’s tourism sector is gearing up to welcome a new wave of affluent travellers, and is preening its products to ensure it stands out from neighbouring countries.
Pham Ha, founder of Luxury Travel Vietnam, said: “Vietnamese culture has many similarities with China, and as a neighbouring country makes it easy to travel from China by road, sea or air. Vietnam also has a workforce that is good at Chinese and capturing the tourist psychology.”
A recent Bloomberg report highlighted the huge potential that Chinese tourists hold for the country, with the projection that a 30 per cent increase in spending by Chinese tourists would boost Vietnam’s economic growth by almost one per cent.
A VNAT spokesman said that a 2018 survey carried out by the organisation revealed the average daily spend by Chinese in Vietnam has steadily climbed from US$119 in 2014 to US$130 last year. This compares with US$183 in Indonesia and US$180 in Thailand.
VNAT has been carrying out targeted roadshows in key Chinese cities in a bid to boost this figure further. The organisation remains confident that the continued promotion in these cities will help drive interest and position Vietnam as a prime South-east Asian destination for Chinese.
However, Nguyen Thi Tuyet, Asia DMC Indochina managing director, said that further investment needs to be ploughed into infrastructure and suppliers to operate deluxe travel experiences, as well as producing a masterplan for the management and training of tour guides.
She added: “The country also needs to improve its presence internationally as a luxury destination. It’s obvious that Vietnam needs to invest more in marketing activities with creativity and professionalism.”


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Hublot and The Watch Gallery Classic Fusion Aerofusion Chronograph Red
Launching exclusively today is the latest collaborative watch between the UK’s The Watch Gallery and Hublot – and if past performance is anything to go on, the new piece is set to be a sure-fire hit.
The Classic Fusion Aerofusion Chronograph Red marks the fourth such limited-edition timepiece between the Swiss watchmaker and UK retailer, which owns four standalone stores and also operates the watch department of Selfridges. The duo’s past Classic Fusion co-creations have sold out in weeks, such as last year’s elegant three-hand automatic (£8,200) and a more sporty chronograph (£10,500) that fused ceramic and titanium for the first time. Both were limited to 35 pieces, their 45mm designs featuring The Watch Gallery’s signature blue hue that was found not only on the dials and caseback, but also the seconds hand and stitched on the black alligator-rubber hybrid straps.
As the name suggests, the 45mm Aerofusion Chronograph Red explores a new colour palette, its cool red accents a sporting nod that’s having something of a moment right now. Striking, red lacquered rings offset a matching chronograph second hand set on a skeletonised movement, while red stitching on the black rubber and alligator strap continue the crimson motif. A fusion of titanium case with black ceramic bezel – all satin-finished and polished – add further robustness and echo the house’s innovative use of industrial materials (soon after launching in the 1980s, Hublot made a name for itself merging precious and industrial materials, becoming the first to mix gold and rubber). Indeed polished titanium subtly makes its way throughout the new chronograph – on the screws, crown, and pushers – while a satin-finished titanium caseback is engraved with the edition number.
Powering the 13.4mm thick watch is the 207-components, self-winding HUB1155 calibre with a 42-hour power reserve. Water resistant to 50m, the piece also features a date display at 6 o’clock.
As Adrian Maronneau, The Watch Gallery’s director of buying and merchandising, said: “For our fourth limited edition it was time to shake things up a bit, dare I say add a bit of spice, something that Hublot is an absolute master of.”
The new Aerofusion Chronograph Red retails at £13,800 and is available at Selfridges alongside The Watch Gallery’s London stores on Oxford Street, Westfield and the Royal Opera House Arcade, Covent Garden, and on the retailer’s website.
The launch of the watch was marked by a glittering event in London last night, presided over by David Coleridge, chairman of The Watch Gallery, and Jean-Claude Biver, chairman of Hublot. The latter promised that anyone buying the watch that evening would be his guest to visit Hublot manufacture's in Switzerland.
'You will leave at 5.15 in the morning from Heathrow and return the same day at 10pm," said Mr Biver with his signature sunny smile. "And get to have lunch with me." At the time five pieces had already sold, so expect a rather large affair....
From the outset, Hublot has embodied design and innovation that differ markedly from the established watchmaking order. With the impetus provided by Jean-Claude Biver, by 2004 these values had already become the basis of a new DNA, leading the brand, which is currently headed by Ricardo Guadalupe - its CEO since 2012, to develop particularly audacious timepieces – most of them with a highly-developed sporting aspect.Find out more >
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The German Federal Cartel Office — Bundeskartellamt — is looking into Google’s market power to determine if the search giant should be held to new digital competition mandates, according to a Tuesday (May 25) press release.
The German competition watchdog is investigating Google Germany, Google Ireland and its parent company Alphabet to determine if its range of digital services — search, YouTube, Maps, Android operating system, Chrome browser — gives it a dominant position across markets.
“An ecosystem which extends across various markets may be an indication that a company holds such a market position. It is often very difficult for other companies to challenge this position of power,” said Andreas Mundt, president of the Bundeskartellamt.
Mundt added that Google’s numerous digital services could amount to “paramount significance” regarding competition across sectors.
The German Competition Act was amended in January 2021 with a new provision that gives agencies the authority to “intervene earlier and more effectively” when it comes to a technology company’s digital practices. Digital companies deemed as having “paramount significance” can be prohibited by the Bundeskartellamt from engaging in anti-competitive behaviors, according to the release.
“Google’s business model relies to a very large extent on processing data relating to its users,” Mundt said, adding that the data access is important for competition, which gives Google a “strategic advantage.”
The watchdog is planning to examine Google’s data processing terms and determine if users have adequate freedom of choice over what personal information is tapped and how it will be utilized. The bottom line goal of the mandates and probes is the protection of consumer choice.
Competition authorities in the U.K., Australia, and Germany warned companies last month that the COVID-19 pandemic could not be used as an excuse for acquiring rivals that would cripple competition. The U.K. also is developing a Big Tech regulator to oversee firms like Google and Facebook.
New anti-competition mandates handed down by the European Union did little to prevent Google from continuing to dominate the market, a report in September 2020 indicated. Competitors charged that nothing has changed despite hefty fines levied against the Silicon Valley search giant.


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21 international awardsA year full of awards for A. LANGE & SÖHNE
A most successful year is coming to a close for A. Lange & Söhne. With a total of 21 international awards it is in fact the most successful year in the history of the traditional brand, which was re-established in 1990. Since the presentation of the first watch collection in 1990, the precious timepieces made in Saxony have won more than 130 prizes, including 81 first prizes.
Recently, the LANGE ZEITWERK came first in the category “Complicated Mechanics” at the MunichTime fair, which took place from 30 October 2009 until 1 November 2009. It was elected as winner, both by the jury and the public. The same goes for the model 1815, which won both prizes in the category “Classical elegance”. At ViennaTime, which took place in Vienna from 13 until 15 November 2009 - shortly after MunichTime – an expert jury chose the model 1815 as winner in the category “Classical Elegance”, and the LANGE ZEITWERK came second in the category “Intricate Mechanics”. The election results were announced at the watch gala in Vienna on 9 December 2009 and the awards were received by the company founder Walter Lange.
Just about a month ago A. Lange & Söhne won the “L’Aiguille d’Or” (“Golden Hand”), the most prominent award of the Swiss watchmaking industry, at the “Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève”, as first non-Swiss watch brand. Lange watches have also been awarded in Germany, Mexico, Bahrain, Japan and Singapore in the course of this year.


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CEC Entertainment Inc., owner of Chuck E. Cheese’s, has reported 2nd quarter 2009 results. Comparable store sales were down 5.4% for the quarter and -2.4% for the year to date. By region of the country, comparable store sale results were:
The worst performing state was California with 73 units. Comparable store sales there were down 8.7% for the quarter. However, the average California store sales continue to outperform most other stores with sales still 20% higher than average for other stores. Excluding California stores, comparable store sales were down 4.4% for the quarter.
Management attributed the sales decline to the recession and the swine flu outbreak that severely hurt sales for about a six-week period.
CEC plans to install hand sanitizer dispensers in all their stores. They have been testing a birthday blast cylinder that the birthday child stands in while money, tickets and vouchers fly around and the child tries to grab as many as possible. Results have been very positive, so CEC plans to roll them out into other stores. This is a good example of raising the fidelity of an away-from-home experience to counter in-home entertainment competition (see the Future of Leisure article above).


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In our “Weekly Innovation” blog series, we explore an interesting idea, design or product that you may not have heard of yet. Previously we featured the sink-urinal and Smart Bedding. (Do you have an innovation to share? Use this quick form.)
You can easily lose your wallet, but it’s pretty difficult to lose your face. That’s the motivation behind Finland-based startup Uniqul, which is testing a system that lets users conduct payment transactions with their faces. PopSci reports:
“A Uniqul tablet at check-out stations would take the customer’s photo as they approach. Within seconds the tablet processes biometrical data to locate the individual’s account within the database, which can be registered with any major credit card, Uniqul says. All the customer needs to do is confirm the payment by pressing the ‘OK’ button.”
The company is expected to launch the system in Helsinki checkout aisles and payment terminals.
“The whole transaction will be done in less than 5 seconds — the time it usually takes you to pull out your wallet,” Uniqul says.
Customers can use all major credit cards or a PayPal or Square account when registering for a Uniqul account. For about $9 a month, users can access the system “anywhere in the world,” and for just under $4, users can choose what city and surrounding suburbs they’d like to access Uniqul. Stores have to be equipped with the payment software and system, and adoption is still an open question, so we put the “anywhere in the world” part in quotes.
This innovation reminded us of our conversation with physicist and science fiction author David Brin earlier this month. He said then that the things we carry to identify ourselves — credit cards, drivers licenses, keys — are “objects for reputation” that won’t be necessary in the near future, as technology learns to read the data we wear on our faces. In Finland, that future is here.


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Bridge City Clothing Company is seeing so much interest in its initial launch of hoodies that owners Emmanuel Yusuf and Grayson Isley spent the summer planning an expansion
It’s not the extracurricular activity you would generally expect to see from two seniors in high school, but for Emmanuel Yusuf and Grayson Isley who decided to launch the clothing brand Bridge City Clothing Company four months ago it’s a project they see lasting far into the future.
The idea was to create quality, affordable clothing for teens by teens and so far people have really been responding to the idea — keeping the pair busy delivering orders during their school lunch breaks and into summer vacation.
Isley says they’ve been seeing so much interest in their initial launch of hoodies in a range of different colours that they have spent the summer planning the expansion of the brand into new colours and styles.
“We see a lot of excitement when we are delivering the orders,” Isley said. “We’re going to have sweatshirts this fall too and some toques with logos that are similar but different in a way, it will still be recognizable but it won’t be the same — we just want to change it up for our customers.”
Unfortunately while launching the brand the pair did have some trouble with people taking their idea seriously; having to switch printers because of low quality results and a refusal to listen to their instructions on where the logos should be placed.
“He just saw us as kids,” Yusuf said.
Luckily those problems are now behind them thanks to their partnership with Uno Printing Co. who are now taking care of their printing needs and also offering a retails space so customers can purchase the hoodies in person.
Because the brand is online-based, social media has become a major component of not only their marketing strategy but also as a place to see what ideas are working — because in the end it’s all about having feedback from their customers and making sure everyone is happy with their purchase.
“Our customers have to be satisfied,” Yusuf finished. “That’s a big thing for us.”
Bridge City Clothing Co.
Erin Petrow is a reporter at The StarPhoenix. If you have started, expanded or moved a small business in Saskatoon within the last few months, contact her at email@example.com. Follow Erin on Twitter @petr0w


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Flying robot taxis “logical consequence” of overcrowded cities – Daimler CEO Zetsche
The development of flying robot taxis is a logical step given cities around the globe are plagued by traffic jams, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said at an annual car industry summit organised by business daily Handelsblatt. “The possibilities of extending cities’ infrastructure are limited,” Zetsche said. Given that people-carrying drones will likely be battery-powered, relatively safe, and quiet, a “move into the third dimension” made perfect sense, Zetsche said. “This is why we have invested in [German flying robot taxi start-up] Volocopter.”
Find background in the factsheet Reluctant Daimler plans “radical” push into new mobility world.


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Beong Ket Rubber Plantation Company has started banana shipments to the Chinese market, becoming one of the first local companies to export the fruit to the East Asian giant.
The company is shipping through Vietnam, with direct exports to China barred until it obtains a certificate from the Chinese government.
Beong Ket Rubber Plantation Company is one of the first companies in the Kingdom sending bananas to China and is leading the way for many other local firms eying the Chinese market.
In August, the governments of Cambodia and China signed a deal that allows the shipment of Cambodian bananas to the biggest market in the world.
Earlier this month, Khmer Times reported that Longmate Agriculture, a joint venture of Chinese and local investors, was also sending banana containers to China through Vietnam.
Beong Ket Rubber Plantation Company has invested $8 million in 500 hectares of banana plantations in Kampong Cham province. During the first phase of development plans for the land, the company is cultivating 100 hectares.
It plans to expand to 1,500 hectares in the future to meet the increasing demand for the commodity in China, a company representative said.
Minister of Agriculture Veng Sakhon said the shipments are a significant development for the country’s trade sector.
“This is the result of the ministry’s efforts to boost domestic production, add value, create more jobs, and reduce the poverty rate,” Mr Sakhon said.
Srey Vuthy, spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture, said all banana shipments to China must be made through a third country, as direct shipments are barred until a group of experts from China visits the Kingdom to inspect local banana farms.
“There are a few companies that are exporting indirectly and others that have conducted test shipments, but all these are informal exports as direct exports are not allowed yet,” Mr Vuthy said. “Before we send bananas directly to China, Chinese officials must carry out sanitary and phytosanitary inspections of local banana farms.”
Mr Vuthy added that the team of Chinese experts that will carry out the inspections is expected to arrive next month.


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Published: 11th October 2013
That’s the message from the Yorkshire Evening Post today, as we press ahead with our Shop Small campaign.
High streets and businesses in places like Rothwell and Woodlesford have been facing tough times amid the country’s economic struggles.
Our campaign aims to help the city’s proud family of independent stores stay alive and kicking by featuring information, advertising and discount details on what they have to offer.
Jeremy Clifford, editorial director of the YEP, said: “New research has been published that has seen Leeds rise up the list of the country’s most vibrant city’s to fifth place in the league table. That is undoubtedly because of the investment in new shops, bars and restaurants – all on the back of people who are prepared to spend their money locally.
“If other high streets are to continue to thrive, we need to see people continue to support them with their trade, which is why our Shop Local campaign is so important.
“As part of the campaign, we will be playing our part in supporting the high street, by highlighting the vast wealth of retailers and traders we have.”
He added: “We need to remind shoppers of the unique or unusual items and services that can be provided by independent traders.
“Every pound spent locally is an investment in the high street, and the thousands of people who are employed in our local economy.”
The Shop Small campaign is backed by Alec Shelbrooke, MP for Elmet and Rothwell. He said: “I’m delighted to welcome the YEP’s campaign for supporting small shops once again.
“They are vital for the vibrancy of a good local economy and often offer products in quantities that you can’t find at larger supermarktets.”


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Almost half of US mothers worry about the foods their families eat following the peanut salmonella outbreak that has sickened over 600 people, according to a recent survey.
The online survey by public relations company Burson-Marsteller and Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates showed that 23% of consumers questioned said the food scare would change their long-term purchasing habits.
“Through all of this change, consumer expectations for quick and specific information have never been higher. They want as much information as possible when a problem is discovered, they expect to be told the facts immediately, and a majority of Americans think the food safety system is broken,” said Bill Zucker, managing director of Burson-Marsteller.
Of the 501 consumers surveyed, 93% said they had recently seen or heard about food safety issues and recalls, while 68% said they thought the number of instances of food contamination had increased over the past several years.
Despite this, around 87% thought that the US had one of the best food safety systems in the world.
US snack maker Lance has continued to campaign throughout the scare in order to let consumers know its peanut-based products are safe in light of the recall of hundreds of products. It has set up a website specifically to “clarify consumer confusion” about the safety of its peanut products, which it insists are not part of the recall.
Meanwhile, documents released by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Wednesday (11 February) showed that Stewart Parnell, president of Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), the company at the centre of the salmonella scare, had falsified documents and pressured regulators as he riled against the cost and delay the contamination was causing his company.
To date, some 637 people in 43 US states have been infected with the outbreak strain of salmonella, which has been traced to a PCA plant in Blakely. Nine deaths have also been linked to the outbreak, while one person has also been taken ill in Canada.


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We’d like to announce a special event called “Bankathon / CashTechThon CTT’16“, a 2-day hackathon event for creating and prototyping concepts, models and artifacts for innovative IT-solutions for future forms of banking, payment, the administration of hard cash, accounts and wallets, the digital identification of individuals in the payment process, the prospective organisation of finance products as well as organisations that handle those fiduciary.
The event is organised by the “Research Group for Industrial Software” (INSO, Vienna University of Technology), together with partners from university and industry, to bring together students and stakeholders from different areas to challenge the possibilities of information technology. It will be held with friendly support of “Payment Services Austria” (PSA). PSA introduced the mobile debit card for smartphones in 2015, being first worldwide to implement this innovative service for a whole country.
The event will be held on the 23rd and 24th April 2016 at the Vienna University of Technology (Karlsplatz 13, 1040 Wien).


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Generative AI is not the monster, but our Savior!
The global economy is facing three concurrent challenges: 1. Deglobalization: According to the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), COVID-19 has added momentum to the deglobalization trend, which has been further exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. The result is short-term supply chain challenges and longer-term supply challenges. 2. Demand


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The Nigeria Customs Service says it raided Fraser Suites, Abuja, after receiving an intelligence that some exotic cars without duty payment were parked in the hotel.
Joseph Attah, customs spokesman, said the service learnt the cars, suspected to have been smuggled into the country, were removed from a car mart.
NigerianEye had reported that operatives of the service had besieged the hotel after seizing six cars parked there on Wednesday night.
In a statement on Thursday, Attah said the cars were seized pending a confirmation that they were not smuggled.
He also denied the guests at the hotel were asked to come out of their rooms.
“The attention of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has been drawn to misinformation making the rounds concerning visit of our operatives to an Abuja hotel to remove suspected smuggled vehicles Thursday,” he said.
“Our operatives, relying on intelligence that owners of some exotic cars (including bullet proof) without duty payment quickly removed their vehicles from a car mart and took same to Frasier Hotel, Abuja.
“On arrival at the hotel, our operatives interacted with the manager and eventually left with 4 vehicles leaving 6 behind, while expecting the manager to provide the keys to the cars left behind.
“However, the manager Thursday morning gave a written undertaking to produce a Customs vehicle duty payment documents to support his claim that the vehicles were not smuggled.
“We assured him of prompt release of the vehicles as soon as evidence of appropriate duty payments are presented.
“Unfortunately, we woke up to mischievous misrepresentation of an otherwise professional engagement with the manager that had nothing to do with the guests in the hotel.
“Some even went as far as saying that the operatives went from room to rooms waking up guests to come out for vehicle verification. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
“NCS did not do such thing and has no intention to start raiding hotels. Our operatives never infringed on the rights and comfort of guests in the hotel.”
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Topeka analyst Brian White, who has been travelling around Asia recently, checking up on the consumer electronics companies there, said he was “blown away” by the way in which accessory providers have been ramping up for the launch of the so-called iPad mini. Some have been producing accessories for the device since September. Interesting, considering invitations for the event at which Apple will unveil the iPad’s diminutive sibling haven’t even been distributed yet.
“We uncovered over 20 suppliers that showed us accessories for the iPad Mini,” White said. “Some already have the accessories boxed, labeled and ready for order.”
Among the vendors White spoke with was one that had on hand a “pilot” iPad mini. While the device’s origins aren’t clear, White seems to have been quite impressed with its physical form factor. “This 7.85-inch iPad Mini fit our hands like a glove,” he said. “We were easily able to tuck the device in our sport coat [and feel it may provide] a more mobile iPad experience for certain use cases.”
Given that, White is confident that the device will be well-received by consumers, and has high expectations for early sales. He figures Apple will sell between five million and seven million iPad minis during the December quarter, but predicts that ultimately it will surpass the unit volumes of the larger iPad.


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Call 855-808-4530 or email GroupSales@alm.com to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Though it has been a news focus recently, the legal issue of “net neutrality,” or an open Internet, has been a point of contention between Internet access providers and network users since the mid-1990s. Both sides have zealously but unsuccessfully lobbied Congress with multiple efforts to have desired legislation passed. This has left us instead with shifting regulatory actions taken by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) attempting to address the issue.
By Marc Jacobson
Film remains a director’s medium, considering that the director will always give shape and vision to the writer’s words.
By Samuel Cullari and Alexis Cocco
The CCPA is the first of its kind, generally applicable data protection law in the United States. What makes the CCPA unique is not only its applicability to companies like those in the entertainment and media industries, but also the rights it provides to consumers regarding their personal information (PI).
By Edward Weisz and Alanna Miller
In this article, we explain how copyright, trademark and patent infringement issues unfold on Amazon by describing the process for rights holders to report infringement, and the impact of successful infringement take-down requests.
By Simon Taylor
The European Commission has charged Valve Corp., the owner of Steam video-game distribution platform, and five video-game publishers with breaking European Union (EU) competition rules through their use of geoblocking, which restricts access to digital content on a territorial basis.


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McDonald's has opened an outlet in a historical residence in east China's Zhejiang province, sparking a heated debate over whether such sites should be used for commercial purposes.
McDonald’s has opened an outlet in a historical residence in east China’s Zhejiang province, sparking a heated debate over whether such sites should be used for commercial purposes.
The burger chain began operating in the main building of a former home of Chiang Ching-kuo, son of Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek, in Hangzhou on November 13, less than two months after Starbucks opened in another section of the residence, reports Xinhua news agency.
Chiang Ching-kuo and his family lived in the building for less than a month in 1948.
McDonald’s proposed to rent the two-story house near the scenic West Lake and turn it to a 100-seat cafe in January.
The story has sparked a public uproar, with many people accusing authorities of ignoring the historic value of the buildings and risking their damage.
“Commercialization will eventually ruin the buildings,” wrote someone with the screen name “Miilansmith” on microblog Sina Weibo.
“Are the authorities really in such dire need of money?” asked another.
Even Chiang Ching-kuo’s grandson, Demos Yu-bou Chiang, questioned the McDonald’s deal, with a microblog post on Weibo asking: “Is having a McDonald’s in a historical residence or a Starbucks in a palace really an OK thing in management of cultural real estate?”


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Alexis Ohanian Reveals How Brands and Publishers Can Thrive on Reddit. Reddit can be a dangerous place for brands. Should industry leaders be more outspoken? What’s the future of internet communities like Reddit? We’ve seen many huge brands come to Reddit to engage in a human way. Is there anything publishers can do to get their content to take off? How would you engage with them? This is exactly how you should think about engaging on Reddit. Is the proliferation of a mobile, app-based internet a threat to Reddit? It was an opportunity because we didn’t have a native mobile app.
But as Fortune explained in a big profile of
Reddit earlier this year, that danger has dissipated as the
platform has focused its latest ad efforts on native content.
Instead of leaving brands to their own devices, internal teams have
used their intimate knowledge of Reddit communities to help brands
build campaigns that pop off. The strategy appears to be working. A
Coca-Cola campaign, for instance, asked Reddit users to choose
which Marvel superhero matchup would make the best Super Bowl
over 400 people responded. Reddit reports that advertising
revenue is on the rise, with 70 percent of advertisers staying on
quarter over quarter.
Since returning to the company as executive chairman in late
2014, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has played a hands-on role
in the company’s turnaround. Leading up to his keynote speech at
Web Summit in Lisbon this
week, Ohanian and I chatted over email about his activism, how
Reddit is changing for brands and publishers, and the future of
You’ve been pretty outspoken about Donald Trump during
this election season. What’s your take on the relationship between
the tech industry and politics? Should industry leaders be more
Technology and social platforms like Reddit have given everyone
an opportunity to have a voice in the national conversation. As
creators of these platforms, it’s important that we have a
relationship with Washington since many of the decisions they make
can have serious consequences for the future of the open internet
and our industry.
I’ve had a long history of being outspoken on these issues that
affect our industry (e.g., SOPA, PIPA, startup visa, net
neutrality, etc.), but leaders in tech should at the very least be
engaging with their representatives because it’s a lack of
communication that often gets us into problematic situations.
What’s the future of internet communities like Reddit?
It seems like there’s a huge financial gap developing between
feed-based platforms (Facebook, Instagram) and communities built on
one-to-one interaction (Reddit, Twitter).
Reddit is the internet’s largest example of a community
platform, which has no peers, but does have an opportunity that the
world hasn’t seen before: insight and access to the word-of-mouth
conversations that influence us all. We’ve only started to see the
potential of it with our native ads—these sponsored conversations
have been huge successes for small companies and large


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Representative of the insurance company Fidelidade, the CSP Seguros shop in Maia needed to announce to the city its change of facilities to be closer!
Through the production of two carefully scripted videos and the use of the most up-to-date technology, we bet that no one in Maia was left without knowing its new location!
You wanted to update your online presence with a new website and online appointment scheduling.
Digic wanted you to have that and more!
With the social media ad campaign, the goal was achieved and exceeded expectations!


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|Articles - June 2013|
|Tuesday, May 28, 2013|
Page 3 of 4
On a humid evening in early spring, Portland resident Kat West maneuvers a broadfork out the door of the Southeast Portland Tool Library on Southeast Harrison Street. She’s planning to plant a garden on a plot of land she recently purchased, and she needs a way to till the soil. “This sucker costs $200,” she says. “I don’t have that kind of money right now. Coming here and being able to borrow this as needed is invaluable.”
The sharing economy has a foothold in many parts of the country. But progressive, community-minded coastal cities like San Francisco, New York, Seattle — and Portland — have embraced it the most. Hyperlocal sharing networks all across Portland facilitate the trade of everything from preserving equipment (North Portland Preserve and Serve) to baby clothes (St. Johns Swapnplay) to garden space (Farm My Yard) or fruits and vegetables (Portland Fruit Tree Project).
Located in a large storage closet in an Episcopal church, the Southeast Portland Tool Library offers its 2,000 members access to 1,200 donated tools completely free of charge. Upstairs in the same building, Kitchen Share SE runs a similar operation for food-related accoutrements like dehydrators and ice cream makers.
“The sharing economy is a recognition that we can use our existing stuff more efficiently than we currently are,” says Arnold Strong, CEO of the Portland startup Bright Neighbor. An online marketplace launched in 2009 to facilitate the renting, selling, lending and bartering of consumer goods and services, Bright Neighbor had 8,000 regular users across Portland’s 95 neighborhoods by the summer of 2012. Formerly housed on a website, Bright Neighbor has taken a brief hiatus to migrate to a mobile app that will relaunch this June.
“With the number of people accessing the web through mobile devices, it’s a no-brainer we’ve got to be a completely mobile application,” Strong says.
While Portland has a cultural predisposition for sharing, its livability has actually hindered the development of its sharing economy. In places like San Francisco and New York, where parking is impossible, hotels can be prohibitively expensive, and city dwellers don’t have space for extra stuff, collaborative consumption makes certain things doable and desirable that would not be otherwise.
In the Rose City, however, sharing-economy supply is a lot higher than demand, according to Steve Gutmann, business development manager for Getaround in Portland and an avid participant in Brook’s early car-share program. While 550 car owners are eager to lend out their vehicles on the service, the number of takers does not yet match. Gutmann is currently working to grow the user base, he says.
“The number of people who are choosing a low-car lifestyle is growing,” he says, “but it’s growing slowly.” In addition to Getaround, Gutmann is working on a number of other transportation and sharing services. He helped a friend launch Nimbler SF, an app for navigating San Francisco by bike and transit, and is part of a team developing both a peer-to-peer driveway-rental app called SpotPark and an app that connects buyers and sellers of stand-up paddleboard gear: GO SUP GEAR.
Matching supply and demand is just one of the challenges facing the sharing economy, however. Figuring out how the business model will relate to existing legal and insurance systems is another. Airbnb first addressed the question of liability in 2011 after a renter in San Francisco returned home to find her apartment ransacked. The room-sharing service began offering a $50,000 guarantee for loss or damage due to theft or vandalism, a limit it increased to $1 million last year.
Because current legal, insurance and regulatory infrastructures are designed to handle transactions between consumers and companies, not consumers and their peers, the sharing economy faces obstacles on a number of fronts.
While the legislatures of three states — Oregon, Washington and California — have adopted bills that account for personal car sharing, insurance structures have not caught up in other states or for other types of rental properties. Hence, to protect users, most peer-to-peer rental sites offer their own insurance policies. Getaround matches both the owner’s and renter’s personal auto insurance limits up to $1 million, and SnapGoods guarantees damaged goods will be repaired or replaced up to $5,000.
Industry regulations represent another roadblock. Sharing participants sometimes face complications because they offer the same services as companies in highly supervised industries, yet they are not subject to the same rules. Unlike traditional hotels, Airbnb hosts do not pay hotel taxes, obtain licenses, undergo inspections or have to meet safety requirements.
Sharing businesses have also had to figure out how to build trust among users, an essential component for their businesses’ functioning. Most websites offer a two-way rating system that allows both owners and renters to review each transaction, building for each an online track record others can check out. Some also link their services to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to provide even more information. Except for a few situations, the accountability tool has worked remarkably well.
Portland residents Milos and Tijana Jovanovic, who rent out the downstairs level of their Dutch Colonial duplex for $110 to $130 a night, have found their renters to be a self-selecting group. They’ve had no problems with any guests during their two years in business.
“People who stay in this type of accommodation are mellow and cool and enjoy these types of settings,” Milos says one afternoon in the bright, airy living room of the rental. “The type of person who wants to do this is the right type.”
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
BY AMY MILSHTEIN
As CEO and owner of five different cannabis-related businesses generating a total net revenue of $2 million, Alex Rogers could sit back and ride the lucrative wave of Oregon’s burgeoning pot industry.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
BY LINDA BAKER
I walked off the Vigor Industrial shipyard that day with a clear cover line in mind: the Love Boat.
Monday, November 02, 2015
BY LINDA BAKER
The hollowing out of the American city is now a bona fide cultural meme. Newspapers, magazines and digital media sites are publishing story after story about the morphing of urban grit and diversity into bastions of wealth and commodity culture.
Friday, October 30, 2015
BY CHRIS NOBLE | ART DIRECTOR
Friday, November 20, 2015
PHOTOS BY JASON E. KAPLAN
Tuesday, October 06, 2015
BY CHRIS NOBLE
As we worked on the October cover, it became evident that Nick Symmonds is a hard man to catch — even when he’s not hotfooting it around a track.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
BY JASON NORRIS | CFA
Volatility reigned supreme over the summer. The old Wall Street adage of, “Sell in May and go away,” was prophetic in 2015.
|The Love Boat|
|The Food Pod Grows Up|
|Tinker, Tailor, Portland Maker|
|The High Road|
|The Shift to Community Health Care|
|The Harder They Fall|
|Another chapter to the Bezos/Musk space race story|
|Thanksgiving travel: Fuel costs low, terrorism anxiety high|
|Costco chicken salad linked to E. coli case in Washington|
|Nestle comes clean about benefitting from slave labor|
|Enormous drugmaker emerges from Pfizer, Allergan deal|
|Startups joining lobbying game|
|Merchants complain as Square goes public|
Economic diversity has proven a smart strategy for the Port of Hood River. How can other Oregon communities replicate the model?
Phone, Internet needs of small community school districts earn attention of top-five telecom provider.
Farmland LP grows its vision for organic farming in Oregon.
The Salem Convention Center has capped its tenth anniversary year by earning the prestigious “Best of the Best 2015” award from NW Meetings & Events magazine. Selected as the Best Convention/Conference Venue in Oregon by meeting and event planners from Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, the Salem Convention Center ranked above the Oregon Convention Center and the Portland Art Museum.
The Oregon Cooperative Hall of Fame honors individuals for their outstanding contributions to the successful building and operation of Oregon agricultural cooperatives.
Health insurer reports $10.2 million in net income after taxes through the first nine months of 2015.


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UK-based online marketplace, OnBuy, has begun a recruitment drive to help deliver what it labels “a top secret product roadmap”.
According to a press release: “Everyone in the business is excited about the plans and confident that this will redefine the marketplace model and lead them to becoming the next big household name.”
CEO, Cas Paton, says: “There’s never been a more exciting time to join Onbuy. We’ve had an amazing journey over the past six years, and we’re buzzing with excitement about the industry changing plans we have underway.”
“Our eyes are firmly fixed on the future and we’re recruiting some top tier talent to join us in delivering something really special for our retailers and customers.”
The company offers hybrid and overseas working policies. It says that it is supporting staff with the cost of living and has recently granted them share options.
The new positions include roles of all levels in development, marketing, sales, finance, and business analytics.
OnBuy recently announced that it is using Oracle NetSuite to improve financial operations and reporting and support its growing customer base which is now served by more than 11,000 retailers hosting over 36 million products.
“Our meteoric growth is thanks to our refreshing approach to online commerce, and a proposition that champions transparency and collaboration,” says James Watts, CFO, OnBuy.
“The systems we use must also reflect those values and enable us to succeed. With NetSuite, we now have much greater visibility across departments and revenue streams, and more ways to report back to the business and investors. NetSuite will grow with us as we harness its ability to manage a multinational, multicurrency business.”
OnBuy has been able to unify and manage its financial operations on a single cloud business system.
NetSuite has helped the OnBuy finance team develop more in-depth departmental and investor reports, manage supplier payments, streamline bookkeeping activities and automate bank payments.
The planning and budgeting capabilities in NetSuite will, meanwhile, help the team improve financial forecasting and modelling across the business.
In addition, NetSuite will support OnBuy as it expands into new countries, by helping it manage transactions in multiple currencies and across subsidiaries.
“In a multi trillion dollar industry, OnBuy has the potential to reshape the online commerce landscape,” says Brandon Wilkins, Senior Director, EMEA Account Management, Oracle NetSuite.
“The systems it uses to run its business needs to be capable of delivering that scale. With NetSuite, it has a trusted partner to deliver exceptional experiences for its customers and its retailers, while keeping a keen eye on productivity and efficiency.”


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The loonie has picked up some steam since the Bank of Canada raised interest rates earlier in the month. This week, the Canadian dollar hit 80 cents for the first time since the summer of 2015, that’s a 10 percent increase since May this year. All that sounds really good, but what does it really mean when the Canadian dollar is doing so well? And other than feeling some inexplicable Canadian pride, what does a strong loonie mean for Canadians? It’s not all good news, unfortunately. There’s some uncertainty going into the next few months with the American economy and the upcoming NAFTA talks. So what does it all mean?
You cross-border shoppers must be happy. With the dollar hovering around 70 cents for most of this year, it’s going to feel like you’re getting a 10 percent discount on everything you buy in the states. A stronger Canadian dollar means you get more bang for your buck when you shop at American stores, pay for vacations and buy online. That’s a pretty sweet deal.
It’s not just us shoppers who will enjoy this (perceived) discount either. Canadian companies that buy equipment from the States will also be suffering less in the exchange. That will lower those companies’ cost which can translate to lower prices for us consumers here in Canada too. No complaints about that.
Sorry, the higher loonie isn’t all cheap Target trips and discount vacations. Something that’s going to suffer in all this is Canadian export. Policy-makers have been trying to increase exports and they’ve been largely successful because a weaker dollar helps give that a boost. With a higher dollar, that growth might take a hit which, in turn, might damage the Canadian economy (not dramatically, but a little).
Another problem is that this dollar increase does not mean that individual Canadians are any better off. Eventually, buying is going to slow down and the dollar will likely go down with it. Household debt in the country is at an all-time high and the expensive housing markets in places like Toronto and Vancouver are cooling off. Less money moving around can make for an economic decline and the dollar would go down in response.
The bottom line
A strong dollar is indicative of a strong economy. Currently, the Canadian economy is doing pretty well in general. To keep this surge in perspective though: the average rate of the Canadian dollar in the past 30 years is 81 cents and we’re a still a little bellow that right now.
We’ll certainly see some personal benefits from the dollar’s upturn but there’s also some uncertainty coming our way. Between Trump’s promise to grow the American economy (even more) and the NAFTA negotiations, there’s a lot that could stop the CAD in its tracks. In particular, if the result of the NAFTA negotiation is unfavourable to Canada, the dollar would depreciate in response.
So for now, enjoy your American shopping and the Canadian pride that comes from the stronger dollar while it lasts.


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The lack of a digitized ecosystem in India, especially in rural areas, might seem like a hindrance for tech companies, but some companies are finding it affords opportunities which can’t be found in developed countries.
Archive – Browse all of StartUp Beat’s past stories/posts.
StartUp Beat has relaunched to take a new and improved look at startups from around the world. We will continue to profile the world’s most innovative early-stage startups through company pitches, interviews and guest columns from entrepreneurial experts. StartUp Beat is now based in Medellín, Colombia, one of Latin America’s burgeoning tech hubs.


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After work hours on September 27 last week, employees of Fortnite maker Epic Games received a calendar invite informing them of a mandatory meeting the next morning, according to an employee who received the message. Just before the surprise all-hands was scheduled to begin, employees of the online record store Bandcamp, which Epic bought in March 2022, received another email, says the worker: Epic was laying off 830 people—around 16 percent of the company’s workforce—and selling Bandcamp to audio licensing company Songtradr.
Bandcamp employees were stunned to learn that some of them would not be receiving job offers from Songtradr. That day, the acquisition was announced publicly, and multiple Bandcamp employees say they began losing access to many of the systems needed to do their jobs, leaving the platform operating with limited oversight.
Bandcamp customer support specialist ed blair and software engineer Blade Barringer say staff have received little guidance from Epic or Songtradr about how they’re supposed to do their jobs without access to critical systems. When new support requests come in, blair can see them but is not able to properly respond.
A Zoom meeting last week with Songtradr executives who said they wanted Bandcamp to stay artist-friendly didn’t add much clarity. The platform’s staff have been told that Bandcamp is in a state of stasis during the transition, blair says, a situation that has been “really destabilizing” for the workers.
The turmoil at Bandcamp could also be destabilizing for musicians and their fans. Epic’s acquisition of Bandcamp last year triggered concern among some artists, music lovers, and industry groups, who worried that a uniquely artist-centric platform might change for the worse.
Bandcamp, founded in 2007, is beloved by many artists for providing a place where musicians can foster loyal fan communities and receive a generous share of music sales. Bandcamp pays artists 82 percent of every transaction, while Spotify is widely reported to pay a small fraction of a cent per stream. When Songtradr announced its acquisition last week, the Future of Music Coalition, a musician advocacy nonprofit, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the company’s leaders should “do what Bandcamp’s fine employees have done for years—seeking constant artist/label feedback at every iteration. Don’t screw it up!”
Those employees were not included in Epic’s sale of Bandcamp. Songtradr purchased the platform’s business and operations but not its staff, according to Sandy Pope, bargaining director for the Office of Professional Employees International Union, which since March has represented 67 out of some 120 Bandcamp workers.
“Based on its current financials, Bandcamp requires some adjustments to ensure a sustainable and healthy company that can serve its community of artists and fans long into the future,” says Songtradr chief marketing officer Lindsay Nahmiache. She says the company will be extending job offers to Bandcamp staff over the next few weeks as the sale is finalized.
Epic did not respond to a request for comment but last week posted an email from CEO Tim Sweeney saying laid-off employees would get six months of pay and health care along with other benefits. The Bandcamp union faces the prospect of having to start negotiations over again with Songtradr management.


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Cigarette Stocks Have Gotten Burned This Week. Could Things Get Even Worse for Big Tobacco?
Big tobacco stocks have had one of their worst weeks in years, with Marlboro manufacturer Philip Morris International (PMI) down more than 17% (including its single biggest one-day share price decline in a decade Thursday), Altria down more than 10%, and British American Tobacco (whose subsidiaries include Camel cigarettes maker Reynolds American) down 9%.
So why are all these cigarette stocks getting smoked? The bear run kicked off with what, for the industry, was a foreboding sign about the state of business: Philip Morris reported its tobacco shipments had fallen even more than expected. That’s an issue that’s dogged Big Tobacco for a while now as smoking rates plummet. But what was potentially more troubling to companies like Altria and British American Tobacco was PMI’s admission the next generation of tobacco products meant to make up for declining traditional cigarette sales—such as “heat not burn” devices like the iQOS—appear to be stalling in certain global markets like Japan.
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That could be a long-term problem for Philip Morris and its ilk if it can’t step up its marketing game in a crowded space. And the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under Commissioner Scott Gottlieb may not be making things much easier with aggressive plans to limit nicotine levels in traditional cigarettes and skepticism about firms’ claims that devices like the iQOS cut health risks compared to conventional cigarettes. A group of U.S. Senators recently sent the FDA a letter urging the agency to reject Philip Morris’ request to market iQOS as a “modified-risk” tobacco product, which might give consumers the impression that it’s a healthier alternative.
Still, some industry analysts believe these devices will ultimately be the wave of the future and help tobacco companies like Philip Morris transform themselves by shifting to smokeless and nicotine-vapor products.
“We continue to believe in iQOS and its power to reshape this company,” said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Christopher Growe in a research note. “After one quarter of a minor setback in development in Japan, we are loath to change our long-term estimates significantly.”


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Craft Brewing and Distilling News for August 22, 2017August 22, 2017
•Stone Brewing has released Tangerine Express IPA in cans to the California market. The 6.7%-abv IPA is brewed with whole tangerines and pineapple. Previously available on draft and in 22-ounce bottles, Stone Tangerine Express IPA will now be available in six-packs of 12-ounce cans. The national rollout will take place in January. Stone says that 30% of its packaged beer sales are now derived from cans. Stone ranks as the ninth-largest craft brewer nationwide, according to the Brewers Association.
•Colorado’s Avery Brewing Co. has appointed a new chief operating officer and hired a new director of sales and marketing. Dustin LeMoine, a five-year veteran of the company, has been promoted to COO after a successful run as director of sales and marketing, helping the brewery develop its taproom sales and surpass 60,000 barrels. Filling LeMoine’s former role is Brian Krueger. Krueger comes to Avery with significant industry experience, having spent 16 years as a sales executive at New Belgium. Most recently, Krueger served as vice president of sales strategy and execution for Enjoy Beer, a craft beer acquisition company that controls Abita Beer, among others.
•Austin, Texas-based Independence Brewing Co. is rolling out its popular Stash IPA in six-packs of 12-ounce cans. The 7%-abv IPA originally launched in August 2007 as a draft exclusive, and has grown to become Independence Brewing’s best-selling beer. Stash IPA is now available in cans both on- and off-premise in Austin, and is expected to reach statewide distribution in Texas and Arkansas by Labor Day.Subscribe to Shanken News Daily’s Email Newsletter, delivered to your inbox each morning.


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As a result of the Smiths Falls closure, the company is exiting the cultivation of cannabis flower at its Ontario facility. It will also stop sourcing cannabis flower from Mirabel’s facility in Quebec, and switch to an outside-source model for cannabis beverages, foods, vapors, and extracts.
The moves follow Canopy’s exit from the Canadian retail market and the closure of its Scarborough-based research facility. The company reported that it expects to generate savings of up to $160 million over the next 12 months.
“The curtain must be up to profitability to achieve our ambition to lead the North American cannabis market in the long term. We are shifting our Canadian business to an asset-light model and significantly reducing the overall size of our organization. These changes are challenging but challenging,” said David Klein, CEO of Canopy. necessary to drive our business towards profitability and growth.”
The company reported a loss of $2.1 billion in the first quarter
Read the full article at ab growth


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Android has taken the world by storm and has surpassed Apple’s iOS in regards to the number of smartphone users. Apple however are still selling more applications and generating more revenue.
Distimo filed a report on the subject yesterday and it shows that the Apple App Store generates four times as much revenue as the Google Android Market. They said “2011 was the year where in-app purchases and the freemium business model became one of the most important monetization strategies for developers. Half of the revenue of the 200 top grossing apps in the Apple App Store for iPhone is now generated by freemium apps. This proportion is even higher in the Google Android Market where 65 percent of the revenue from the top grossing apps is generated by freemium apps.”
Freemium is a term used for applications which are free to download, but which charge for items to use within the application. Many games attract users by this methodology, offering a free means of entry, but hoping they will pay later for extra features or in game power up capabilities.
These ‘In-App’ purchases have been a good means of income on the Apple Store since 2009, and they aren’t yet available on Android – until March next year anyway. The Distimo report shows that 30 percent of iPhone downloads and 44 percent of iPad downloads originate from China.
Android’s Market has the largest number of free applications, passing Apple in June this year. The games category is the biggest over all, generating the most downloads.


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At Wegmans, trade grocery bags for green
- Wegmans has pledged a donation to the Nature Conservancy based on bags people return to its stores
- Specifically%2C the grocer will give 50 cents for each pound of plastic above 177%2C000 pounds in April
- The conservancy has a million members and has protected 119 million acres of land globally
Return a handful of plastic bags to Wegmans Food Markets and you can help save a tree — or maybe an entire forest.
In the latest phase of a campaign by the Rochester grocer to increase recycling of disposal plastic bags, Wegmans has pledged a donation to the Nature Conservancy based on how many extra bags people return to its stores in the month of April.
Specifically, the grocer will give the conservation group 50 cents for each pound of plastic above 177,000 pounds, which was the amount returned by consumers in April 2013. Wegmans pledged a minimum of $10,000, but is willing donate more.
"I think they're hoping this will really spur a lot more people to bring plastic back to the stores, not just because it's the right thing to do but to benefit us as well," said Jim Howe, executive director of the central and western New York chapter of the conservancy.
The conservancy has a million members and has protected 119 million acres of land globally. The chapter headed by Howe administers 35 preserves, which are generally open to the public. Among them are Thousand Acre Swamp in Penfield and Rush Oak Openings in Rush.
The group often works with government agencies to protect land, and relies on donations from citizens, corporations and others to acquire parcels. TD Bank, for instance, provided funding last year to add 107 acres to the conservancy's West Hill Preserve in Ontario County. That donation was made as a green offset for the Canadian-held bank's use of paper.
"We're really pleased," Howe said of the nascent relationship with Wegmans. "If it results in more plastic being recycled, that's great. It'll help the planet, it'll help Wegmans customers."
Each of Wegmans' 83 stores has bins near the entrance into which customers can put clean bags and certain other plastic material. The plastic is shipped back to a company in Texas that incorporates it into new plastic bags. Company employees also collect plastic used to wrap products and send it to a Virginia firm that uses it to make plastic decking, fencing and trim.
A total of 3.6 million pounds of plastic was sent to the two companies last year, Wegmans said in a news release.
Customers can put not just Wegmans' own bags but any No. 2 or No. 4 flexible polyethylene plastic into recycle bins at the company's stores. This would include bags in which newspapers are delivered and bags in which bread, produce and other food is packaged.
Bags that make a crinkling sound when compressed are made from another kind of plastic and may not be recycled in the Wegmans bins. Information on what is and is not welcome can be found at plasticfilmrecycling.org
Wegmans began earlier this year to stamp "Return to Sender" on its disposable bags to encourage recycling. It has posted green signs about the Nature Conservancy initiative by its store recycle bins.
As both Wegmans and Howe noted, recycling disposable plastic bags is the second-best option from a sustainability perspective. Better still is bringing reusable bags to the grocery store.
Wegmans, which sells reusable bags for 99 cents, will give one away to the first 300 qualifying customers at each of its stores between 11 am and 3 pm on Saturday.
To get one, customers need only bring a handful of clean, dry plastic bags.


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UFC partners with Roobet.fun to bring an exciting gaming experience to fans. Find out more about this groundbreaking partnership and the benefits it offers.
UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, has announced a multi-year partnership with Roobet.fun, a leading online gaming platform. This partnership will provide Roobet.fun with significant exposure through UFC’s biggest events and digital platforms.
Under the agreement, Roobet.fun will receive prominent branding in the Octagon® at select UFC Pay-Per-Views and Fight Nights. They will also be featured as a Presenting Partner of select episodes of Embedded, UFC’s all-access video content series.
In addition to branding opportunities, UFC and Roobet.fun will collaborate on custom and original content that will be distributed across UFC-owned social media channels and digital platforms. This will allow Roobet.fun to reach UFC’s massive audience of over 243 million users worldwide.
Fans will also have the chance to experience the excitement of UFC in-person through sweepstakes packages offered by UFC and Roobet.fun. These packages will include exclusive in-person prizes such as tickets to UFC events, post-fight tours of the Octagon, meet and greets with UFC athletes and legends, and VIP tours of the UFC Performance Institute.
The partnership also includes an annual Brand Ambassador fund, which will bring the partnership to life through appearances, content, and creative campaigns with UFC athletes.
Grant Norris-Jones, Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships at UFC, expressed excitement about the partnership, stating, "Roobet.fun is an innovative online gaming platform that offers an incredibly compelling user engagement experience. It’s a forward-thinking approach to gaming we believe UFC fans will enjoy."
Anthony Brennan, Roobet.fun Co-Founder and Head of Partnerships, also shared his enthusiasm, saying, "With this partnership, Roobet.fun will create groundbreaking experiences that UFC fans have never seen before."
Roobet.fun already has deep roots within the MMA community, as they individually support several of UFC’s best fighters through sponsorships. They also produce several popular MMA podcasts.
- UFC and Roobet.fun have announced a multi-year partnership
- Roobet.fun will receive prominent branding in the Octagon® and be featured in UFC’s all-access video content series
- Custom and original content will be distributed across UFC-owned social media channels and digital platforms
- Fans will have the chance to win sweepstakes packages for exclusive UFC experiences
- The partnership includes an annual Brand Ambassador fund
- Grant Norris-Jones – Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships at UFC
- Anthony Brennan – Roobet.fun Co-Founder and Head of Partnerships
- Alex Pereira – Former UFC champion
- UFC partnership
- Online gaming


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MSC Cruises is canceling its remaining summer 2015 port calls to Tunis, Tunisia, after Wednesday's terror attack at the Bordo National Museum.
The midday museum attack killed nearly two dozen people, some of whom were passengers aboard its MSC Splendida cruise ship, the Italian cruise operator confirmed Thursday.
At least 12 MSC guests from Splendida died in the museum assault and 13 were injured, MSC said. The nationalities of the dead and injured were mostly European. No Americans were listed among the MSC casualties.
The cruise line, which operates its U.S. division from Fort Lauderdale, said it's suspending the upcoming Tunisian cruise stops to protect guests and crew.
"Sadly, the murderous actions of the people behind this devastating attack will have far-reaching and profoundly damaging effects on democratic Tunisia and its faltering economy," MSC Cruises Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago said in a statement. "Tunisia can little afford to be considered a no-go zone at this time, but regrettably that is how tourists will now see it."
Tunis has long been a key destination for MSC Cruises, and its cultural offerings have proven popular with visitors.
The cruise line hopes it will be able to restore the destination to its itineraries when the security situation has returned to normal, Vago said.
The four ships affected by the change in scheduling include MSC Splendida, MSC Fantasia, MSC Preziosa and MSC Divina.
Costa Cruises — the Italian cruise brand of Miami-based Carnival Corp. & PLC — also reported the deaths of five passengers from its Costa Fascinosa ship in the museum attack. Eight passengers suffered injuries.
"Our deepest sympathy and our condolences go to the victims and their families," Costa President Neil Palomba said in a statement on the cruise line's website. "We share their sorrow."
Costa also has suspended port calls to Tunis.
firstname.lastname@example.org, 954-356-4209 or Twitter@TheSatchreport


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"It's been a good run and we've had a great time here, but it's just time to move on," says Barb Longo. And so Sunday evening, Longo's Subway Tavern will close...after 52 years.
Barb's been there for 38 of them: She started working at the Subway when she was eighteen and wound up marrying Dave Longo, whose father, Ray, had bought the Subway Tavern when Dave was a kid. Ray added the Longo name to the place, and also added Italian food to its offerings -- including a newfangled thing called pizza.
"The first pizza made in Colorado came out of my oven," says Barb Longo. "Ray Longo also designed the calzone, but we call it a cannoli."
But Ray's gone now, and the neighborhood's changing; another Italian institution, the nearby Pagliacci's, closed its doors last month after 65 years in business. "It's not so fun for us anymore," Barb says. So she and Dave made the decision to sell the place, and once word got out, they had a flurry of offers.
The winner? Larimer Associates, which already owns LoHi SteakBar and Ernie's Pizzeria in the neighborhood, as well as restaurants across town. "Frankly, I still haven't the foggiest idea what we're going to do with it," says Larimer Associates COO Joe Vostrejs. "Our group loves to buy old buildings; we particularly love to buy old buildings on corners in neighborhoods that show every promise of just getting better and better."
And this spot definitely qualifies. "It's going to be one of the new, emerging cool neighborhoods for the city," Vostrejs says, and the proxmity to downtown is unbeatable; LoDo is only minutes away across the viaduct.
The building itself, which got its start in the late 1800s as a market, has its own attractions. "There's a lot of old charm," Vostrejs notes, including a spectacular bar. "We'll peel back the layers so that everyone can see that."
When they took over at Ernie's and Billy's Inn, Larimer Associates retained (or brought back) the original names of the restaurants at the same time they updated the concepts. That could happen at the Subway, too, but Vostrejs won't know for sure until "we get the team together and brainstorm and figure out precisely what we want to do with it," he says. "We do know we're going to put a bunch of money into the building and fix it up, but not so much that we change its neighborhood character; we want to retain as much of that character, as much of that soul, as we can."
The Longos will be hosting an appreciation night for their regulars tonight. And on Sunday, after the Broncos game is over and the last beer drained, the Subway Tavern -- at least the Longo version -- will close its doors for good.
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China’s Huawei Technologies wants to become world’s third largest storage vendor by 2018, Reuters reported, quoting Huawei’s storage product line president Fan Ruiqi.
To achieve the goal, the company is targeting European and local institutions to takes market share from leaders EMC Corp and International Business Machines Corp.
“We don’t want to just be No.1 in China…We want to be at least the top three in the world by 2018,” Reuters quoted Fan.
Huawei expansion strategies include targeting financial institutions, governments and telecom carriers for data storage.
He declined to reveal revenue figures, but said growth in Western Europe from countries such as Italy and Spain was particularly strong.
However, he expects Huawei’s revenue from data-storage to reach at least $2 billion by 2018.


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Google changes its approach to news subscriptions, scraps First Click Free policy
Google has announced changes to the requirements it places on websites that provide news on a subscription basis. With a large number of news sites locking content away behind a paywall, Google had required publishers to provide people with access to three free articles per day or face demotion in search results.
Scrapping what was known as the First Click Free Policy, Google is dropping any such requirement to provide free access to content. A new approach -- Flexible Sampling -- lets publishers decide how many, if any, free articles they provide.
- Google reveals why it killed NFC Smart Lock in Android
- Google launches Family Link parental control solution for Android
- PSA: Google quietly discontinues NFC Smart Unlock without explanation
In the coming weeks, Google also plans to introduce tools that reduce the friction experienced by users looking to sign up for a subscription. The aim here is clearly to appease news publishers who have felt strong-armed into giving content away without seeing any real return. It's something that has already been welcomed by the industry, with Kinsey Wilson, an adviser to New York Times CEO Mark Thompson, saying: "Google's decision to let publishers determine how much content readers can sample from search is a positive development. We're encouraged as well by Google's willingness to consider other ways of supporting subscription business models and we are looking forward to continuing to work with them to craft smart solutions."
While Google is no longer requiring publishers to provide access to free content any more, the company recommends that sites continue with some sort of try-before-you-buy model. In a blog post announcing the changes, Google's vice president of news, Richard Gringas says:
Publishers generally recognize that giving people access to some free content is the way to persuade people to buy their product. The typical approach to sampling is a model called metering, which lets people see a pre-determined number of free stories before a paywall kicks in. We recommend the following approach:
- Monthly, rather than daily, metering allows publishers more flexibility to experiment with the number of free stories to offer people and to target those more likely to subscribe.
- For most publishers, 10 articles per month is a good starting point.
- Please see our Webmaster blog and our guide on Flexible Sampling for more detail on these approaches.
"Try before you buy" underlines what many publishers already know -- they need to provide some form of free sampling to be successful on the internet. If it's too little, then fewer users will click on links to that content or share it, which could have an effect on brand discovery and subsequently may affect traffic over time.
Moving forward, Google says that it will be working with publishers to determine how best to make subscription news work. As a first step, the company is looking to make it easier for people to hand over their payment details:
As a first step we're taking advantage of our existing identity and payment technologies to help people subscribe on a publication's website with a single click, and then seamlessly access that content anywhere -- whether it's on that publisher site or mobile app, or on Google Newsstand, Google Search or Google News.
Google says it also plans to use machine learning to help publishers to identify those users who are most likely to become subscribers so they can be presented with an appropriate offer.
Image credit: testing / Shutterstock


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Google could be wading into troubled waters again for antitrust over AdWords, as the European Union (EU) is reportedly considering taking action against the company.
The EU watchdogs are apparently unhappy with Google's advertising services — including AdWords — claiming that it is in violation of competition rules.
The news comes courtesy of a Bloomberg report, which cites people who supposedly are in the know.
"The European Union is taking steps that could lead to a third antitrust complaint against Google, this time over its lucrative advertising services, according to three people familiar with the EU investigation," revealed the publication.
Reportedly, officials from the EU have asked for the critics' permission, so that the evidence can be shared with Google. The publication's sources, however, choose to remain anonymous as the matter is a private one. One of the sources, however, disclosed that one such permission request for evidence sharing with Google was sent as recently as last week.
EU's request for evidence sharing is usually a forerunner of a formal complaint or statement of objection, which catalogs how a company may have potentially violated antitrust laws in the EU.
While the sources did not reveal by when the EU would be leveling the charges against Google, in May, Margrethe Vestager, the competition commissioner, expressed optimism that her office would be able to come to a resolution on the AdWords issue, but "within a reasonable timeframe."
In the event the EU does take action against Google, this would be the third antitrust complaint against the Alphabet-owned company.
Google is currently embroiled in two more antitrust investigations with the EU, which were escalated post Vestager's appointment as the antitrust chief in 2014.
In 2015, Google came under the scanner for promoting its services over that of its rivals in an unfair manner in the context of search services for shopping. In April, it was charged with an official complaint pertaining to its Android OS, which it is required to answer by summer.
In the previous two antitrust cases, the commission has been swift in sending across the statement of objections post sending out requests to share evidence regarding the case. In the two older antitrust cases, Google has maintained that it is innocent.
The current complaint could adversely affect Google's revenue stream when compared to the older lawsuits, especially considering that AdWords is pivotal in boosting the company's advertising sales.
Both the Commission and Google are staying mum on the matter and have declined to comment.


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Digital Extremes is once again digitally hosting the annual Warframe Conference, TennoCon 2021, on July 17 due to restrictions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The event is in partnership with charity organization, Unity Project for Relief of Homeless as proceeds will come from donations supplied by purchasing merch packs.
“Digital Extremes is proud to make a donation to the Unity Project for Relief of Homelessness, which provides emergency shelter and supportive housing for adults and youth of all genders aged 18 and over who are struggling to avoid and to escape homelessness,” writes a release from Digital Extremes.
The following merch packs for TennoCon 2021 are available for purchase on their website:
- The TennoCon Digital Pack ($24.99 USD) – an exclusive collection of in-game cosmetics, items and Baro’s Relay
- TennoCon Merchandise Pack ($44.99 USD) – includes exclusive physical TennoCon gear (commemorative T-shirt, pin, lanyard and acrylic charm, badge, and more)
- TennoCon Bundle ($64.99 USD) combines both Digital and Merch Packs at a discounted rate.
“Unity Project is excited to partner with Digital Extremes and for the opportunity to engage the gaming industry in solutions to the growing crisis of homelessness in cities and towns everywhere,” said Chuck Lazenby, Executive Director, Unity Project for Relief of Homelessness. “The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed system gaps and failures but it also mobilized a system response and an appetite for real change. We are grateful for our partnership with Digital Extremes and for the progress we can make together to ensure that housing, with appropriate supports, is accessible to all as the solution to homelessness.”
Check out what happened at last year’s Tennocon here: TennoCon 2020 Viewership Breaks Recods, Logs Combined 2.44 Million Hours Watched