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Washington - A federal consumer watchdog sued Volkswagen on Tuesday (March 29), charging the company made false claims in commercials promoting its "Clean Diesel" vehicles as environmentally friendly.
This news comes a week after Volkswagen said it was recalling around 800 000 luxury sport utility vehicles worldwide over a potential footpedal problem.
South Africa affected
Volkswagen SA issued this statement to Wheels24: "VWSA will contact owners of the 3 350 Touaregs sold locally between 2011 and 2016 for a preventative inspection of their cars at the nearest Volkswagen dealerships. The inspection which will take less than 30 minutes, will look for possible loosening of a retaining ring on the bearing block of the pedal system. The ring will be checked for proper installation."
VW deceived owners
The German automaker hastily pulled the ads following admission in 2015 it had installed illegal software on its diesel vehicles to cheat emissions tests. US regulators say Volkswagen's engines spewed up to 40 times the allowed levels of air pollutants in real-world driving conditions.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleges that Volkswagen deceived customers during a seven-year period by selling more than 550 000 diesel cars based on fraudulent claims made through a marketing campaign. That campaign included Super Bowl ads, online social media campaigns and print advertising targeted to "environmentally conscious" consumers.
Volkswagen proclaimed in a mailer to customers promoting its 2009 Jetta TDI: "Hybrids? They're so last year. Now going green doesn't have to feel like you're going green."
The FTC's action is the latest blow to Volkswagen, which also faces more than $20-billion in potential fines for violating US clean air regulations and hundreds of class action lawsuits filed on behalf of angry customers.
FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said: "For years Volkswagen's ads touted the company's 'Clean Diesel' cars even though it now appears Volkswagen rigged the cars with devices designed to defeat emissions tests. Our lawsuit seeks compensation for the consumers who bought affected cars based on Volkswagen's deceptive and unfair practices."
Potential criminal charges
In addition to the raft of civil litigation, the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also weighing potential criminal charges against the company and its senior executives.
Volkswagen Group of America spokesperson Jeannine Ginivan said the company is reviewing the latest lawsuit and "continues to cooperate with all relevant US regulators."
Ginivan said: "Our most important priority is to find a solution to the diesel emissions matter and earn back the trust of our customers and dealers as we build a better company."


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The Mongolian Geological Association’s report on salt consumption in Mongolia shows that the country heavily relies on imports for its salt needs, with 14,000 tonnes being imported annually, costing USD 4.5 million in 2021 and 2022. The recommended daily consumption of salt is five grams per person, but Mongolians consume an alarming 11 grams per day.
The book “Salt Resources of Mongolia” details the discovery of numerous salt deposits in the Eastern part of the country in the 1940s during geological and soil research. As the industry developed in Mongolia, the need for raw materials such as salt increased, leading to the construction and operation of factories, meat processing plants, glass plants, and leather processing plants. Since 2005, a small number of domestic enterprises have been producing salt based on these deposits. However, due to the large amount of cheap and low-quality salt imported from China, the report suggests that domestic companies face decreasing sales and the risk of bankruptcy.
Given Mongolia’s vast salt deposits and the benefits of domestic production, efforts to reduce reliance on imports and increase domestic production could lead to significant cost savings and job creation. Additionally, initiatives to promote healthier eating habits and reduce salt consumption could lead to better health outcomes for Mongolians.

domain: news


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No rest for the wicked: The perils of being a content moderator — all for $28k a year
More than 65 years of video are uploaded to YouTube each day, and it ain’t all puppies and soldiers reuniting with their loved ones.
The internet is mostly NSFW and, unfortunately, it takes more than machine learning algorithms to keep bad actors at bay. In fact, humans are still the first line of defense — meaning that even if we aren’t seeing the dark and demented, someone else is.
According to a report from The Verge, US content moderators at Facebook have resorted to drug use and “trauma bonding” at work to cope with the stress of viewing graphic material on loop — all for the price of $15 per hour.
Cognizant times call for Cognizant measures
Deciding what belongs online is one of the fastest-growing jobs in tech — and maybe the most difficult for employees — reviewing everything from offensive jokes to murder on a daily basis.
This is where Facebook’s partnership with Cognizant, a “professional services” vendor, comes in.
According to some working moderators, Cognizant’s business model is shrouded in secrecy, for fear that Cognizant and its clients like Facebook will face criticism about their working conditions.
Becoming a ‘process executive’
Worldwide, Facebook employs over 7.5k content moderators — or as Cognizant calls them, “process executives.”
According to Cognizant, employees are equipped with everyday check-ins from counselors, hotline services, and an “employee assistance program.”
But the employees describe a very different workplace that is heavily micromanaged (with barely an hour of incremental breaks each day) and constantly on the edge of chaos.
Workers are pressured to keep their experiences private, forcing them to cope at work by resorting to drugs, jokes about suicide, and what one employee called “trauma bonding” — AKA having sex with employees inside stairwells and other office locales.
It goes deeper…
Many employees start to believe the conspiratorial content they’re subjected to — one employee told The Verge he no longer believes 9/11 was a terrorist attack.
Employees are often fired after only a handful of errors. And once they’re out, ex-employees are saddled with PTSD-like symptoms — with no additional support from Facebook or Cognizant.
Those who remain employed reportedly live in fear of retaliation from former colleagues. One ex-employee said he started bringing a gun to work while he was there to protect himself.
Barrick Gold launches a $17B+ bid to become the most major miner
The Canadian gold-mining company Barrick Gold made a $17.8B hostile takeover bid for its rival, Newmont Mining. If the deal goes through, the resulting giant would be a $42B company — the most gargantuan gold-grabber on the globe.
But given that the title of the world’s largest gold company has changed hands twice in the past 6 months due to a flurry of mergers, the deal is far from certain.
All that glitters is… sold
Consolidation in the gold industry has increased in recent months as extraction costs rise and accessible global gold supplies dwindle.
Last September, Barrick acquired Randgold Resources for $6B, and became at the largest gold mining company in the world. But just 3 months later, Newmont acquired rival Goldcorp for $10B, setting a new gold standard.
Now, Barrick is trying to muscle its way back to the top by acquiring Newmont (which would have to end its acquisition of Goldcorp). But the leadership teams at Barrick and Newmont have a history of bickering.
Who will become the mightiest mineral merchant?
In 2014, Barrick and Newmont discussed a merger, but the deal fell apart due to disagreements between the companies’ leaders.
Today, not much has changed: Barrick accused Newmont of overpaying Goldcorp assets, and Newmont is now writing off Barrick’s offer (an 8% discount on the company’s most recent stock price) as a lowball.
Newmont’s CEO — whose name, cross my heart hope to die, is Gary Goldberg — insisted that Barrick’s acquisition offer “doesn’t make sense.”
|»||Miner be mined|
Roadie raises $37m with hopes to bring peer-to-peer package delivery mainstream
P2P package delivery startup, Roadie, announced it has secured $37m in series C funding, led by The Home Depot.
The new funds bring its total capital raised to $62m, as the company plans to fuel its enterprise expansion over the next few years.
Hittin’ the road with some guy named Jerry’s package
Launched in 2015, Roadie planned to recruit a speck of the estimated 250m vehicles on the road to deliver goods en route to their destinations, according to VentureBeat.
Now, with more than 120k drivers, Roadie is one of the leading independent contractees in the space, helping retailers compete with the 2-day shipping promise of Amazon.
Here’s how it works: Shippers post through Roadie’s app with details like the size of the item and its destination. Roadie uses predictive analytics to find a driver with the right-sized vehicle headed in that direction — the driver then gets a flat-rate quote upfront.
Is this necessary?
Right now, a good chunk of America’s 57m gig-economy workers deliver for services like TaskRabbit, Postmates, or Amazon Flex. But, as shopping shifts further online, management consulting firm McKinsey predicts total annual deliveries in the US will more than double within 10 years.
In roughly 5 years since its launch, Roadie has teamed with brands like Delta, Walmart, The Home Depot, Kroger, Macy’s, and United to fulfill deliveries to over 224 metropolitan areas around the country.
|»||Peer-to-peer for the win|
Alibaba is adapting facial recognition tech to address China’s swine shortage
China’s most cutting-edge surveillance technology isn’t just for tracking citizens anymore. Instead, The New York Times reports, Alibaba and other companies are building elaborate facial recognition and voice recognition systems for a new audience: pigs.
With pork production imperiled by a recent outbreak of disease, China’s tech giants have turned to AI to keep pigs healthy.
China’s got swine fever
China is the world’s largest pork producer. But swine fever, which spreads through live pigs and pork products such as ham and sausage, has led to the mass slaughter of more than 1m sick piggies.
If the supply continues to fall, global pork prices will rise. So to fix the problem, Alibaba, JD.com, and other startups use facial recognition to monitor pig health and prevent disease.
JD.com’s system feeds information to robots to feed pigs optimal amounts. Alibaba’s system goes even further by using a voice recognition system to listen to pigs’ coughs and determine their health.
Maybe not the best way to bring back the bacon
Despite the investment in pig technology, many farmers are skeptical of the benefits. For one thing, the systems are no help once pigs are slaughtered.
“How then can you connect the head to the rest of the carcass?” asked Dirk Pfeiffer, a professor of veterinary epidemiology at the City University of Hong Kong.
But even more critics point to the cost of the process: Tagging a pig’s ear (the normal process for tracking pig health) costs approximately $0.30 per pig, while facial mapping costs $7 per pig.
What Beethoven, Steve Jobs, and Ben Franklin all had in common
Air baths, bean counting, carrot eating.
Those are just 3 of the strange habits we came across when researching the daily practices of history’s most successful leaders, thinkers, and doers.
Truth is: Eccentric, uber-successful people have more in common than you think.
Aluminum and Beethoven: The origins of the keystone habit
Those strange routines are actually examples of a keystone habit. Think of it as the one thing you do each and every day that primes you for other positive habits down the line.
Interestingly, the concept of a keystone habit has its roots with an American aluminum manufacturer, and can help explain why strange obsessions — like Beethoven counting 60 coffee beans each morning — are more positive than you’d think.
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Caught in the crossfire between its key allies Tehran and Washington, Iraq’s economy could suffer the heaviest collateral damage from the US reimposing sanctions against Iran. Washington slapped unilateral sanctions back on Tehran on Tuesday, after pulling out of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal in May.
For Iraq, recently emerged from an expensive war on jihadists, the embargo on its neighbor could hit jobs and cut off a crucial source of cheap imports. In 2017, Iraq imported around $6.6 billion (5.7 billion euros) worth of products from Iran, ranging from cars and washing machines to agricultural goods.
“The two or three million Iranian pilgrims who come each year (to Shiite holy sites) represent a major economic activity that Iraq could now be deprived of,” warned Muzhar Mohammed Salah, an economic advisor to Iraq’s prime minister.
Iraq has already witnessed a month of protests over a stagnant economy, widespread corruption, unemployment, chronic power cuts and an agriculture sector devastated by drought. “Eighty percent of products on the market are Iranian-made, so if the border closes, it will be a crisis for us,” said Ali Ajlan, whose Baghdad store sells household electrical items.
Another importer, Abbas Mukhaylef, said he can’t even imagine an alternative to Iran as a supplier. “Each year we import between 200,000 and 300,000 containers of air coolers” from Iran, he said. “We depend on Iran for most goods.”
Read more: Iran volatile on eve of US sanctions
For the Iraqi consumer, Iranian goods have a big advantage: they are the cheapest on the market. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday he would reluctantly comply with the new American embargo. “We don’t support the sanctions because they are a strategic error, but we will comply with them,” Abadi said. “In general, sanctions are unjust.”
Car imports stopped
Baghdad is allied with Washington, a strategic partner in the war that saw Iraq declare “victory” over Islamic State group jihadists in December 2017. But Baghdad also has strong ties to Tehran, a Shiite powerhouse that is heavily involved in the politics of Shiite-majority Iraq. Imports paid in US dollars have already ground to a halt.
The big winner will be the black market, which will feed demand for Iranian goods, predicted trader Ajlan, pointing out the border between the two countries runs more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles)
“To comply with the American sanctions, we’ve stopped imports of Iranian cars,” said a senior official in the auto import industry. The official, who asked not to be named, said Baghdad had asked for an exemption from Washington to allow imports of Iranian spare parts for car assembly facilities in Iraq. Production has ground to a halt with 5,000 jobs on the line, he said.
While Iraq’s exporters won’t feel too much of a pinch Iran only imported $77 million worth of Iraqi goods last year economic tourism looks set to take a hit. “The two or three million Iranian pilgrims who come each year (to Shiite holy sites) represent a major economic activity that Iraq could now be deprived of,” warned Muzhar Mohammed Salah, an economic advisor to Iraq’s prime minister.
Winners and losers
The big winner will be the black market, which will feed demand for Iranian goods, predicted trader Ajlan, pointing out the border between the two countries runs more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles). “Imports will continue, even if, officially, they are prohibited,” he said.
Yassin Faraj of the chamber of commerce in Sulaymaniyah, an Iraqi Kurdish province bordering Iran, told AFP smugglers could use several unofficial crossing points. He also forecast that tougher US sanctions on Tehran would spark “an influx of Iranian workers”, especially to the autonomous Kurdistan region, in a fresh blow to Iraq’s own workforce.
Read more: Can the US make Iran sanctions stick?
Iraq can ill afford further economic and social troubles. At least 14 people have been killed since protests erupted in early July in the southern province of Basra before spreading north, including to Baghdad. Iraq itself endured more than 12 years of international sanctions after late dictator Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
© Agence France-Presse


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SEATTLE (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc on Wednesday said actor Samuel L. Jackson and other celebrities will voice speech for the company’s virtual assistant Alexa, one of a range of new features designed to attract more users to the service.
The news, along with announcements of more voice-controlled Echo speakers, a multilingual mode for Alexa and an additional privacy feature for deleting voice recordings regularly, underscores the investment the world’s largest online retailer is putting into voice-controlled computing, a new area of technology in which it is competing against Alphabet Inc’s Google Assistant and Apple Inc’s Siri.
Amazon’s celebrity voice feature will cost $0.99, Senior Vice President David Limp said at an event in Seattle announcing the news.
Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in Seattle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
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The latest One UI 3.1 came with the Galaxy S21 series back in January and it sport some pretty decent revamps on the entire user interface and add up some security tweaks and patches for the year 2021.
Samsung today introduced the Galaxy S20 FE which is expected to bring some pretty decent features and interesting tweaks to the affordable flagship device released back in 2020.
The firmware comes with the version ID number G781BXXU2CUB5 which can be downloaded via Sammobile just in case you’re unable to receive yours directly.
The release isn’t yet global but if you reside in Europe, there is every possibility of getting your hands on the new update. So far, the One UI 3.1 for Galaxy S20 FE is available in the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Romania, Spain, Germany, Nordic, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Slovenia, Baltic, Portugal and Poland.
The South Korean tech giant seems to have been working really hard these days since the release of its 2021 flagship, the Galaxy S21 series which made it out just one month ago and packed with some pretty decent features and high-end specs.
Some of the interesting features you’ll be getting with the new update includes Google Discover which will be on the home screen, the ability to add video call effects in third-party apps, removal of location data from photos and other cool user interface tweaks.
How soon the One UI 3.1 for Galaxy S20 FE will arrive in other markets outside of Europe is yet unknown but the fact remains that this shouldn’t take too long considering how fast Samsung seems to be moving these days.


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A rare copy of Action Comics #1, featuring the first appearance of Superman, has sold at auction in the US for more than $2m.
The 1938 book is considered the ‘Holy Grail’ for comic collectors, and it’s believed that just 50–100 copies remain in existence.
The online sale at Comic Connect had been scheduled to close on Monday evening (June 11), but an unprecedented surge of interest from prospective bidders caused the company’s website to crash.
The sale was extended to the following day, and when the dust settled more than 70 bids later the book had sold for an impressive $2.1m – the third-highest price ever paid for a comic book.
The book sold this week had been graded CGC 8.5 with white pages, making it one of the best-preserved copies in existence.
Just two further copies of Action Comics #1 have received higher grades of CGC 9.0, and both also surpassed the $2m mark at auction.
The first was also sold by Comic Connect in 2011 for a then-record $2.2m. It had originally belonged to the actor Nicolas Cage, and was dramatically stolen from his apartment in 2000, before being found in a storage locker in California more than a decade later.
The second copy sold on eBay in 2014 for $3.2m, a price which still stands as a world-record for any comic book – and this time the buyers were the owners of Comic Connect, Vincent Zurzolo and Stephen Fishler.
According to reports, both of these GC 9.0 copies are now part of the Impossible Collection, a collection of high-grade DC comics owned by the Lebanese billionaire and Vero co-founder Ayman Hariri.
“I’m fortunate enough to own the highest graded issue of Action #1, which is the first appearance of Superman,” he said in an interview with the Telegraph in 2016.
“I really love what the books represent, because the day before these comics were on the stands, those characters didn’t exist. The day after, they not only existed, they also were established in the imaginations of so many people, and had such an impact on the world.”
With both these copies locked away for the foreseeable future, the appearance of the CGC 8.5 copy marked a rare opportunity for collectors to grab themselves a high-grade example of the world’s most important comic book.
The feverish interest mirrored what happened in 1986, when the book was first discovered.
A gentleman in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania found the perfectly preserved copy of Action Comics #1 tucked between the pages of an old hardback book he’d bought from a local auction.
Two weeks later he took the book along to a comic convention in New York, seeking advice and a valuation – and according to Comic Connect, all hell broke loose.
“What followed was a 48 hour feeding frenzy unmatched in the annals of comic book fandom. Safe to say, if murder were legal at that time, certain comic dealers would have not walked out of that show alive.
“Due to the simple fact that a number of the individuals who played a role in this episode are still very much alive, we will not expound on the gritty details. But those same gritty details, including a near fist fight, was the start of a story that ends with the Action 1 offered here.”
It seems unlikely that another copy of Action Comics #1 in such good condition will hit the block any time soon – but if it does, expect bidders to go crazy all over again.


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In January, CyberLink was one of the first companies that announced plans to offer apps made especially for Windows 8
. Since that announcement, Microsoft revealed that Windows 8 would not be able to play DVD dics in its basic version. That gave Cyberlink an opening to announce that it would have its DVD Windows 8 apps installed in a number of PCs
We got a chance to ask Richard Carriere, the senior VP of Worldwide Marketing for CyberLink, about the company's plans to support Windows 8 with a number of media-centric applications.
First, what was Cyberlink's reaction to Microsoft's Windows 8 and the "Modern" UI, along with the Windows Store?
Back at the end of 2011 summer, when Microsoft shared details of its Windows 8 strategy at its Build Conference in San Diego, CyberLink was one of the best represented software makers in the industry. Several of our most senior engineers, and our Chairman and CTO, attended the conference and immediately defined a complete Windows 8 strategy to fully align CyberLink’s product roadmap with the upcoming operating system. We saw the benefits of complementing the traditional UI with a complete new one that is highly streamlined and conducive to delivering an intuitive experience across devices, something that makes complete sense for multimedia software such as CyberLink products.


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It’s been a good year for self-checkouts in the retail industry.
Research and consulting firm RBR Research just shared news of its findings from the Global EPOS and Self-Checkout 2017 study, which showed a 67 percent growth in self-checkouts. In 2016, there were 49,000 self-checkout (SCO) units delivered around the world, with the top ten U.S. retailers seeing an astounding 155 percent increase in shipments.
While countries like Brazil and China began using SCOs as the primary mode of payments for the first time, South Africa’s retail industry has been slow to adopt for fear of putting people out of work.
Two countries that are finding new ways to implement their own form of SCOs is the U.K. and Japan. While the U.K. is using compact card-only versions, Japan is using a semi-self service, where employees do the initial heavy lifting.
By the year 2022, RBR Research is predicting that there will be 400,000 SCOs in use around the world, which is a 53 percent increase from today. RBR Research’s lead researcher for this, Alan Burt, commented in the release about the far-reaching efforts of payments via SCOs: “With self-checkout technology being adopted from Turkey to Thailand, RBR forecasts that by 2022 there will be nearly 400,000 SCO machines installed by retailers across more than 60 countries worldwide.”
Given the current SCO landscape and stores like Amazon Go’s grocery stores popping up, it’s possible that the entire retail industry is going to see a major shift in the next few years. As we’ve seen big box retailers like Macy’s and J.C. Penney’s close down a myriad of stores, installing SCOs may be the answer for some retailers looking to cut down on costs.


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By: Lesley Brown
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Yazid Chir: connectivity – November 2018
To achieve its goal means overcoming pockets or expanses of poor/blank internet connectivity. Hence this French start-up has developed a cloud technology using a low bandwidth (2G) as a transport layer to exchange information between the web and smartphones.
“The solution [Augmented Connectivity] works without any infrastructure investment and with any phone carrier in the world,” said Mr Chir.
“Our business model is based on our partners and B2B centric,” he explained. “From the start, the idea was to provide all B2B actors with open technology deployed worldwide. We believe that everyone should be able to use this technology. Our partners are offerd an SDK (software development kit) framework, together with use cases.”
Real-time data collection: the company has worked with French Railways (SNCF) to help boost data coverage across its 30,000km-wide network.
The task? Via professional apps, to send technical data between trains, as well as information to and from drivers, in order to improve traffic flow, track the GPS position of trains, monitor delays and technical incidents in real time.
The problem? A lack of or poor internet coverage in certain areas reduces efficiency.
SNCF used Be-Bound’s SDK framework to develop professional apps to capture all this data in real time via the smartphones of train drivers.
Results? Coverage of all smartphone requests increased to 100%, with 75% passing via data networks and the other 25% over the SMS network, improving upon SNCF’s previous success rate of 50%.
Mobile payment: Be-Bound is working a mobile banking project in Africa with Société Générale, which wants to expand to 20 countries across the continent but is hindered by the limited connectivity. Baptised YUP, the mobile money solution provides customers with access transactional and financial services even if they don’t have a bank account. “It’s all about inclusivity, offering the services to everyone, everywhere,” pointed out Mr Chir.
E-commerce and deliveries: for the past two years, Be-Bound has also been working on another project, this time with the government of Côte d’Ivoire: the Dor2Dor initiative aims create a delivery system at La Poste (post office) based on mobile payment.
Many people in this West African country live in remote areas without internet access; hence they are unable to benefit from e-commerce (as customers and/or businesses). Dor2Dor seeks to redress the balance, and by so doing is also delivering an additional, and unexpected, benefit – local job creation.
“Sixty percent of the population in Côte d’Ivoire are under the age of 20 and unemployment figures are extremely high,” said Mr Chir. “Taking these realities into account, over time 100,000 drivers should be employed and 10,000 pick-up/drop-off points set up. The drivers have a delivery app, an order app, plus blockchain to track the transactions. Key delivery goods right now are medical supplies, fertilizers for farming, and birth certificates, but the range will increase over time.”
The project is expected to prove a game changer beyond enabling more people to buy and sell via the Web. Deloitte estimates it could create half a million direct and indirect jobs, as well as making a +5% impact on the country’s GDP.
The blockchain technology Stellar is being used to secure and manage the Dor2Dor transactions. Why choose Stellar from among all the blockchains on the market today? According to Mr Chir, because it is the most powerful blockchain technology in terms of upscaling capacity, as well as being the cheapest and fastest in the world. It is also incredibly energy efficient, unlike other, better-known blockchains.
“Stellar was co-founded by Jed McCaleb – the American programmer and entrepreneur behind file-sharing network eDonkey and Ripple (platform and currency) – to reduce poverty through financial inclusion,” he added.
As Be-Bound shifts into the realm of smart transactions, where developing trust without third parties leads to reduced costs, Mr Chir is confident its technology will increase the use of blockchain across the globe. All the partners have a vested interest in increasing the volumes of transactions because the process is based on the logic of the ecosystem, whereby everyone benefits – including Be-Bound, which takes a commission on every extra transaction generated.
“Our wildest dream is to decentralise our technology and create the biggest global ecosystem with tech hubs all over the world,” concluded Mr Chir. “We want to develop a model opposite to that of the GAFAs: one that is fully inclusive, transparent, reliable, and immutable.”


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Walgreen Co. on Monday told drugstore rival CVS Caremark Corp. that it will no longer participate in any new or renewed prescription-drug plans awarded to CVS Caremark's pharmacy benefit-manager business.
Kermit Crawford, Walgreen's executive vice president of pharmacy, said the drugstore chain no longer feels like a valued pharmacy within CVS Caremark's PBM network.
"In the three years since the CVS-Caremark merger, it has become increasingly clear to us that Caremark's approach to Walgreens as a community pharmacy within CVS Caremark's retail network has fundamentally changed," Crawford commented in a statement.
In a letter to CVS Caremark, Walgreen cited several reasons for its decision. The company contended that CVS was promoting Maintenance Choice prescription-drug plans -- a move that steers patients to CVS pharmacies or mail-service facilities.
Walgreen also claimed it receives little to no information when a CVS Caremark prescription plan is transferred to a different plan. It further said the reimbursement rates it is paid from CVS Caremark are becoming unpredictable.
Current CVS Caremark pharmacy plans that Walgreen services will not be affected, the company said. Walgreen's pharmacy-benefit business with CVS Caremark equals 7% of total sales.
CVS became a major player in the PBM business when it purchased Caremark for $27 billion in 2007. PBMs are third-party administrators of prescription drugs. They service various health plans and use that buying clout to lower drug prices.
A representative for CVS Caremark could not be reached for immediate comment.


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Young families feel exploited by overpriced British leisure attractions and say they cannot afford to take a day out, according to Mother and Baby magazine.
The survey of 2,000 par ents, average age 29, found that the average spending on a day out was £28, but a trip to a theme park can cost up to £100 for admission alone. Four out of 10 parents interviewed said that at these prices, they could not afford to take their families out for the day.
The favourite outing was to the seaside, followed by a visit to the zoo. Chester Zoo was the favourite attraction, ahead of Blackpool and Legoland. Paulton's Park in Hampshire was voted best value for money at £44 for a family of four. Legoland was the most family-friendly theme park despite costing £85.80 for a family.


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By Ed Garsten
DEARBORN, Mich. – Jacques Nasser has been ousted as CEO of the slumping Ford Motor Co., replaced by the great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, the company told employees today.
The move puts a Ford family member in charge of the automaker’s day-to-day management for the first time since 1979, when Henry Ford II resigned.
“We’ve been given an amazing legacy, and we’re going to build an even better one,” said chairman William Clay Ford Jr., who replaces Nasser as chief executive officer.
The management shake-up included the elevation of North American group vice president Nick Scheele, known as “Mr. Fixit,” to chief operating officer.
Scheele will be succeeded by Jim Padilla, group vice president for manufacturing and quality. Also, vice president of communications Jason Vines will be dismissed.
“We’ve been given an amazing legacy, and we’re going to build an even better one,” said Ford Jr., who was speaking at an auditorium at company headquarters. “The sole reason for these changes is to ensure the ongoing success of the Ford Motor Co.”
Nasser’s fate had been the subject of much speculation in recent months as Ford was plagued by eroding sales, questions about vehicle quality and the Firestone tire crisis.
Nasser, 53, earned the moniker “Jac the Knife” for his prodigious cost-cutting. When he took over in January 1999, Ford was poised to overtake General Motors Corp. as the world’s top automaker.
But 18 months later, Ford’s momentum was shaken by the news that people were dying in accidents when the treads separated from Firestone tires, most of which were installed as original equipment on Ford Explorer sport utility vehicles.
In some cases, the vehicles rolled over after the tread separations.
Just last week, a judge approved a settlement of a lawsuit over allegedly faulty ignition systems for vehicles dating from 1983 to 1995. The plaintiffs said the settlement could cost Ford as much as $2.7 billion for repairs.
Ford’s market share slipped during the first nine months of 2001 to 22.6 percent from 22.8 percent a year ago.
Through September, sales of Ford vehicles were down 11 percent from the first nine months of 2000, a record sales year for the industry. By the third quarter of 2001, Ford’s losses dipped to $692 million, a reversal from the same quarter a year earlier, when it earned $888 million.
Looking for ways to save money, Ford announced in August it would cut 4,000 to 5,000 salaried positions by the end of 2001. Not wanting to appear hardhearted during a slowing economy, Ford said the separations were voluntary.
Employees targeted for the chopping block were offered buyouts or early retirement packages. The company hoped enough would take them for it to make its reduction targets.
Chief financial officer Martin Inglis promised more restructuring moves.
The first real sign that Nasser’s job was on the line came in July, when Scheele was brought in to take over Ford’s North American operations. Two weeks later, the automaker announced the creation of the Office of the Chairman and CEO, which required Nasser to report more regularly to Ford Jr.
Ford’s father, William Clay Ford Sr., is brother of Henry Ford II, who served as chairman and CEO from 1945 to 1979, and grandson of company founder Henry Ford, who ran the company from 1908 to 1918.
Henry Ford’s only son, Edsel Ford, ran the company from 1918 to 1943. His name graced an ill-fated late 1950s model, one of the biggest flops in automobile history.
Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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Thu, Jun 23, 2011 | 08:16 BST
Double Fine’s Trenched delayed in Europe
Double Fine mecha actioner Trenched’s launched in the US on Xbox Live Arcade, but has been delayed in Europe. Microsoft’s said that it’s looking to “resolve the matter as soon as possible.” Xbox Live UK Editor Dan Maher said in a tweet that the official line was “Unexpected challenges with distribution in some European regions.’ Shouldn’t take long!”
So hold back the MS points yet, EU massive.


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Apple To Produce Lesser iPhone SE 3 Models & AirPods!
Apple recently began selling the latest editions to their iPhone SE models. But as per recent news, Apple is notably lessening their production for their newest iPhone, and they are also cutting back on AirPods production as well.
Reports have stated that Apple is planning to manufacture around 20% (which is around 2 to 3 million units) fewer iPhone SE units in the upcoming quarter.
Furthermore, Apple has also decided to decrease their manufacturing orders by over 10 million units for their AirPods. As per the reports, the lower manufacturing orders are due to lower demand from consumers.
The U.S. notably had a one of their highesht inflation rates in February which is still ongoing for this March. This could be attributed to the reason why customers are cutting back on electronic devices.
Adding to this, Apple could also be suffering from the domino effect that has been caused by Russia's war with Ukraine. Both countries notably export nickel, platinum, rhodium, and titanium, which are important for the manufacturing semiconductor.
Russia's war with Ukraine has started a ripple effects in all industries and in it can be seen here in the tech industry specifically impacting Apple. It should be noted that some companies have decided to stop their operations in Russia.
Large companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, and many more companies have lessened their operations in Russia even more so in the previous months.
But beyond all reasons, there is also a possibility that Apple's most recent iPhone SE unit is not as popular as the company expected it to be.


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Bridging the digital divide through CSR
A key area of CSR focus has as a byproduct of the COVID19 pandemic and the various lockdowns imposed, shifted to bridging the huge gap between financial literacy and digital inclusion. Among the basic human necessities and rights, access to the internet has etched a strong, popular and highranking place. The internet domain is no longer a luxury that permits access to a select few, but a necessity available to the masses. An explosive growth has been marked in the use of the internet, yet much more needs to be accomplished. A host of CSR programmes and collaborations have been initiated to cater to this need. The American Tower Corporation (ATC) India has launched 200 digital communities all across India through the ATC CSR Foundation, its CSR wing. People of all ages gather in digital communities for internet access. The digital communities cater to the local needs and provide essential services like healthcare, education, career and financial development services, relying on connectivity to boost the quality of life.
The key components of digital empowerment are strong and affordable internet and broadband services, devices that can access the internet and suffice the user needs, provide access to IT training, provide quality technical support when needed and provide the users with independent use of online platforms and encourage usage through online content. ATC CSRFI has opened 15 ATC STEM labs in the Government schools of Bihar. This creation of digital communities provides easier and greater access to communication technology and information (ICT) in remote areas with limited access to internet. It has also launched Digital Learning Centres with Self learning kiosks and career development centres all across the country. The e – education reach of ATC CSRFI has broadened with the launch of ATC Stem labs and includes more than 50 schools in Bihar and UP. A strong partner network is going a long way in promoting digital literacy and financial and healthcare services. Fintso a B2B2C fintech platform has partnered with FinX which is an edtech company, and has a strong focus on training and employability in the BFSI space. By 2025 it will create 10,000 new entrepreneurial Independent Financial Product Providers or IFPPs. Industry leaders will support and assist the students to become financially independent during this programme. The pilot programme will include 500 students selected from all across the country. With an equation of 1: 17000 financial providers to Indian citizens, IFPPs will be strengthened through this programme and retail investors will be inducted into the mainstream economy. A generation of micro entrepreneurs will also be created in India. The positives that will emerge through this programme are active assistance at the start of the journey of a high growth business area with limited capital.
GIANT (Global Internet Access Network Token) Protocol, is a web3 protocol that decentralizes and democratizes access to the internet and financial services. The vision is to transform internet connectivity into a digital asset and create a new web3 Layer. The main aim is to tokenize bandwith platform and partner with telecommunications companies and connectivity providers worldwide. Anybody with a mobile phone can access the internet and just go online to become an owner. This novel economic platform will be seamless and secure and governed by the community. Approximately 5bn mobile phone users access broadband and mobile internet every year by paying over $2 trillion. This comes as a highly affordable and valuable suggestion considering the above data. Companies are going all out to ensure that technology does not remain the prerogative of a select few but transforms into an opportunity for all.
Digital transformation should impact all geographies and sectors as basic digital skills are needed to access essential necessities of life. Society is being helped to address the impact of the digital revolution. Access to digital tools and devices, teaching fundamental digital skills and creating employment in tech are some of the key areas of this initiative. The disadvantaged and backward population will benefit immensely from such initiatives and it will also help them find sustainable employment apart from empowering them for life. A large Population of women are also being included in this initiative. Technology is being rightly leveraged through CSR initiatives on bridging the digital divide to create a positive societal impact.


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Queues are forming outside shops and hairdressers as Boris Johnson's roadmap out of lockdown continues today (April 12).
The Prime Minister outlined the roadmap in the House of Commons back in February, announcing the exact dates of when Britons can return to life as normal.
And from today, April 12, more of the economy is reopening, with non-essential retail, personal care shops and public buildings finally allowed to reopen after months of being shut.
Clothing stores, hairdressers, museums, gyms and zoos are all allowed to reopen, but only with members of your own household.
Many people in Essex have wasted no time in taking advantage of the relaxed measures, with queues forming outside Primark in Chelmsford.
There are also queues outside hairdressers and barbers in the city centre.
Hospitality is also set to reopen today, but for outdoor service only. People are set to be able to meet as two households or with the rule of six in a beer garden or at a restaurant for outside dining.
Funerals are also allowed to go ahead, with a maximum of 30 people.
Wedding receptions and commemorative events will be allowed, with the number of attendees being able to rise from 6 to 15.
A spring getaway may also be on the cards, as self-contained accommodation like campsites and holiday lets where indoor facilities not shared with other households can also reopen. People can also stay in a self-catering cottage but only with their own household.
Follow our live blog throughout the day where we will bring you all of the latest reactions in Essex to the reopenings of shops, pubs and bars after lockdown.
Signing off for the day
Hope has returned home after what has been a very long day in Chelmsford and Colchester.
A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to speak to Hope and to those who followed our blog today.
A couple have been in Colchester most of the day
Tom and Jess have been in Colchester for most of the day
Jess said: "It was really busy this morning. I thought we were probably going to end up leaving.
"The Debenhams queue had gone all the way around the corner to JD Sports.
"Primark also had a big queue although they were sending people away after a certain point so it didn't block the path.
"It's got a lot quieter now and there really isn't many queues
"I think if we come again another day we will come in the afternoon."
Enjoying a pint
James and his friends are enjoying a pint as lockdown restrictions ease today.
Hope spoke to Tracy at Essex Boys barbers earlier today. This is what she had to say.
Council launches TV advert to promote the safe reopening of Colchester high street
The advert, released today (April 12), demonstrates measures that have been taken to ensure the town centre remains an enjoyable and welcoming place to shop, eat out and visit, as well as a safe one for visitors, residents and businesses.
It highlights one-way systems, floor stickers, hand sanitiser dispensers, thorough and regular street cleaning, and the presence of BID ambassadors throughout the town.
As the high street reopens today, we've launched a TV advert, to demonstrate measures we've taken to ensure the town centre remains an enjoyable, safe & welcoming place to shop, eat out & visit for visitors, residents & businesses.— yourcolchester (@yourcolchester) April 12, 2021
Read more here: https://t.co/htQUlIi3y2 pic.twitter.com/n1s2VsCjjX
Heading to Colchester
Hope is now on her way to Colchester, where she plans to spend the remainder of the day.
As soon as she is parked up safely and on her way to the high street we will update you all.
First drink at the pub for months
Robbie, Ben, Jack and Max have been at The Garrison pub since 10am and plan on staying until "they get told to leave" after missing out on going to the pub for their 18th birthdays last year.
They all agreed that they will be returning now pubs are open again.
Ben said: The first pint has been emotional. We will be coming back every weekend.
Live at The Garrison
Hope is live at The Garrison in Chelmsford speaking with owner Sam Gaitens about finally reopening after lockdown and what the future holds.
What is High Chelmer shopping centre doing to protect shoppers?
As shopping centres and non-essential retail is able to reopen, shopping centres have implemented changes to keep shoppers safe. Here is everything High Chelmer is doing.
Huge number of shoppers
There are a huge number of shoppers in Chelmsford City Centre this lunchtime.
More people have seemed to have flocked to the City to grab their fix of post-lockdown shopping.
Debenhams is busy - but well-stocked
Hope has taken a look inside the Chelmsford Debenhams store.
Many people are flocking to Debenhams to get a piece of their closing down sale. Although it's quite busy, it seems well-stocked.
Debenhams closing down sale has enticed shoppers
The Debenhams queue is around 30 people deep - with many people excited to see what their closing down sale is like.
People are hoping to bag themselves a bargain in the closing down sale - with one shopper leaving the store with 5 huge bags of Debenhams shopping, says Hope.
Shoppers excited to get into Primark
Hope says the queue for Primark goes all around the corner and it's the second queue -with the first one inside the main shopping centre building in High Chelmer.
Primark has proven to be the most popular shop to reopen today.
People have said they are queueing for around half an hour to get into Primark - and they're mostly looking to buy some new socks!
Huge queues formed
Huge queues have formed for shops around Essex.
Whether it's someone looking for a post-lockdown haircut or somebody looking to buy new socks - queues have formed across most shops.
TikTok clothes inspired someone to come shopping
Safia and Nimra have been queuing for 10 minutes. The pair already have bags from other shops in their hands.
The girls said they plan on being here and shopping all day at the reopening.
We came to Chelmsford to shop as we haven't been able to for so long and are so excited to.
I have seen loads of the new clothes on TikTok and wanted to come see them all myself. They just have everything.
Primark shoppers on queueing
Primark shoppers have given their reasons for queueing on a chilly April morning to shop in Primark. One shopper, Cindy, says that you can't beat Primark prices, which is one of the reasons why she came.
We just got into Chelmsford and came to Primark.
We just need some new clothes and shoes.
We have been queuing around 20 minutes. I was shocked at the size of the queue but I suppose when you think about it it was going to happen.
I wish we had come in earlier when it was quieter.
You just can't beat Primark prices. My daughter was gutted when I told her I was coming as she is back at work today after being furloughed for months."
Huge queues outside Primark
It's clear shoppers really missed budget clothing retailer Primark - queues have gone all around the corner of the Chelmsford store!
Long queues at the barbers
Essex Boys barbers in Chelmsford, had huge queues forming at both their Essex branches.
Tracy, who owns the barbers alongside her husband, said:
"We are ecstatic to be open again. It's been such a long year.
"We are doing Covid tests for the staff, cleaning as much as we can, so we are trying to follow government guidelines as best we can now we've reopened.
"We opened at 9 o'clock and both shops had queues outside the door. I can't even count the number of people's hair I've cut today!"
Many people wanting a post-lockdown hair cut
Many people have been unable to get a professional hair cut for months - and people are desperate for a chop.
And because of this, long queues are forming for Essex Boys Barbers in Chelmsford.
In total, there are 10 people in the queue looking for a post-lockdown snip, Hope reports.
A busy Bond Street
Hope reports that Bond Street is very busy.
But she says most people are using the street as a walk-through into the town centre, as no shops down the stretch are busy.
Chloe and Sophia had several Primark bags and said they came out to Chelsmford for Primark.
We came out because we wanted to go to Primark.
Needed some essential things like socks but bought other bits like a cushion too.
It was really quiet in there. We walked straight in. I was expecting it to be busy but it wasn't.
Someone there said they expect it to get busy around 12.
The Meadows empty
People were using The Meadow's as a walkthrough as opposed to doing their shopping, Hope reports.
She is now heading to High Chelmer to see what that is like on the first day out of lockdown.
The Meadows isn't as busy
The Meadows seems like a ghost town - no shoppers have opted to visit the centre.
Outdoor meeting places prepared in McDonald's
McDonald's have an outside seating area for up to 6 households to meet for a coffee.
Barriers up in preparation
Debenhams in Chelmsford City Centre are clearly expecting queues as they have a barrier up for social distancing, ready for first day out of lockdown shoppers.
But there isn't a queue yet.
Retail in Chelmsford open
Life Writer Hope Woolston is on scene in the busy Chelmsford City Centre giving you updates as stores have reopened today.
Excited shoppers have travelled into the city centre to get their retail fix after being unable to shop in person for months.
Where is the first place you will go now lockdown restrictions have eased?
Take part in our Twitter poll to have your say on the first place you will go now non-essential retail has reopened.
Everything you need to know about the new rules
Essex will look very different from today, as more of the county's retail and hospitality venues have been given the green light to reopen.
Pubs, shops and gyms are allowed to reopen from today as England moves into step two of Boris Johnson's roadmap out of lockdown.
But many people may not know what you can and can't do as England moves into the next stage of lifting restrictions.


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The MIT Coop bookstore, a retail store serving the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is now accepting bitcoin for T-shirts, textbooks, school supplies and more.
The news comes amid increasing interest in bitcoin at the university and ahead of a scheduled 'airdrop' of $500,000 in bitcoin to MIT undergraduates. The project, which will provide $100 to every MIT student, is scheduled to take place sometime later this fall.
is already equipped with a bitcoin ATM, a development that Jerry Murphy, of the bookstore's management firm, said made accepting bitcoin a natural decision.
Murphy told Boston Magazine:
Notably, the MIT Coop will accept bitcoin through a partnership with Georgia-based bitcoin payment processor BitPay.
First purchase confirmed
Speaking to CoinDesk, MIT Bitcoin Project organizer Dan Elitzer confirmed that he had completed what was likely the first bitcoin transaction at the MIT Coop, purchasing an MIT-branded hat with bitcoin.
Boston Magazine had earlier indicated that no transactions had been made as of the publication of its report.
Chris Yim, co-founder of Boston-based bitcoin ATM operator Liberty Teller and an MIT alumnus, told CoinDesk:
Bitcoin interest on the rise
The announcement also follows the completion of the MIT BitComp, a summer-long app development contest led by the MIT Bitcoin Project. Started in June, that competition ended earlier this week, with block chain-powered online identity startup Ethos winning the $5,000 grand prize.
The MIT BitComp was not the first bitcoin-specific event on campus, however.
This May, the university played host to the MIT Bitcoin Expo, a day-long conference that brought leaders in the bitcoin industry face-to-face with MIT students eager to learn more about the emerging technology and potential careers that may be available as the ecosystem develops.
Elitzer told CoinDesk that the excitement and energy around these projects is mounting, and that he hopes this momentum carries through to the airdrop this fall.
CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


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Fans of the Test Drive series have expressed their disappointment with the new trailer for the upcoming Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown.
The 54-second trailer shown for the game mainly consisted of images of cars, accompanied by a voice-over explaining the connection between the driver and his car. Where at the end they showed nine seconds of what appears to be a game shot showing two cars driving down the same short section of a city street.
Reaction to the trailer has been mostly negative, with dislikes on YouTube currently more than double the number of likes.
Waiting a year to see just a minute-long trailer with no gameplay is clearly a red flag.
I was expecting gameplay and demos of game modes, number of cars, maps, etc., but got a trailer with nothing in it.
It’s okay if the game takes time, but you don’t want to get people excited about this stuff. What is it all about. When you actually have something to show, show it. We will wait.
Announced in July 2020, the third game in the open-world Unlimited sub-series of the Test Drive franchise promises to let players master “fancy cars” in a “luxurious island world recreated on a 1:1 scale.”
The game was originally supposed to be released in September 2022, but Nacon announced in May that it had been delayed until 2023 and the previous generation versions were cancelled.
On the game’s official Discord server, fans are also disappointed by the relative lack of new content in the new trailer.
To be honest, I think Nacon just made the mistake of announcing the game too soon. You won’t see anything about Forza Horizon until it arrives just a couple of months before its actual release.
“Yes, that’s true,” agreed another. “But even then, they should have just kept quiet, and not teased these “revelations” that are starting to just annoy people.”
I kind of expected to see a decent demo of the game engine, but apparently it’s too soon. What we got instead proves how early the game is in development and why it’s being delayed.


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Frontier Foundry welcomes players to the very first developer diary for time-bending combat strategy shooter Lemnis Gate.
In this first installment, join Game Director James Anderson as he shares more about the game, how it plays and the world it’s set in. Explore the ingenious time loop mechanic that sets Lemnis Gate apart from other FPS offerings, uncover the outlandish strategies you can employ, and discover the bold new possibilities afforded by a game set across four dimensions.
Each of Lemnis Gate’s seven operatives brings their own unique abilities, powerful enough to change the course of battle yet perfectly balanced to ensure masterful planning and skillful execution win the day. >From using one operative as bait so you can snipe attackers across the map with long-range specialist Striker, to denying areas by spreading pools of harmful poison as Toxin, Lemnis Gate lets you innovate multi-layered tactics over five intensely cerebral rounds.
Designed by Lemnis Industries' Robotics division, the KR-L95 model represents the latest innovations in bi-pedal security AI.
Learn more about the high-tech operative KARL on our forums: https://t.co/neKmh6bUTo pic.twitter.com/dd3TQmQkPM
— Lemnis Gate (@LemnisGateGame) May 14, 2021
Lemnis Gate is available to wishlist on PlayStation and Steam now, and will be launching this Summer on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One
Matches in Lemnis Gate take place on multiple off-world locations scattered across the known solar system. Two have been revealed so far, but there is more to come in the months leading up to full launch in Summer 2021.
Which has been your favourite? The Arbor or Quarry? pic.twitter.com/tso0Q04CCp
— Lemnis Gate (@LemnisGateGame) May 21, 2021


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Egg has been fined £721,000 for pressurising 40% of its credit card customers to take out payment protection insurance (PPI) over the phone.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) says an investigation in Egg’s sale techniques found “serious failings” in the way it sold PPI alongside credit cards. Customer who took out this controversial type of payment insurance between January 2005 and December 2007 could now be due a refund, and Egg is expected to pay £1.67 million for every 10% of customers who qualify for a refund.
Egg’s sales staff were found to have exaggerated the benefits of PPI in around 40% of telephone sales. They also told people they could take out PPI for a free trial and cancel it at a later date.
Egg will now have to write to affected customers asking them to call a dedicated number if they have any concerns about the policy or the way it was sold. It will also issue compensation where appropriate.
Margaret Cole, director of enforcement at the FSA, says: “Egg used inappropriate sales techniques to try to persuade customers to buy PPI on their credit card even when they asserted they did not want the cover. Egg is likely to pay substantial compensation as a result of this exercise."
Egg says it has worked "constructively" with the FSA to resolve the issue, and has apologised to any customers who have been affected.
In a statement, the online bank said: "We will be contacting all customers impacted by this, giving them the opportunity to review whether the product was or is still suitable for them. A dedicated team of call centre staff will be ready to assist with customer enquiries on this issue."


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The entire globe is becoming digital, and all companies big, small, old, and new are adapting. Redseer’s Digital Disruptors report predicts that 25% of retail sales will be online by 2026.
The report ranked 75 digital disruptors, who collectively generate $15 billion in online sales, based on category dominance and online focus. Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail and Hindustan Unilever were ranked as top digital disruptors in grocery & personal care and fashion & home, respectively. However, digital-first brand boAt topped the third electronics & appliances category.
All About The Online Shopping World!
These 75 businesses were elephants, tigers, rabbits, and turtles in the e-commerce jungle. Elephants are legacy players who have established an online presence. The report states that although e-commerce currently accounts for a very modest portion of elephants’ income, “the sheer volume of elephants and brand attraction has enabled them to get significant sales online.” Other elephant-related brands include Marico, Nestlé, Adidas, and Zara.
The tigers are the next; they were early adopters in the e-commerce field and have expanded quickly. In this area of the quadrant, which is dominated by digital-first brands, some of the brands are Licious, WakeFit, Mamaearth, and Xiaomi. But brands like Asus and BBK, who weren’t born digital, also made the cut. Tigers have achieved predominance in their fields online. Although they have a strong offline presence, they generate a sizable portion of their revenue through online channels, according to the report.
Rabbits are the third group; they are solely digital-first firms that have gotten bigger by using e-commerce, but they do not yet own a significant portion of the market. The majority of the brands in this group including Nothing, Beardo, Sugar Cosmetics, MyGlamm, Minimalist, Country Delight, and others come from the fashion and personal care industries.
These players will profit from the significant increase in e-commerce sales, but they will also face competition from elephants, who have already built their presence both offline and online. In their categories, Tigers have established online hegemony. They generate a sizable portion of their revenue from online sales, but they have also established a solid offline presence, according to the research.
The final group of businesses in the quadrant is the slow-moving turtles, which are established names that have succeeded in e-commerce but have a smaller market share than their rivals. Some of the companies classified as turtles are Fossil, Aachi Masala, Prestige, and LG Electronics. 25% of all e-commerce sales are made by firms with a strong digital presence. The battle lines are rapidly being erased as even digital-first firms compete with established players offline.
Digital-first brands generate over 75% of their sales online on average, compared to over 30% for traditional brands. According to Mohit Rana, partner at Redseer, “players in the top quadrants tigers and rabbits will have to strengthen their concentration on offline sales, while the bottom quadrant, elephants and turtles will have to tackle e-commerce aggressively. Retail growth is anticipated to be driven by e-commerce, which is anticipated to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 27% to reach $163 billion by 2026. According to Redseer, that growth is nearly three times that of the entire retail market.
The opportunity for established businesses to increase their share of e-commerce is clearly limited since they rely too much on offline sales. To be successful in the market, they must concentrate on enhancing their digital capabilities and implementing an omnichannel strategy, according to Redseer. The analysis points out that large traditional players have significant absolute online sales despite having a low e-commerce sales ratio.


text: In most of the world, the Black Friday discount frenzy marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. It is usually signified by doorbuster bargains, congested malls, and remaining glued to your computer to avoid missing out on online-only flash specials. Black Friday was initially started in the United States of America, marking the day after Thanksgiving. Nowadays, it is no longer one day but usually spans weeks, if not the whole month of November. Furthermore, although it was tied to the American national holiday, it has spread across the world like wildfire and is now a staple in most countries. But why is it so? The primary reason for this is an increase in mass consumerism, a phenomenon that has become more prevalent in the past few decades. The allure of a big discount for a limited time period often forces consumers to spend more than they normally would, even if they do not realise it.


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SACRAMENTO — California wine shipments dropped in 2009 for the first time in 16 years as major U.S. wine companies looked overseas for the cheap wines that cash-strapped consumers increasingly crave.
Overall wine consumption in the U.S. rose 2.1 percent last year to 323 million cases, a positive trend that bodes well for the industry long-term.
But California wines lost ground as sales fell 1.6 percent to 236 million cases, a drop of 4 million cases, according to widely-watched figures issued Wednesday by Woodside wine industry analyst Jon Fredrikson.
"It was ugly," Fredrikson told wine industry leaders gathered in Sacramento for the annual Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, the nation's largest wine industry trade show. "Many people I have talked to said it was the worst year in their history."
For small- to medium-sized wineries, the year was "brutal," as consumers shunned higher-priced wines, powerful distributors focused on big brands, and the global recession hurt exports, said Fredrikson, president of Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates.
The nation's largest wineries, however, were able to capitalize on the "trading down" phenomenon by tapping into the increasingly globalized supply of cheap wine.
Massive wineries like E&J Gallo, Constellation Brands and The Wine Group, and to a lesser degree "nimble" negociant wineries like Don Sebastiani & Sons, were able to import bulk wines like pinot noir from France and malbec from Argentina. They then bottled it in the U.S. and quickly pushed it out into the market.
This trend of U.S. wineries "outsourcing" wine has been growing gradually for several years, but it exploded in 2009. Even Fredrikson, the industry's leading analyst, said he was "blindsided" by the surge.
The amount of imported bulk wine increased to 25 million cases, an 87 percent jump over the prior year. This helped push imports' share of the market to an all-time high of 104 million cases, or 32 percent of the market.
The surge in imports should serve as a wake-up call to California wineries that have long considered themselves immune to competition from lower-quality imported bulk wine, said Glenn Proctor, a broker with Ciatti Co., a San Rafael-based grape and wine broker.


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Components | August 04, 2011
TowerJazz transfers technology from US to Israeli facility
TowerJazz has successfully transferred its 0.13um SiGe technology (SBL13) from its Newport Beach, (CA / USA) to its Migdal Haemek (MH), Israel fab.
The company has completed the internal qualification of a heavily analog 0.13um SiGe flow adding a copper (Cu) backend in MH. The technology is targeted at the >$1B combined wireless RF and digital TV tuner markets where higher performance, lower cost and higher digital integration are required. TowerJazz has won SBL13 customers that are now taking advantage of the Cu back-end offered in the Israeli facility and expects volume to ramp in Israel in the first half of 2012. TowerJazz’s SBL13 process is well-suited for WLAN transceivers, cell phone transceivers, and TV tuners. By combining SiGe bipolar performance with a mature 130nm CMOS copper backend, it enables high performance RF with more integrated digital logic. It also allows the design of complex baseband and demodulator functions at less than one-half the die size of a 0.18um process. A 100GHz SiGe bipolar device enables integration of low-noise and low- power RF and a high voltage SiGe device enables integration of power amplifiers and drivers. The SBL13 process includes three NPN transistors with 40GHz, 74GHz and 100GHz Ft as well as high density passive elements such as high-density MIM capacitors and 3um thick copper inductors. 130nm CMOS with copper metallization achieves digital logic densities of up to 200Kgates/mm2 to result in higher performance and more highly integrated RF products. “We are excited about the successful transfer of our 0.13um SiGe technology to our Migdal Haemek fab and the addition of a copper back-end. This helps extend our leadership in SiGe technology and provides a unique multi-fab SiGe sourcing capability for our customers,” said Dr. Marco Racanelli, Senior VP and General Manager, RF and High Performance Analog Business Group, TowerJazz. “Providing a 0.13 SiGe process with a Cu backend is important for applications that require high levels of integration and our customers are very pleased with the rapid deployment of this platform.”
Verkotan selects PWC technology from Rohde & Schwarz Test and measurement specialist Rohde & Schwarz has recently introduced the R&S PWC200, the first plane wave converter (PWC) on the market. Verkotan is the first independent test house to choose this technology to test 5G NR FR1 base stations over-the-air (OTA).
Kurt Sievers takes the helm at NXP At its annual general meeting of shareholders, the appointment of Kurt Sievers as the company’s next CEO was overwhelmingly approved.
Excelitas’ Qioptiq subsidiary expands with new plant Excelitas Technologies, a company delivering photonic solutions, sats that its Qioptiq subsidiary held a ground-breaking ceremony last week to mark the beginning of construction for a new factory in Göttingen, Germany.
Farnell adds Sorensen power supplies to its roster Distributor Farnell announces that it has added Sorensen, the premier DC programmable power supply brand from Ametek, to its range of power supplies.
Infineon raises EUR 1 billion following successful share placement Infineon informs that the company placed 55 million new shares, following an accelerated bookbuilding process with institutional investors, under the exclusion of subscription rights. The shares were placed at a price of EUR19.30 per share, meaning that the company managed to raise EUR 1.06 billion.
Skeleton Technologies strengthens management with new COO Skeleton Technologies has appointed Ants Vill, former Vice President of Product, as Chief Operating Officer.
SiPearl chooses Germany for its first international operational subsidiary SiPearl, a designer of the microprocessor for the European exascale supercomputer, is opening its first international subsidiary in Duisburg, in the Ruhr region, Germany, in order to build closer connections with its German partners and future clients.
DELO reports increased revenues despite current pandemic DELO closed the financial year that ended on March 31 with a turnover of EUR 163 million. This is an increase of almost 5% compared to the previous year (EUR 156 million).
China falls far short of its "Made-in-China 2025" goal IC production in China represented 15.7% of its $125 billion IC market in 2019, up only slightly from 15.1% five years earlier in 2014. IC Insights forecasts that this share will increase by 5.0 percentage points to 20.7% in 2024 (one percentage point per year on average).
COVID-19 highlights the gravity of the secondary market for SME Cha Jin-Seok, Chief Financial Officer of SK Hynix, said it best in the company’s Q1 earnings call, “Because of a never experienced pandemic, even basic business activities such as maintaining normal operations and predicting future demand have become challenging tasks.”
GlobalFoundries to implement ITAR at US manufacturing facility GlobalFoundries plans to implement export control security measures at its most advanced manufacturing facility, Fab 8, in Malta, New York.
Rebound Electronics expands in Asia The independent supplier of electronic components says it is investing to increase its market coverage in Asia with the opening of several new offices and setting up a customer service & telesales centre.
Samsung expands foundry capacity with new production line Samsung Electronics says that it plans to boost its foundry capacity at the company's new production line in Pyeongtaek, Korea, to meet growing global demand for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) solutions.
Super Dry Totech expands Long Term Storage Solutions offering The most recent development for Super Dry Totech, is the acquisition of a new building to expand on capacity & to minimise risk by assuring continuity should a disrupting incident occur in one of the facilities.
Ynvisible acquires electrochromic display company rdot Printed electronics specialist, Ynvisible Interactive, announces that it will acquire the printed electrochromic displays business of rdot AB of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Manz receives follow-up order for display production equipment Manz says it has received an order with a total volume in the low double-digit million euro range for display production equipment.
Aehr Receives initial order from new customer for FOX-NP solution Aehr Test Systems says it has received orders from a new customer and their subcontract manufacturing supplier for a FOX solution including a FOX-NP full wafer test system, an initial WaferPak Contactor, and a FOX WaferPak Aligner to perform production qualification of their silicon photonics devices.Load more news


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Mayor Michael Bloomberg Saves New York City From Giant Soda Monster
Thematically, the nation’s biggest city makes for a prime target, what with all the internationally known landmarks and whatnot. Symbolically, it represents America’s heart of commerce, ideas, and dreamers.
Inevitably, a hero enters to save the naked city from this previously invincible scourge. He saves the day, gets the girl, and an Explosions in the Sky song plays as the credits roll.
A real-life drama akin to these scenes is playing out right now.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has fashioned himself as the valiant savior.
The monster? Well, that’s where things get weird.
The monster, you see, is sugary drinks that dare to exceed 16 ounces in volume.
Bloomberg wants them to become a thing of the past at movie theaters, street stands, and restaurants.
This is dead serious, folks. The Paper of Record doesn’t waste its time on trivial matters that aren’t of the utmost public importance.
The proposed ban would affect virtually the entire menu of popular sugary drinks found in delis, fast-food franchises and even sports arenas, from energy drinks to pre-sweetened iced teas. The sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces — about the size of a medium coffee, and smaller than a common soda bottle — would be prohibited under the first-in-the-nation plan, which could take effect as soon as next March.
The measure would not apply to diet sodas, fruit juices, dairy-based drinks like milkshakes, or alcoholic beverages; it would not extend to beverages sold in grocery or convenience stores.
Our fearless mayor sees this as a logical step in the fight against obesity. As a society, we’re inching closer and closer to becoming an aggregate embodiment of that guy in “Seven” who was forced to eat until he burst.
It’s not entirely a stupid idea. Our expanding waistlines help B-roll footage for local news trend pieces, but they also contribute to straight-up death. Wanting to curtail the epidemic is natural, and an earnest endeavor.
On the other hand, get the hell out of here with this nonsense.
Is this an issue that demands the attention of a man responsible with shepherding nine million people safely into bed each night? Or might his time and energy be better spent on, uh, devising a way to get crosstown via public transportation in less than 45 minutes?
Look, I am an adult. If I want to cope with the stresses that living in this overpopulated concrete jungle present by downing 64 ounces of Dr. Pepper, then I am damn well going to find a way to do so. You can take away my freedom, but you can’t take away my Mountain Dew.
Bloomberg truly believes that this is what his populace wants him to do. And maybe some of them do. Perhaps there’s great handwringing by hipsters in Williamsburg and corner offices in Midtown over the masses toting half-gallon jugs of sugary swill about the city.
I just haven’t heard about this outrage.
The initiative doesn’t come out of nowhere. For years, there’s been a particularly disgusting ad on subways and trains illustrating just how much sugar a giant soda contains. Every time I see it, I want to puke.
But as scary as you want to make Coke, it’s not cocaine. It’s not a 65-foot monster dry-humping the Empire State Building while shooting laser beams at police.
People will find their way around this ban. I wager most establishments would comply initially and then conveniently forget about it. And we’ll be no worse for the wear.
You don’t swat a fly by using a missile. You use a flyswatter. And if the fly isn’t spreading malaria, sometimes you can just let it outside.
So, Mr. Bloomberg, you can have this giant fountain drink when you pry it from my cold, dead, bloated fingers.
Not a second sooner.


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Local media are reporting that so intense is the price war that the state-owned grain buying firm, the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), also faces fierce competition from foreign dealers from East Africa.
According to the reports, the price of maize in parts of Zambia, especially in the north, has dramatically increased to K100 for a 50kg bag, from K50/50kg.
Grain buyers, mostly from Kenya and Tanzania, are reportedly enticing maize farmers with better offers.
“The foreign buyers are all over the place and they pay cash,” said Field Simwinga, Nakonde District Commissioner in Muchinga Province.
Simwinga said with a little patience, the maize price could rebound to K200/50kg – the price it obtained before an export moratorium was imposed. The moratorium, which lasted for 18 months, has been lifted.
Zambia this year recorded a bumper maize harvest of 3.6 million tons. This is sufficient to meet the country’s grain requirements, leaving an excess of more than 1.4 million tons for export. Government also took steps to waiver the 10% export duty and clear other impediments to make Zambian grain more competitive on the international market.
East-Africa, experiencing a shortage of maize following severe drought, is seen as a lucrative market for local maize producers.
Simwinga said the buying spree of the foreign grain traders might leave the FRA in a quandary, as it had not yet stated the price it will pay farmers, or said when it will start buying crops.
“There may be little for FRA to buy,” he said.
It is also feared that many farmers are selling their entire crop without keeping some for their own consumption.
Please contact email@example.com with any news leads.


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IT company wins Best Marketing Award
May 18th, 2016
Last month at The Business Excellence Awards 2016, London-based business, Utilize, took the title for Best Marketing Campaign and were also finalists in the Best Company Culture and CEO of the Year categories.
Warren Davies, Founder and Managing Director of Utilize was thrilled to collect the award at our black tie event at Celtic Manor organised by the world’s number one business coaching firm, ActionCOACH. Warren explained, “Winning Best Marketing Campaign and being shortlisted in the other two categories is a testament to how all of our team represent the company. We have always maintained that our biggest assets are our staff and our company ethos which is centred on working with the common goal of improving our customers’ technology. Our DNA for success, has been written by our people and sets out, in our words, the reasons we want to grow, how we can achieve this growth, our vision, our values and our culture. The continued support of our team helps us to promote the open, honest and transparent environment we are so proud of and continue to build. This ensures that Utilize can continue to deliver great customer service and endorse an innovative and intuitive attitude, where everything is achievable. Since investing in a dedicated marketing manager we have not looked back, a big thanks to ActionCOACH changing our attitude that marketing is an investment not an expense.”
Located in Bishopsgate, Central London, Utilize has worked closely with clients for almost two decades to ensure the use of technology maximises efficiency, productivity and helps drive their businesses forwards.
Sally Anne Butters from Rev PR who sponsored the award explains why Utilize was chosen as the winner, “The team at Utilize see marketing as an investment and not an expense. They run an incredible Raving Fans campaign that includes 119 key performance indicators in their customer excellent team and a customer loyalty scheme. I was also delighted to see a strong PR focus in their marketing mix setting them as the experts in their field.”
With nearly 10 years’ experience as an Action Coach, Richard Haley, has attended many award ceremonies but this one was very special, “The team at Utilize work tirelessly to improve themselves and their client’s services - being part of their journey and witnessing their success is great to see. They all thoroughly deserve the recognition of these prestigious awards.”
The Business Excellence Awards were launched in 2007, annually attracting nominations from more than 24,000 firms across 33 countries. Past winners have been from a range of industries, including cosmetics, pharmaceutical, engineering, fashion, and manufacturing.
The BEF 2017 will be held at The International Conference Centre in Harrogate and will be bigger than ever before! If you’d like to join us for the awards next year, please click here.


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One week into legalized cannabis, and business is booming on the prairies.In Alberta, were retail sales are privatized, stores have been lined up out the door since opening day on ...
From where to find legal weed, to the business of supplying it, to its health risks and rewards, we have it covered
The defiant dispensaries argue the lack of physical stores until April means there will be a 'gold rush' for those willing to break the law
A source said the process to be announced Wednesday would not involve a mass expungement of records, but will streamline obtaining a record suspension
Recreational use of pot will be legal on Oct. 17 in Canada, and police forces across the country will be enacting some very different policies for their officers
CannTrust Holdings Inc. will be collaborating with Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University on the upcoming medical research studies
While Canadian parents are aligned with many of their concerns and priorities, there are notable differences across regions
Ryerson becomes first University in Ontario offering cannabis education by introducing The Business of Cannabis Course
Although the food industry makes $200-billion each year, getting a cannabis-infused product into the hands of consumers is still one year out
You're still not allowed to smoke it for another four months. So what's the hold-up? And where will you be able to buy marijuana, smoke it, and grow it? →
Some provinces are far ahead of others, and how many storefront retailers will actually open for business that day is just one of the many questions that remain
It’s now up to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet to choose the date the law will take effect. The legislation gives provinces eight to 12 weeks to prepare
Senators must now decide whether to defer to the will of the elected government or to dig in for a parliamentary battle by insisting on some or all of their ...


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Convention Center Proposal Stalls
Plans to expand the city’s convention center at the Industry Hills & Sheraton Resort are at a standstill in the wake of a dispute over a proposal to build a second hotel tower on the site.
The expansion, which would add 46,500 square feet of ballrooms, banquet facilities and shops to the three-story Recreation and Conference Center, would be expected to attract weekend business that had been turned away in the past for lack of space.
The City of Industry built and owns the center, as well as the sprawling equestrian grounds, two 18-hole golf courses and an Olympic-size swimming pool on 640 acres of rolling hills. The operation has been losing millions of dollars each year.
A member of the City Council-appointed agency that proposed the expansion said his group, the Civic Recreational Industrial Authority, indefinitely postponed the plans after the city became entangled in a legal dispute with Edward P. Roski Jr., owner of the 296-bed hotel portion of Industry Hills.
Roski and his business partners claim that Industry reneged on a 1980 agreement by refusing to build a convention center for a second hotel tower on the same site. In a lawsuit filed against the city in April, they demanded that the city either purchase the hotel or turn over management of the convention center and recreational facilities. City Atty. Graham Ritchie says Industry never promised to build another center.
“We’re letting it all drop at this time,” said Howard Welch, one of CRIA’s five board members. “We won’t go forward until something is resolved.”
Two phases of the expansion, including preliminary floor plans, were completed by last October, but the city hasn’t gone any further, Ritchie said. But neither the CRIA nor the council has taken formal action to postpone the project, he said.
The project would feature a two-level expansion to the west of the structure, and include a 600-seat ballroom, a smaller ballroom and meeting rooms--all with second-story views of the golf course. Employee dining facilities on the ground level, a grand staircase, a new golf shop and 4,500 square feet of retail space also were proposed in the expansion.


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The Friday Checkout is a weekly column providing more insight on the news, rounding up the announcements you may have missed and sharing what’s to come.
Giant Eagle’s sudden announcement this week that it had severed ties with its longtime CEO ends the retailer’s relationship with a forward-thinking executive who drove significant innovation as leader of the supermarket and convenience store chain.
Laura Shapira Karet, a fourth-generation member of one of the company’s founding families who was a rare woman CEO in the grocery industry, positioned Giant Eagle as a technology-focused company intent on thriving by embracing change and pressing ahead with innovative projects.
In 2019, with Karet at the helm, Giant Eagle announced plans to open a technology hub in its hometown of Pittsburgh, part of what Karet described at the time as an effort to tap the city’s “deep and growing tech talent pool.” Also that year, Giant Eagle became one of the first retailers to test inventory robots in its store aisles.
The following year, Giant Eagle partnered with cashierless checkout technology provider Grabango to launch the first commercial deployment of the startup’s computer vision-based system at a GetGo Cafe+Market in Pittsburgh. Giant Eagle brought the technology to four more convenience stores in 2021.
In 2021, Giant Eagle became the first grocery and convenience store chain in the United States to accept PayPal and Venmo as payment methods at checkout counters in its stores.
Karet served as Giant Eagle’s CEO for more than a decade — a term that ended on Tuesday when the company said in a blunt emailed statement that it had “determined to separate [Karet] pursuant to her contract” without saying why. That evening, Karet indicated that she had departed on her own terms, saying in a statement that following “much consideration, I've decided to move on to the next chapter of my life and leave Giant Eagle.”
In case you missed it
Meijer adds new employee award
As part of the regional grocer’s latest awards season for its associates, the company introduced its first-ever Meijer Impact award. This honor highlights an “exceptional team’s accomplishments and extraordinary acts of service,” according to the press release.
The entire team at the distribution center in Tipp City, Ohio, received this new award for their quick response to a tornado last June that struck the facility.
The new award is an example of how grocers are finding additional ways to recognize exceptional work by store associates, facility workers and corporate staff.
The grocer also announced recipients of its existing awards, including seven individuals for the Legacy Awards, which honors impact on the company, teams, customers and community; six for the President’s Award for their significant business contributions over the past year; and the recipient of its Fred Meijer Award — the grocer’s highest honor.
Tuning in to a grocer’s new podcast
On Wednesday, Thrive Market debuted its first-ever podcast called “But Are You Thriving?” where listeners can sit down with the market’s co-founders, Nick Green and Gunnar Lovelace, to hear about health, wellness and sustainability.
The nine-episode show will release new segments every other Wednesday, according to an emailed press release, and feature a number of guest speakers.
Several retailers have created individual and original content to bolster their businesses. In February 2021, The Fresh Market launched a monthly magazine to highlight products, offer meal inspiration and feature company team members. Trader Joe’s also has an ongoing podcast called “Inside Trader Joe’s” and its Fearless Flyer, a free intermittent newsletter sent to shoppers throughout the year showcasing products and other fun Trader Joe’s-themed news.
Connecticut wine bill fizzles out
Connecticut is one of the few states that bans wine sales in grocery stores, and that’s how it’ll stay (for now).
On Tuesday, a bill aimed at permitting the sale of wine in grocery stores died in committee, according to local news reports. While supermarkets are disappointed by the outcome, package stores claim it is a victory for small businesses, NBC Connecticut reported.
This result comes just a few months after a new law took effect earlier this month in Colorado allowing wine sales in grocery stores.
Number of the week: 40%
That’s the percentage by which buy now, pay later (BNPL) online transactions involving groceries grew during the first two months of 2023, per newly released Adobe data. BNPL is gaining steam among online grocery consumers amid a rocky economic landscape.


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This week: Core Web Vitals will soon become a ranking factor, TikTok could set a new milestone next year, and there are more problems with WordPress.
Here’s what happened this week in digital marketing.
Snapchat Offers New Ads Certification Courses
Snapchat is adding more advertising courses to its education program. The new courses include free certifications.
The program, dubbed Snap Connect, lets you learn from Snapchat subject-matter experts.
Specifically, you can learn about how to:
- Send customers to an ecommerce app or website
- Promote an app to get more installs
- Build awareness about a mobile game
The certification courses are in video format.
Search Ad Spending Continues to Grow
The pandemic isn’t slowing down search ad spending.
Digital marketers increased spending on search ads to the tune of 5.9% in 2020, according to a report from eMarketer.
That’s a change from eMarketer’s previous forecast, which predicted a drop in search ad spending as a result of travel industry woes.
However, consumer ecommerce remained strong through the COVID-19 pandemic. That helped spur demand for ad space in search results.
Additionally, eMarketer forecasts that the increased online ad spend is far from over.
Still, digital ad spend currently grows at a slower pace than it did before the pandemic.
Google Webmasters Is Now Google Search Central
Google Webmasters has rebranded. It’s now Google Search Central.
Why? Because Google says that the word “webmaster” is out of vogue.
“A user experience study we ran revealed that very few web professionals identify themselves as webmasters anymore,” Google said in a statement. “They’re more likely to call themselves Search Engine Optimizer (SEO), online marketer, blogger, web developer, or site owner, but very few ‘webmasters.’”
Note: the mission of Search Central will remain the same as the mission of the old Google Webmasters. It’s to help SEOs improve site visibility.
Google will also consolidate its blogs and documentation on one site.
Core Web Vitals Will Become a Ranking Signal in May
If your site isn’t optimized for Core Web Vitals, you’d better get busy. Otherwise, you might soon lose rank.
According to Google, Core Web Vitals will become a ranking signal in May 2021.
“We’re announcing that page experience ranking signals for Google Search will launch in May 2021,” the Google Search Central account tweeted. “This will combine Core Web Vitals and previous UX-related signals.”
Core Web Vitals is a term for a set of page experience measurements, such as:
- The time it takes a page to load its main content
- The time it takes a page to become interactive
- The amount that a page shifts after loading
Google will also reward pages that comply with Core Web Vitals guidelines by labeling them in search results.
WordPress Ultimate Member Plugin Reports Vulnerability
Seems like I’ve been covering WordPress plugin security issues a lot lately. Here’s another one.
Ultimate Member plugin developers recently patched the software to fix “critical and severe vulnerabilities.”
According to reports, the threat was easy to exploit. It gave the attacker admin access.
Here’s how Wordfence described the threat: “This vulnerability is considered very critical as it makes it possible for originally unauthenticated users to easily escalate their privileges to those of an administrator. Once an attacker has administrative access to a WordPress site, they have effectively taken over the entire site and can perform any action, from taking the site offline to further infecting the site with malware.”
The plugin is essentially a tool that creates a social media platform on a WordPress website.
LinkedIn Releases New Marketing Guides
Here’s some good news if you’re in the B2B space: LinkedIn recently published three new guides to help you get the most out of the platform.
Each guide covers a separate topic:
- Building your brand
- LinkedIn advertising
- Driving more leads
“The ‘Read Me’ series by LinkedIn is a trilogy of essential guides that will equip you with insights into our platform, its features and functionalities, and how you can best leverage these to achieve your marketing objectives, no matter what they are.,” LinkedIn said in a statement.
The guides are fairly visual. So if you like to learn via infographic, you should get a lot out of them.
WordPress 5.6 Might Break Sites
More bad news if you use WordPress for content management: the next version of the software might break your website.
That’s because WordPress v5.6, slated for release next month, will render the jQuery Migrate Helper plugin “useless.”
As you might recall, people experienced a similar problem with WordPress 5.5. In fact, it was really just the same issue.
If you’re not using the jQuery Migrate Helper plugin, this update shouldn’t affect your site.
Report: TikTok Will Surpass 1 Billion Users Next Year
According to App Annie, TikTok will achieve a new milestone in 2021: one billion users.
“TikTok has seen sharp growth in active users by amassing a sizable global footprint in 2020 — nearly tripling in size since 2018,” App Annie said in a statement. “In 2021, we expect TikTok to not only achieve a coveted spot in the 1 Billion monthly active users club, but to sail straight past to 1.2 billion.”
Additionally, App Annie holds the title as the second-highest consumer spend among non-gaming apps in Q3 2020.
Some more good news for TikTok: it’s doubtful that the incoming Biden administration will pursue the app ban sought by the Trump administration. As a result, TikTok’s user base is set to soar here in the U.S.
Some things to do before you get your Thanksgiving menu ready:
- Consider how you can promote your brand on TikTok, as it looks like that app is here to stay.
- If you’re in the B2B space, go over those LinkedIn marketing guides. You might find some nuggets of info that will help you expand your reach on that platform.
- If you’re using WordPress, avoid upgrading until the newest version of the software has been “tested” by other people who are willing to take a chance with it. Avoid jeopardizing your own site just to have the latest and greatest.
- If you have the Ultimate Member plugin, upgrade to the latest version so that you don’t expose your website to hackers.
- If you haven’t yet optimized your website for Core Web Vitals, get on that yesterday. You’ll lose rank in May if you don’t.
- Take a look at those Snapchat ad courses. You might find some great ways to reach young people.