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Paralympians celebrated in Sydney
Australia's Paralympians have received the keys to Sydney during a ceremony honouring them for their record-breaking success in London.
Source: 7pm TV News NSW | Duration: 2min 9sec
By Jessica Haynes
What are the arguments for and against to cut Sunday penalty rates for some hospitality, retail and fast-food workers?
By Mark Reddie
The Fair Work Commission has announced cuts to penalty rates. We hear from the retail and hospitality workers who will be affected by the cuts.


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- 3Com Corp. coms on Thursday reported a fiscal first-quarter loss of $14 million, or 4 cents a share, compared to a loss of $42 million, or 11 cents a share in the year-ago period. The networking equipment maker's sales rose to $300 million from $177.6 million a year ago. 3Com's results included $15 million, or 4 cents a share, in charges related to stock-based compensation, restructuring and other items.
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domain: news


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Android 4.3 has officially been announced
HTC America's president Jason Mackenzie responded to some questions on Twitter concerning the HTC One upcoming Android 4.3 update.
He says the Android 4.3 development for the HTC One is right on schedule and the rollout will start by the end of this month as promised. This applies for both the US and the EU HTC One units.
Update: To lend further credibility to the rumors, the following image was sent to us by one of our readers. It shows the HTC One running Android 4.3. Allegedly, the image was shot at IFA. Thanks for the tip, Daki!
It seems HTC will manage to seed the Android 4.3 update ahead of the competition. Samsung is supposed to bring that release to its 1H flagship in October, and Sony is yet to announce a schedule for the Xperia Z updates.
Thank you, geordieboy, for the tip!
If there's one thing you can give credit to HTC for, it's being quick with the Android update on the HTC One. After years of lagging behind Google with respect to the latest updates, the company has been consistently quick in delivering updates for their newest flagship device.
Earlier this week the company promised that they will soon start rolling out the Android 4.3 update for the HTC One. And as promised, users are now seeing the update notification pop up on their device. Several users on xda-developers forums are reporting getting the update on their phone.
If you have an HTC One, check if the Android 4.3 update is available for download, if you haven't got the notification already.
Thanks Dijon Vula for sending this in.
Google unveiled its latest Android build, version 4.4 KitKat exactly one month ago, and today we have some screenshots of exactly what's been updated.
As with the other incremental updates since version 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the updates of the latest build are almost exclusively under the hood. Nevertheless, some of the latest inclusions are more noticeable, like the updated camera interface.
The leaked images are likely a bit dated - or Google simply hasn't gotten around to changing the build name - as there are several mentions of Key Lime Pie rather than KitKat.
In the Settings menu, you'll find new integration for a Printing and Payments system, which brings wireless NFC payment to the main Android architecture, rather than relying on third party apps. Looks like the same will be done with printer support. Then comes Miracast, which will let you screencast your device to a supported TV.
Like we said, UI changes are mostly minor, although animations are reportedly much smoother.
A few additional Google apps are set to come preloaded on KitKat - Drive and Keep. The first lets you access your documents on Google's cloud storage service, while Keep is used for note-taking.
The camera UI now features Instagram-like previews of your applied filters. There's also a print menu that allows you to save your image as a PDF, or print to a local or network printer. There are options for paper size, colors, orientation and number of copies.
Android 4.4 KitKat may become available as early as this month, with the release of the new Nexus 5.
Google has stopped delivering distribution information on Android versions 1.6 Donut and 2.1 Eclair as the two don't support the Google Play store app. Since developers mostly care about the phones that do support that, Google will no longer be posting those allegedly irrelevant numbers. Last month the two Android iterations accounted for a mere 1.3% of the entire platform customer base so it's not a big loss anyway.
Also Google now shows devices that have pinged the Play store in the last 7 days as opposed to 14 like before.
Anyway, Jelly Bean keeps rising (all three sub-versions of it) and now accounts for almost half of the Android distribution (45.1%), while the other most popular versions Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich are steadily losing ground. Gingerbread has 30.7% (down from 33.1% last month), while ICS has 21.7% (down from 22.5% last month).


text: Drivers in Pontiac have joined the strike by more than 1,200 car haulers around the country that now threatens to tie up shipments of new vehicles both from assembly plants and from the ports used by import brands. The strike by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters against bankrupt Performance Transportation Services Inc. of Allen Park began Monday. A spokeswoman for PTS said the company is seeking an injunction to block the walkout. The union said the strike had shut down a PTS terminal in Pontiac that handles finished vehicles from General Motors Pontiac Trucks Assembly plant. The Pontiac Trucks assembly plant reopened only last week, after another strike at American Axle and Manufacturing Holding Inc. In all, about 1,250 workers at 24 different sites operate by PTS and its subsidiaries, including Leaseway Motorcar Transport Company, E. and L. Transport Company, Hadley Auto Transport and Transportation Releasing. PTS and its subsidiaries haul cars not only for GM, but also for Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Hyundai and Kia. “We are on strike to enforce our bargaining table demands,” said Fred Zuckerman, director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division. The walkout began after a bankruptcy judge in Buffalo, N.Y. set aside the Teamsters’ existing contract with PTS and imposed, at the company’s request, a new contract that included a 15 percent pay cut. Like other companies linked to the automobile industry, PTS has been squeezed by demands for price cuts and, more recently, by a decline in volume. The company initially filed for bankruptcy in 2006, but the company was reorganized and emerged from bankruptcy in early 2007. As PTS emerged from bankruptcy, control of the company passed to the Los Angeles-based Yuciapa Company, which is controlled by financier Ron Burkle. PTS filed for bankruptcy again in November and has been pushing another reorganization plan that calls for cuts in wages and benefits by unionized drivers.


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Twitter is testing a labeling feature that allows automated accounts to identify themselves, to improve the experience on its platform.
Reasons to have an automated account on Twitter can vary and they are not always nefarious in purpose. According to Twitter’s FAQ page, examples of such accounts can include those who help users find the nearest available vaccine appointment or those who provide automated information about disaster early warnings.
Now, Twitter is starting to test and publicly label such accounts by adding an “automated account” tag on the bot’s profile, under their profile name and handle, as well as on its Tweets.
Related | Twitter Tests Emoji Reactions On Tweets
According to Twitter, disclosing that an account users are interacting with is a bot, can be helpful since they “get a better understanding of [its] purpose.”
The feature is being introduced to improve the user experience by adding transparency: information about an account sending out automated tweets can help users distinguish between good and spammy bots.
Initially, only a small group of developers are participating in the test on an invite-only basis. Twitter is adding the label to their automated accounts, in hopes that users will better trust the information sent out by each. However, Twitter says that by the end of this year all developers using automated accounts will be able to apply the labels.
Labeling different account types is something that the platform suggested some time ago, and that was initially scheduled for July this year. At the time, Twitter also hinted at the release of another account label this year – one dedicated to memorializing accounts of people who have passed away.
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Known more widely as McLibel, it’s the subject of the 2005 documentary our family viewed last night. McLibel exposes how, until the case was litigated, Britain’s libel laws allowed the fast-food giant to stop all negative speech against them.
McDonald’s had the legal right to send cease and desist letters to those who exercised free speech in ways they didn’t like. Unless those individuals or organizations apologized, McDonald’s could sue them for libel and force them to prove their statements true.
These letters were enough to muzzle all McDonald’s critics, including every major British news agency. That is, until the day two London Greenpeace members promoting veganism received them.
Gardner Helen Steel and postman David Morris had joined with other Greenpeace advocates to publish and distribute flyers titled, “What’s Wrong with McDonalds: Everything They Don’t Want You To Know.
As the title suggests, McDonald’s had reason for alarm. The leaflets presented forceful arguments as to why the company needed to change its act:
Their food caused heart disease and cancer.
Their employees had poor working conditions.
Their huge demand for meat encouraged cruelty to animals.
The same demand was causing enormous environmental damage.
Their advertising exploited children to addict them to unhealthy food.
Little did the long-time friends realize their small act of defiance was a defining moment in their lives. Their adversary had the support of centuries of British libel law and an unlimited legal budget.
Some of it paid for two spy agencies to infiltrate London Greenpeace. One infiltrator went as far as having a six-month affair with a Greenpeace member and going on holiday with his family!
McDonald’s also brought in the UK’s foremost libel barrister. Meanwhile, Helen and David were forced to argue their own case under the guidance of sympathetic barrister Kier Starmer.
Kier understood the unfairness of a legal system weighted in favor of large corporations.
McDonald’s, however, wanted to make examples of David and Helen by showing the world these two protesters couldn’t get away with standing up to a giant.
The story, however, evolved into a David-and-Goliath disaster for the fast food chain.
On February 16, 1996, after the “…newfangled invention called the Internet” had arrived, the underdogs launched their website McSpotlight.org before a live crowd in front of the Leicester Square McDonald’s. Donations started coming in — and things definitely started looking up!
A copy of the original 1986 flyer is still proudly posted on their website to this day, pronouncing the same clear message:
“THERE are loads of cheap, tasty and nutritious alternatives to a diet based on the decomposing flesh of dead animals: fresh fruit of all kinds, a huge variety of local & exotic vegetables, cereals, pulses, beans, rice, nuts, wholegrain foods…”
Spoiler alert: No matter how hard they tried to spin the case’s outcome, McDonald’s didn’t win in the end.


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MOVES AND MANDATES
TUESDAY 21 NOV 2017 1:07 PM
GLOBAL DIGITAL AGENCY CROWD CELEBRATES ITS FIFTH BIRTHDAY
Digital marketing agency Crowd has celebrated its fifth birthday in style with a global staff party.
TUESDAY 21 NOV 2017 1:04 PM
KANTAR RETAIL AND MICROSOFT BRING TRANSFORMATIONAL VALUE TO THE CONSUMER GOODS INDUSTRY
Kantar Retail announced it is working with Microsoft to help consumer goods companies drive transformational programs and achieve superior sales performance. Customers will benefit from Kantar Retail’s industry expertise and recognised best-in-class solutions, and the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
TUESDAY 21 NOV 2017 12:37 PM
WHITE BEAR STUDIO WELCOMES NEW INTERIM CREATIVE DIRECTOR
White Bear Studio has welcomed Buzz Burman to the Bear Cave, in the role of interim creative director.
TUESDAY 21 NOV 2017 12:12 PM
ANN SUMMERS CHOOSES BIGLIGHT TO SUPPORT GROWTH
Ann Summers, the UK’s lingerie and adult toy retailer, has chosen Biglight to help deliver a step-change in sales performance through Biglight’s unique customer experience optimisation (CXO) process.
TUESDAY 21 NOV 2017 12:05 PM
LEXINGTON HEALTH HIRES NEW PANEL OF STRATEGIC ADVISORS
Lexington Communications unveils new trio of experts to act as senior advisors to its expanding healthcare practice.
TUESDAY 21 NOV 2017 11:51 AM
KETCHUM MAKES SENIOR APPOINTMENTS IN LONDON AND NORTH AMERICA
Global communications firm Ketchum announced that partner Denise Kaufmann, currently CEO of Ketchum London and member of the firm’s global leadership council, is returning to the US to take on the role of director of client development for North America. At the same time, Jo-ann Robertson, partner and deputy CEO in London, is being promoted to CEO of Ketchum London. Both roles are effective January 2018.


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Hard times for many repertory cinemas
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — According to this article from the San Francisco Chronicle, repertory cinemas – those that program for lovers of classic, revival, and non-mainstream fare – are finding it harder and harder to do so and remain even modestly profitable due to DVDs and other downloadable and rentable media:
For more than two decades, ever since the arrival of VHS tape, San Francisco exhibitors have been scrambling to find a business model that supports classic repertory programming. Exhibitors have devised and revised workable survival strategies, but time after time, those strategies have been undercut by new threats – such as the advent of DVD, Netflix and now downloadable movies. They’ve tried longer runs, shorter runs, themed festivals, celebrity guests, relatives of deceased celebrities, autograph signing parties and live entertainment, all to less and less effect. Some look ahead to digital projection as a possible panacea, but that’s a few years away.
All exhibitors concur that the prospects for repertory in San Francisco have become downright bleak, and that just within the past year business has gotten even worse. In movie-loving, cineast San Francisco, the repertory audience seems to be drying up.


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Ontario Craft Brewers, the provincial industry association representing independent craft brewers, celebrated the success of all its members – and the industry as a whole – at OCBC 2018 last week, while also announcing details that its annual conference will be held at the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls, October 29-30, 2019. The OCB annual general meeting was also held in conjunction with the conference, which included the election of the incoming Board of Directors.
The Seventh annual Ontario Craft Brewers Conference & Suppliers Marketplace took place on Wednesday, November 7-8 at the Beanfield Centre at Exhibition Place in Toronto.
“The OCB annual conference and trade show represents everything that makes craft brewing in Ontario so significant and special,” says Scott Simmons, President at Ontario Craft Brewers. “We share ideas, processes and thoughts on how to grow the industry – it’s a unique combination of respectful competition and business companionship.”
Keynote speakers, technical talks, breakout sessions, hops sessions, cider sessions, mentoring workshops, and other timely industry talks highlighted the two-day event, along with a Suppliers Marketplace.
Key event statistics this year included:
- 1,100 registered attendees
- 112 breweries, including cideries and distillers
- 180 exhibitors from Canada, US and Europe
Ontario Craft Brewers wishes to acknowledge the generous funding provided by the Government of Ontario through its Tourism Development Fund 2018.
The craft beer segment in Ontario continues to grow at an incredible rate, including a 20% jump in sales versus a year ago, and now represents 8% of beer sales in Ontario.
2019 OCB Board of Directors
0-5,000 HL Category
Jeff Dornan – All or Nothing
Ken Woods – Black Oak
Mandie Murphy – Left Field
Ed Madronich – Shawn & Ed
5,001-15,000 HL Category
Lon Ladell – Big Rig
Matt Pearson – Sleeping Giant
Bill Coleman – Cameron’s
Rick Dalmazzi – Sawdust City
15,001-40,000 HL Category
Peter Bulut – Great Lakes
Matt Johnston – Collective Arts
40,000 HL+ Category
Andy Burgess – Steam Whistle
Todd Lewin – Muskoka
Steve Beauchesne – Beau’s
Jeff Carefoote – Amsterdam
The Board Officers will be chosen at the next Board meeting, including Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary.
About Ontario Craft Brewers:
Ontario Craft Brewers (OCB) is an association of 90+ small, independent brewers dedicated to making great-tasting, high-quality beer across the province. OCB develops and produces hundreds of different brands and styles of beers using fresh, all-natural ingredients in communities throughout Ontario. These craft breweries are located in over 110 communities across the province and in total, there are over 270 operating breweries and brewpubs, with an estimated 75+ in various planning stages.


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The digital engagement solution, developed by Samsung Electronics Italia and Next14, integrates hardware, software, and a conversational marketing platform, with the aim of engaging customers throughout the product purchasing process.
It is being tested for the first time to market the Ringo biscuit brand at the Carrefour store in Milan’s southern suburb of Assago.
As part of the Ringo advertising campaign, 'Unique, together', a special display dedicated to the brand has been installed in the store.
Featuring an array of screens equipped with advanced sensors, which are supplied by Next14, customers are able to become the protagonists of a personalised live entertainment experience inside the store.
"This will increasingly become the new hub of omnichannel experiences for the new digital-native generation of consumers," commented Massimiliano Monti, business development manager IT Division, Samsung Italia.
The solution monitors the flow of people by collecting usage data, while also respecting privacy rules.
The information is then quickly processed in real time to offer personalised and unique experiences for each customer that approaches the signage.
The Italian arm of the French retailer said that the solution improves customer involvement by assisting them with purchasing, enabling them to participate in product launch initiatives, as well as providing access to exclusive innovations.
This added level of personalisation makes it possible to amplify the communication messages of the brand and facilitates a proactive response to new trends and greater and exclusive involvement, Samsung said.


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With more Canadians turning online for their holiday shopping needs, Purolator is adding new drop-off locations and more mobile pickup stops to deal with surging demand.
The shipping provider, which is majority-owned by Canada Post, said it expects to process 46 million packages over the holiday season, a 20 per cent increase from the same period last year. This comes after a summer period that featured volumes similar to what Purolator deals with on shopping events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
“We’ve been calling this the year of the super peak, because in terms of year-over-year growth, we’ve seen 40 to 50 per cent increases when it comes to volume surges,” Purolator chief executive John Ferguson said in an interview.
“It’s definitely been a lot of volume, sustained over a long period of time.”
To deal with the surging demand expected between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, Purolator is increasing the number of access points for shipment drop-off and pick-up by 30 per cent to 1,650. This includes 135 new locations at Michaels retail stores and 30 mobile quick stop trucks. The mobile trucks will be deployed in dense urban areas – for example, parked outside a cluster of condos in downtown Toronto – to provide easier access for consumers and ease the burden on the company’s network.
“On the e-commerce front, we’ve had a big surge... and we think the volume levels are here to stay,” Ferguson said, adding that the company has made sure to balance the volume it takes on with its logistics capacity.
“We’ve actually found ourselves with lots of demand and volume, to the point where we’re having to be careful about how much we even take on.”
Ferguson says that COVID-19 has accelerated the company’s digital and mobility-focused initiatives. Last month, Purolator unveiled several projects aimed at helping address last-mile delivery challenges while improving its environmental impact. The company is now testing new fully electric low-speed vehicles in Toronto and has expanded its fleet of cargo e-bikes in Montreal.
Purolator will also hire approximately 3,000 employees to assist through the busy holiday season.
While Canadians expect to spend less over the 2020 holiday season, largely due to concerns about the country’s economic outlook and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, many plan to use online sources for holiday purchases.
According to Deloitte’s 2020 Holiday Retail Outlook, online shopping will make up 44 per cent of Canadian holiday budgets, up from 36 per cent last year. The survey also found that 47 per cent of consumers have been shopping more online since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak began.
Canada Post has urged Canadians to shop early this holiday season to avoid the late arrival of gifts caused by a pandemic-induced shift to online shopping. The postal service is scaling up operations to handle an expected surge in parcel volumes by adding more than 4,000 seasonal employees, more than 1,000 vehicles and extra equipment.
With files from the Canadian Press
Alicja Siekierska is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @alicjawithaj.


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Grain Giants Expect Higher Profits From Bad Weather
Poor weather in South America, changing trade policies and cost cuts are improving profitability for the world’s largest crop traders and processors after lean years that spurred deal talks and a reckoning with the consequences of bigger harvests around the world.
Archer Daniels Midland Co. ADM -1.33% and Bunge Ltd. BG 2.30% reported better-than-expected earnings this week, building on analyst projections that tighter commodity supplies could drive crop trading and processing profits higher this year. Privately owned Cargill Inc. last month said those forces are lifting its business, too.
The grain giants buy crops from farmers, trade them to food manufacturers and process them into animal feed, vegetable oil and other products.
“Agribusiness is back, strong as ever,” Bunge Chief Executive Soren Schroder said in an interview. “All the dark clouds that converged at the same time are far behind us now.”
Bunge, the world’s largest oilseed processor, boosted its crop-processing profit forecast to between $800 million and $1 billion for the year. ADM projects annual profits from its oilseed division could reach $1 billion or more in 2018, up from $832 million last year.
“We’re seeing the results in our bottom line as headwinds turn to tailwinds,” said ADM CEO Juan Luciano on a conference call with analysts Tuesday. He added that new expectations for scarcity of some farm goods has lured buyers of animal feed and other ingredients back to the bargaining table to lock in longer-term supply deals.
Dry weather has dented Argentina’s soybean harvest by nearly one-third since December, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. A smaller-than-expected crop in one of the world’s most productive countries helped drive soybean prices higher and whittled down soybean meal stockpiles, an ingredient in animal feed. Reduced export taxes on Argentine soybeans also trimmed oilseed supplies, all of which has lifted soybean processing profit margins.
Weather trends in the U.S. could also push up crop prices this year. A cold, wet spring has delayed planting across some of the biggest grain-producing states. That could diminish yields if farmers can’t get crops like corn in the ground over the next several weeks. Farmers already intend to plant fewer acres with corn and soybeans this year than last, according to Agriculture Department projections, shifting some fields toward wheat and cotton instead.
In recent years, bumper harvests had led farmers to hoard grain rather than sell it at low rates, while buyers shifted toward short-term supply deals. Agricultural companies responded by cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in costs, selling off assets and revamping logistics operations in places like Brazil.
“The industry learned a lesson last year,” Mr. Schroder said.
They also explored deals. Bunge and ADM discussed a combination earlier this year, though the talks stalled over regulatory concerns, The Wall Street Journal reported in March. Those discussions came after mining conglomerate Glencore PLC approached Bunge about a deal, the Journal reported last year.
Despite improving prospects for the sector’s biggest players, U.S. farmers remain glum. Prices for many farm commodities are stuck at relatively low levels—as stockpiles remain high—and U.S. net farm income is projected to fall 7% in 2018, to the lowest level since 2006. An index maintained by Purdue University and CME Group Inc. showed farmer sentiment continued to decline in April, due to fears of fallout from escalating U.S.-China trade tensions. China is a major importer of U.S. farm products such as soybeans and feed grains.


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If you hopped into a time machine that spat you out sometime between 1996 and now, you could almost pinpoint the year by the words used to describe an organization’s Web traffic. Hits? That would be 1998 or so. Page views? 2003-2005. Unique visitors? 2006-2007. Odds are that 2008-2009 is going to be the year of “time spent,” as in, “an average user spends four minutes and thirty-five seconds on our site.”
It’s reasonable to assume that the migration to online news would have given organizations an easy and precise way to calculate their Web readership. But the truth is we don’t even know what to count. And as online advertising grows, getting a credible traffic measure on which to base ad rates is becoming ever more important.
The statistics most publishers are familiar with are census data pulled from Web servers. These numbers, which count how many times a site is called into action through the Internet, are like red meat to a tiger—publishers love to pounce on them and proclaim they “know” their traffic. When Daily Green, the Hearst Corporation’s first online-only publication, launched in November 2007, its creator and editor-in-chief, Deborah Jones Barrow, was constantly tracking these census numbers, looking for validation. “We can put a story up and can tell whether it’s getting traction by our Omniture numbers within a half hour,” Barrow says, referring to a Web analytics tool that is based on server data.
While they seem accurate enough, these server data include the “bots” and “spiders” that search engines send out by the hundreds to crawl the Web and index content for searches. These “readers,” as they are collectively known, give us the power to effectively search the Web, but they also inflate the number of visitors counted by internal servers. And the biggest inflation factor in these data is “cookie deletion.” “Cookies” are small pieces of code that a Web page injects into your browser so that the page will recognize you when you revisit it. This way, the server hosting the Web page won’t count you as a new visitor. But cookie deletion by users has become so common that it increases a site’s traffic by 150 percent, counting the same visitor as three or four different visitors in a single month, according to Andrew Lipsman, a senior analyst at comScore Inc., a global Internet information provider. If you think you have ten million visitors, it’s probably closer to four million, he says.
With such broad discrepancies, there’s little chance that a savvy advertiser will agree to rates based solely on server data.
These server numbers are usually balanced with numbers from organizations like comScore and Nielsen/NetRatings, which find panelists through a random digit-dial process who agree to have their every Web move monitored, just like the “Nielsen Families” that are used to determine TV ratings. For a fee, these companies will share traffic numbers with a site within a plus-or-minus 2 percent error margin, according to Mainak Mazumdar, the vice president of measurement science and panels at Nielsen/ NetRatings.
Plus or minus 2 percent sounds pretty definite, but if server data is guilty of overestimating traffic, these sample-based numbers are vulnerable to the charge of underreporting. For one thing, their panelists are drawn from people who have land lines, but at least 25 percent of young people (ages eighteen to twenty-nine) today use only cell phones, according to a 2007 federal survey, and these cell-only folks are arguably more representative of the Web-surfing public. Furthermore, these panels don’t account for international traffic or traffic from work computers, which generate a large percentage of hits for sites like cnn.com, according to Jack Wakshlag, the chief research officer for Turner Broadcasting.
“This may be the most measurable medium in history, but the measurements all suck,” says Steve Yelvington, an Internet strategist for Morris DigitalWorks, which manages the Web sites for more than sixty newspapers and thirty radio stations.
As online advertising balloons into a $20 billion market, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, it’s unclear how ad sellers and buyers can ever agree on rates. “My frustration is that I continue to see undigested B.S. numbers thrown around without any kind of critical examination,” says Yelvington. “When they’re used in sales presentations, they set us up for failure by creating expectations that aren’t realistic.”
Advertising is the main revenue source for online news organizations, but without a reliable and agreed-upon means to count eyeballs, why would any national advertiser opt for a news organization over a search giant like Google, a destination they know people swarm to by the hundreds of thousands?
For now, no Web-site operator really knows what her true traffic is. Neither the panel nor the census system is perfect, but by going back and forth between the two, publishers and advertisers can make relative comparisons within their market. That’s how the industry has continued to push forward.
“Sites do come to us with their own internal information, but we are still going to use the syndicated [panel] tools available,” says Julian Zilberbrand, the associate director of digital ad operations at MediaVest, a major online advertising buyer. “The truth will lie somewhere in between.”
But there is some hope for reconciliation between the two standards of counting traffic.
That’s where George Ivie, executive director and CEO of the Media Ratings Council (MRC), comes in. The council is a not-for-profit trade association formed in the wake of the 1960 Harris Committee Hearings. The committee investigated the business practices of radio and television and concluded that the broadcast media would self-regulate, including performing independent audits to determine the size of its audience. The ratings council was created to set standards for measuring broadcast audiences and to accredit organizations, like Nielsen, that measure those audiences. “We haven’t changed that much since the 1960s in that we have a focused mission—to try to improve for the industry the quality of media measurements,” says Ivie.
In 2002, the council turned its attention to the Internet, and has found it to be a different kind of beast entirely than TV and radio. The first thing that it did was write standards for audience census data, which include page views, clicks on a page, and time spent on a site—all the new types of audience measurement born with the Internet.
News organizations that want their traffic counts to be accredited by the ratings council must first adopt the council’s standards, which include, for example, counting only content that is accessed through an end browser. (Some organizations would count URLs sent through e-mail as a page impression, without actually verifying that the site was ever visited through a browser.)
To date, the council’s standards have been agreed to only by its 108 affiliate news and advertising organizations. And only a handful of these affiliate organizations—including Yahoo, msn, Weather.com, Univision, AOL, and advertisers like Atlas and DoubleClick—have been audited by the MRC, giving these operations an advantage when negotiating advertising rates.
More important, though, the MRC began auditing comScore and Nielsen/ NetRatings in 2006, a five-phase process that won’t be complete until later this year. Ivie says this will allow a reconciliation between panel- and census-based traffic estimates. “When we are done with the auditing, I’ll tell you how I feel about their random-digit panels,” says Ivie. “How do we know they are representative of the U.S.? Right now, I don’t.”
One concern, however, is that before the auditing of comScore and Nielsen/ NetRatings is complete, the volatile online world will produce a new silver bullet in traffic metrics.
Last July, for instance, Nielsen/Net-Ratings decided that time spent on a site was more important than total Web page views, an acknowledgment of changing online habits that include watching video (which can keep readers on a site longer) and Ajax, computer coding that allows a visitor to interact with a Web page—voting, tagging, or moving parts of the page around—without having to reload an entirely new page. At the same time, having a window open on a site for hours doesn’t mean the visitor is “engaged” the whole time—he could have simply gone to get a cup of coffee—which makes “time spent” an incredibly tough metric to measure accurately.
In a few years there could be an entirely new way to describe how news organizations measure their online relevance. If that does turn out to be the case, the Media Ratings Council and the news industry are, once again, going to have more catching up to do. But that’s the nature of an evolving medium whose future is unpredictable.


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SHEREGESH, Russia (Reuters) – A Siberian ski vacation resort is aiming to replace the Alps as Russians’ chosen winter getaway desired destination this period as journey to many countries stays forbidden since of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Sheregesh ski vacation resort, located in the Kemerovo location some 3,225 kilometres (2,004 miles) east of Moscow, kicked off its season final 7 days, with officials creating face masks obligatory on all ski lifts.
Lots of ski resorts in Europe have been pressured to delay their time openings or close as the second wave of the pandemic has forced some nations around the world to impose new limitations and even lockdowns.
Russian authorities have claimed they would not get a nationwide lockdown as they did earlier in the pandemic, stressing the significance of cleanliness and specific limits in some locations as an alternative.
Barred from travelling to most foreign locations — with the exception of countries which includes Turkey, Britain and Tanzania — Russians are turning to domestic vacation spots like Sheregesh.
“Despite a huge influx of vacationers in the summer season, we did not make it possible for any coronavirus outbreaks to come about at our ski resorts,” claimed Anton Pyatovsky, minister of tourism of the Kemerovo area, which has noted additional than 18,000 instances of COVID-19.
Apart from donning masks on ski lifts, site visitors will no more time be equipped to lease helmets and ski masks at the vacation resort to prevent the infection from spreading, Pyatovsky additional.
Actor Alexander Nosik, who attended the resort’s opening, said he saw the possible for Sheregesh to contend with much more renowned Alpine and North American ski resorts.
“I hope that a person, two, a few many years will move… and Sheregesh will become a robust rival to the Alps, North America and just about everywhere else. It has almost everything to achieve this,” he stated.
Siberia’s Sheregesh will contend with other domestic ski resorts like Sochi, which is a lot easier to entry for website visitors from Moscow and St. Petersburg, and warmer.
With just about 2 million bacterial infections given that the start out of the pandemic, Russia has the world’s fifth premier variety of scenarios driving the United States, India, Brazil and France.
Further reporting by Dmitry Turlyun Creating by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber Modifying by Alexandra Hudson


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Dockmate, which makes wireless remote docking controls has received factory approval from Volvo Penta to connect with the engine manufacturer’s EVC-E and EVC-2 electronic vessel controls. To date, Dockmate is the only wireless control manufacturer to receive the authorization.
The wireless remote control lets users move away from the helm and still control their boat, which can be helpful for docking and maneuvering in tight quarters. Dockmate integrates with Volvo Penta’s drive-by-wire steering systems including the company’s IPS, stern drive and inboard applications.
“Our focus on creating a stress-free docking experience is perfectly aligned with Volvo’s ‘easy boating’ philosophy,” Brian Sheehan, Dockmate U.S. spokesperson, said in a statement. “The brand’s drive-by-wire engine control systems pair effortlessly with our plug-and-play remote controls; combing to give our customers incredible power and control over their vessels in tight-quarter maneuvering.”


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FIFA 18: Is Mo Salah Better Than Cristiano Ronaldo?97
It is really an incredible news - Mo Salah has just been crowned the PFA Player of the Year - and was rewarded by EA Sports with a brand new 98-rated card. The Egyptian has 99 pace, 98 shoting, 95 passing, 99 dribbling and 92 physical - making him one of the very best players in the game.
However, after a closer look, something does not seem to be the case. In comparison to the Cristiano Ronaldo's 99-rated Team of the Year card, which is rated at 99, Salah's 98-card actually scored higher in a number of attributes.
According to the data from Futbin, the 25-year-old Liverpool star has a total stats of 548, while the Portuguese have a total stats of 534. And the total in-game stats are 2566 and 2510, respectively, in favor of Salah. The Egyptian beat Ronaldo on acceleration, volleys, passing, vision and nearly all the dribbling sub-skills.
There is no way that Ronaldo should have a 99 and Salah a 98 - except possibly the political nightmare it would cause with Ronaldo if he is no longer the game’s highest rated player. And it gets worse for the Real Madrid ace. When the Dream Team conducted a poll to find out who you would like to become the cover star of the FIFA 19, the 33-year-old Portguese came dead last.
So, who came the top of the list?
Step forward Harry Kane, who defeated the likes of David de Gea, Neymar, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe became the Dream Team community’s FIFA 19 cover star of choice.
Can we see an Englishman on the FIFA cover this year? Now, there are several catches here.
Salah can be said to be one of names to be on that list. He has been a sensation since signing for Liverpool. In fact, a poll conducted by FIFA website FP shows that 77% of FIFA players want the Egyptian to be FIFA 19’s poster boy.
But before you are excited about the prospect of another cover star, there is another factor to consider. We are almost certain that Ronaldo will sign a multi-title deal. After all, Ronaldo is a brand - and being on the cover of the world’s most popular football game will only strengthen that.
We are likely to see the cover star announced in June - before E3 - in the EA Showcase. It is also the first time we see the trailer, using the in-game Frostbite engine. Stay tuned for more news on FIFA, here at fifacoinsbuy.com, where you can also get cheap fifa 18 coins online.


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CMO Ad Budgets Shrivel, Money Shifts toward Digital - MarketingVOX: "Home » Archives » 2008 » Oct » 03 » CMO Ad Budgets Shrivel, Money Shifts toward Digital...
CMO Ad Budgets Shrivel, Money Shifts toward Digital
Always a bummer
Two-thirds (65 percent) of CMOs and marketing execs say their ad budgets will decrease because of the troubled economy, but more of their money will go toward digital/interactive marketing than before, according to a survey (pdf) from Epsilon, writes MarketingCharts.
Roughly the same percentage (63 percent) of the 175 CMOs and marketing execs surveyed report that their spending on interactive/digital marketing has risen, while 59 percent report a decrease in traditional marketing spend.
The study also finds that though CMOs are facing tough challenges in the current economic climate, 94 percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement, 'A tough economic period is precisely the time when marketing plays a key role.'
To offsest budget cuts, CMOs are shifting to more targeted and measurable marketing strategies. When asked how their firm determines target market for each channel, 50 percent said they use data-driven marketing techniques: 31 percent stated they use sophisticated"


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2011 Meeting Highlights
ACSA 87th Annual Convention
State of the Cotton Trade
Information | Policy | Relationships
May 11-13, 2011
ACSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS APPROVES OFFICER STRUCTURE CHANGE
During the recent 87th Annual Meeting of ACSA in Washington DC the Board of Directors approved a change of its officer structure. The new structure establishes the chairman position as the industry’s chief elected officer, and President as the chief executive staff officer .
Philip R. Bogel, II Chairman
Richard L. Clarke, III Vice Chairman
Eduardo Esteve, Vice Chairman
Jordan Lea, Immediate Past Chairman
William E. May, President
ACSA ‘s 87th annual meeting was well attended with over 225 attendees registered. The program included a briefing session for a CCI sponsored Turkish textile delegation followed by a luncheon. The program also included House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) providing an update on budget discussions and the outlook and the possible timetable for negotiations on the 2012 Farm Bill.
The Co-Chairman of The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, Erskine Bowles presented sobering remarks about the debt situation in the US and what must be done and quickly to avoid a catastrophic collapse of our countryas a world power. Bowles noted “ if the US does not put its house in order, the reckoning will be sure and the devastation severe.”
Bowles offered the following guiding core principles of the Commission report to:
- We all have a patriotic duty to make America a better place.
- Don’t disrupt the fragile economic recovery .
- Cut and invest to promote economic growth and keep the US competitive.
- Protect the truly disadvantaged.
- Cut spending-no exceptions.
- Demand productivity and effectiveness from Washington.
- Reform & simplify the tax code.
- Must stabilize and then reduce the debt, or we could spend $1 trillion dollars a year in interest alone by 2020.
The 66 page Commission Report can be found by clicking: “The Moment of Truth”
Our program this year also included a new format that brought together a panel of participants to discuss the commodity markets and their rise and fall of late and the ramifications of such on not just commodities but on the consumer and the economy in general.
Jordan Lea, then President of ACSA (now Immediate Past Chairman)
Jim Newsome, Past Chairman of the CFTC & NYMEX
David Hightower, The Hightower Commodity Report
Matt Shay, President & CEO of The National Retail Federation
Jordan Lea represented ACSA for 20 months in his term as ACSA President. His leadership, dedication and commitment to ACSA resulted in several monumental changes in the association and the industry that will certainly benefit ACSA members for years to come.
The 2012 ACSA Convention will take place May 23-25 @ The Four Seasons Hotel, Denver, Colorado.


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After getting the go-ahead to resume operations in early June, Napa Valley resorts, wineries and tour operators are reporting a relatively solid comeback.
This upswing, however, comes on the heels of a significant blow to the famed wine region's tourism sector, which contributed about $2.23 billion in visitor spend to the local economy in 2018, according to destination management organization Visit Napa Valley.
"While we will not know the full economic impact of Covid-19 for quite some time, as a result of the shelter-in-place ordinance announced on March 19, hotel occupancy in Napa County dropped to an unprecedented 6.5% for the majority of April and May," said Linsey Gallagher, president and CEO of Visit Napa Valley.
In mid-July, Napa hospitality venues faced another setback, as a renewed spike in California Covid-19 cases prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to demand that all counties across the state shutter indoor dine-in restaurant and indoor winery and tasting room activities, effective July 13. Additionally, all California bars and pubs, brewpubs and breweries, were ordered to close all operations, both indoor and outdoor, unless they offered outdoor, sit-down meals.
Still, many Napa hotels are continuing to see occupancies tick upward, and have adapted to the regulatory landscape by growing their alfresco dining and amenity options.
The Meritage Resort and Spa, part of the Meritage Collection portfolio, is one of the few Napa properties that remained open throughout the pandemic, offering discounted rooms to first responders and essential workers. David Ryan, general manager for the Meritage and its adjacent sister property, Vista Collina Resort, confirmed that occupancy was "very, very low" throughout the spring.
"But once we got the green light to take in tourists, we've very quickly ramped up," Ryan said. "The weekend of June 26, we ran over 50% occupancy, which was the best weekend we've had since March. It's exciting."
Collectively, Vista Collina (which reopened on June 19) and the Meritage initially brought back approximately 140 of their 500 employees. The two properties then rehired around 30 additional employees ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, as the properties prepared to hit about 75% occupancy.
"While there are no government requirements around occupancy, we won't go higher than 75%," Ryan said. "We're certified under the California Hotel Lodging Association's Clean + Safe program, which states that after a room is checked out, you must leave the room vacant for 24 hours. So you really can't run more than 75% or 80% occupancy, because you have those empty rooms."
The Meritage Resort and Spa was one of the few Napa properties that remained open through the pandemic.
Marty Behr, managing director of Abercrombie & Kent USA, reported in late June that many other Napa-area hotels were similarly seeing strong booking activity, with partner properties such as Calistoga Ranch, Solage, Auberge du Soleil and Meadowood appearing close to sold out on recent weekend dates. Nearly every hospitality venue in the region, he added, is leveraging its surrounding green space.
"Most of the properties we work with in Napa have lots of acreage, and our clients are looking for that," Behr said. "Many have also expanded their patio dining. In some cases, they've even spread out into neighboring vineyards and are putting tables out between the vines, which is very attractive, and can double outdoor seating capacity."
According to Behr, A&K had been "slammed" by inquiries in recent weeks for its custom California wine country itineraries. Traditionally, the bulk of A&K's travelers to Sonoma and Napa are domestic, coming primarily from Texas and the East Coast.
Itinerary options changed little post-pandemic, with A&K clients still able to partake in the same hiking, cycling, horseback riding and hot air balloon excursions that are typically popular in Napa during the summer. Additionally, the vast majority of the company's boutique winery partners are open, though tastings are generally available by appointment only.
The region's emphasis on reservation-only tastings, however, can be a bonus for travelers wary of crowds, Behr said.
"Because the wineries are controlling numbers and doing private tastings with just a few people at a time, the crowds are way down," Behr explained. "The day-trippers from San Francisco aren't coming up, because they have to deal with advance reservations and social distancing. So it's actually a very attractive time to come."
At Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, which reopened on June 11, tastings are by appointment only, with the number of slots available "greatly reduced," according to Stag's Leap winemaker Marcus Notaro. Due to capacity limits, tastings are generally booked up approximately three to four weeks in advance.
During normal times, Stag's Leap typically hosts around 40,000 tastings per year, with sales at the winery's FAY Outlook and Visitor Center venue accounting for around 40% of its total direct-to-consumer business.
Fellow Napa winery Frog's Leap, which reopened for tastings and tours on June 15, has limited tours to single parties of no larger than six at a time and has reduced tasting capacity from between eight to 10 tables to just six tables, all of which are located in an outdoor patio area.
Tours and tastings are available by appointment via FrogsLeap.com, and weekend appointments are typically booked up to several weeks in advance, said Jessica Hague, vice president for direct-to-consumer sales, marketing and client experience at Frog's Leap. To accommodate the growing demand, the winery is working to complete construction on an outdoor tasting garden featuring 10 to 12 tables. The garden is expected to open in early August, ahead of the fall crush season.
"Because we're limiting capacity, we're able to offer what feels more like a private experience," Hague said. She estimated that the winery now hosts a maximum of about 40 guests at a time across its 50 acres, versus 75 to 100 guests during a peak Saturday period pre-Covid.
"These limits allow things to be nicely paced and safe for our employees, so they can feel comfortable interacting with travelers from all over the U.S.," said Hague, adding that masks are required to be worn by staff and guests throughout the winery, except when seated for a tasting.
The vast majority of Frog's Leap's recent visitors -- about 70%, Hague estimated -- are coming from the Bay Area and surrounding counties, though the winery has seen some drive and fly-in visitors from Las Vegas, Texas, Arizona and other markets.
It may be too early to gauge the impact of the governor's most recent order on wine-country tourism.
But earlier this month, Hague pointed out that "there are plenty of other parts of California that feel very safe, with lots of wide-open space, and Napa Valley fits into that. For people who are saying, 'Hey, maybe I can't go overseas like I planned to this year,' Napa Valley may be the right alternative."
Updated: This report was updated July 16 with new information about the order from California Gov. Gavin Newsom.


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Tag, Poke and Follow
to your heart's content.
Survey launches to find out how businesses use content marketing
Published: 04th November 2014.
Together they have launched a quick survey to capture key information about how organisations in the region are using content such as blogs, articles, infographics, e-newsletters and reports, to build a stronger online presence. According to recent research from the Content Marketing Institute, 88% of marketers in the UK are using content; it is an increasingly popular tool used to engage with audiences on the web.
Elma Glasgow, director of Red Ruby Copywriting, says, “Content marketing has become a powerful tool with the rise in the use of phones and tablets to browse online. This is how people are researching before buying, so it is vital that organisations have a strong online presence. Whether you are a sole trader, SME or a major brand, content marketing can result in enhanced customer loyalty and trust.”
Ed Goodman, director of Cambridge Business Lounge says, “By taking part in the survey people will help us build a picture of what businesses are doing to develop their online presence, which is vital to their success these days. We think it will be very interesting to see whether Cambridgeshire’s creative and dynamic side matches its excellent reputation for tech innovation.”
Both private enterprises and not-for-profits are being encouraged to answer a few quick questions. Even if organisations do not use content marketing at the moment, they can still get involved.
Survey participants can also enter a draw to win two fantastic prizes supplied by Red Ruby Copywriting and Cambridge Business Lounge. The deadline is November 28th.
Go to the survey: redrubycopywriting.com/contentmarketingsurvey
For more information on Creative Front, please email firstname.lastname@example.org


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What is A Day With a Bag? A citywide day of education on November 18, readying Thanksgiving shoppers and retailers for the implementation of the City of Los Angeles’ single-use, plastic shopping bag ban that begins on January 1, 2014. After years of hard work, the City is now poised to follow a more sustainable path, where shoppers bring reusable bags to the store as part of their normal daily routine.
For six years, Heal the Bay has organized A Day Without a Bag citywide, encouraging people to skip single-use plastic. But this November 18 we proudly celebrate “A Day With a Bag” – a reusable one! Join us at a press conference on the steps of City Hall at 10 a.m. on November 18. In partnership with the City of Los Angeles' Bureau of Sanitation and many other partners, Heal the Bay will organize the distribution of 8,000 reusable bags across the City in every council district. Find a giveaway location near you!


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Trivandrum: The ninth edition of the largest gathering of tourism stakeholders in the State, Kerala Travel Mart (KTM), will kick-start in Kochi on September 28. The three-day trade event will have representation from 57 foreign countries, including 10 first-time participants.
“Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the event on September 27, on World Tourism Day,” announced Minister for Tourism, Shri A C Moideen at a press meet here.
“The ninth edition of the biennial event will focus on ‘Responsible Tourism (RT)’ and ‘Muziris and Spice Route,” said the Minister. “We will see the biggest-ever delegate contingents from 10 traditional markets – including the US, Canada and Australia – at the KTM this time. We are confident that KTM 2016 will be a great success in showcasing Kerala to the world, strengthen the brand image of ‘God’s Own Country’ and help our state’s tourism industry grow even bigger.”
The new entrants to KTM include China, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Georgia, Chile, Greece, Iran and Botswana. Domestic buyers from 20 Indian states are also participating in the event which is the country’s biggest travel show focused on a single destination.
KTM 2016 is being organized by the Kerala Travel Mart Society in association with the Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala.
KTM is the most prestigious commercial intervention of Kerala Tourism, said Principal Secretary (Tourism), Dr. Venu V. “Private-public partnership is the main highlight of KTM. We have support from both the state and central ministry, with the State government setting aside Rs 2 crores for KTM.”
The exhibition at KTM will have 265 stalls featuring a range of products, packages and services offered by businesses and entrepreneurs. It offers a platform for stakeholders, including tour operators, hotels, resorts, home stays, houseboats, Ayurveda resorts and cultural art centres to have fruitful meetings and interactions with buyers from around the world.
KTM Society President, Abraham George said that KTM is an ideal platform to bring various buyers under one roof.
Tourism Director, U V Jose; President of the Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry, E M Najeeb and KTM Secretary, Jose Mathew were also present.
Kerala Biz News


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What happens when you make busy Londoners wait five minutes in a cab before it sets off? You end up with rather interesting fly on the wall comedy. Uber have created a cheeky video to illustrate the affects a new TfL proposal could have on the London service.
In September, TfL made moves that would insert a mandatory five minute wait time for Uber customers, so the taxi service has made a short video making potential customers wait that exact time before their ride sets off. Predictably, the would-be riders get rather ticked off at having their travel delayed. That the Uber drivers try all manner of stalling tactics, such as offering to play chess, and acting in slow motion, doesn't help matters.
The video closes asking customers to sign its petition to change TfL’s stance on their rule changes.
Following the recent launch of it's carpool server uberPOOL, and the news of its sponsored_longform with Facebook, its clear Uber has no plans of slowing its expansion. Its battle with TfL and increased regulation rumbles on…
What do you think of the petition? Let us know in the poll below.


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Ooredoo Maldives launched SuperNet Fixed Broadband services to GDh. Dhaandhoo on Thursday, offering a wide range of fixed broadband packages with speeds up to 100mbps.
Commenting on the launch, the telecom company’s Chief Commercial Officer Hussain Niyaz said that their SuperNet plans are currently the best in the market offering massive date allowances, high speeds and data rollover service.
“We remain committed in providing quality internet services to people across the nation and connect the people to more opportunities,” he added.
The service was launched at Dhaandhoo with a special offer for its residents. In this regard, customers subscribing to Fibre SuperNet connection will get 300 GB bonus data for the first three months.
Ooredoo Maldives said its recent revamp was part of the company’s efforts to provide affordable services. With the revamp, the company’s SuperNet plans now provide up to five times the internet speeds, and up to 100 percent bigger allowances including SuperNet add-ons with much faster throttled speeds.
The company also introduced a first in the market benefit - Data Rollover - to all SuperNet customers, where unused data at the end of the month will be carried forward and added to the next month’s package inclusive data.
Ooredoo Maldives also announced its SuperNet Voice service providing crystal clear landline services suited for home offices and small businesses.
The network has also optimized its SuperNet services for popular applications such as Facebook, Youtube, Netflix, Gaming, and more.


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The State Open Banking in Thailand in 2021by Fintech News Singapore March 5, 2021
Though no legal regulation on open banking currently exists in Thailand, the government’s digital push with the Thailand 4.0 strategy, and the introduction the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) last year suggest a move to open banking frameworks is inevitable.
Compared to the likes of Singapore and Malaysia, Thailand is lagging behind when it comes to open banking with neither the central bank nor regulator having yet released any framework or guidelines.
Instead, there has been a broader ambition by the government to elevate Thailand in an increasingly advanced digital generation. In 2016, it launched Thailand 4.0, a proposed economic model focused on innovation and high-level services, propelled by advanced digital technology.
This was followed subsequently by numerous initiatives by the country’s central bank, Bank of Thailand (BOT), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) to accelerate innovation in the banking, financial, and insurance sector.
BOT launched the fintech regulatory sandbox in 2016, which was followed a year later by the introduction of e-payment regulation. E-payment regulation aims to boost fintech innovation by providing a framework for how e-money and electronic payment services are provided. BOT has also been driving the National e-Payment Master Plan, which includes among other objectives the development of the national payment infrastructure PromptPay and its linkage to other Southeast Asian payment networks such as PayNow in Singapore.
Meanwhile, the Office of Insurance Commission introduced its insurtech sandbox in 2017 to allow incumbents and other market participants to test out innovative products.
Thailand’s SEC has so far taken two main initiatives: in June 2017, it launched a series of sandboxes for securities, derivatives, clearing houses, know-your-customer (KYC) initiatives, and e-trading, and in January 2018, it introduced an API portal for financial product information, exchange rates and more.
Since Thailand embarked on its digitalization journey, the country has experienced a shift towards a cashless economy, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mobile and Internet banking transactions increased by 83% in 2016, with mobile and Internet banking accounting for 33% of total payment transaction volume, a sharp increase from only 8% in 2010.
Open banking market initiatives
Despite very little regulatory conversation about open banking in Thailand to date, banks are proactively launching developer portals with open banking APIs in tandem with the government’s push to encourage innovation.
Bangkok Bank was the first bank in Thailand to do, introducing in January 2017 its developer portal. Initially, the portal had just four APIs but it nevertheless paved the way for other banks in the country, including Siam Commercial Bank, Kasikorn Bank and Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), to develop similar platforms to encourage innovation.
In parallel, these banks are launching new products and services related to open banking and which leverage APIs. For example, Krungsri announced in July 2018 that it had developed a new application for mortgage loans as part of a broader suite of digital solutions. Designed for business partners, including property developers and property search portals, these solutions are meant to be offered with API access to mortgage applications.
Meanwhile, Siam Commercial Bank has opted for a more collaborative approach, teaming up with social media group Line Thailand in May 2018 to allow corporate users to research notifications of deposits, withdrawals and card spending. It also partnered with Mall Group in August 2018 to launch a number of new banking and financial services, with several of them leveraging the bank’s APIs.
As of Kasikorn Bank, the bank said in January 2020 that more than 50 partner companies had linked with its API system.
These efforts sit alongside the implementation of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), a new legislation introduced in May 2019. PDPA, which will come into full effect on June 1, 2021, mandates that data controllers and processors who use personal data must receive consent from data owners and use it only for expressed purposes.
Based on experiences in the UK, the European Union (EU), and Australia, consumer data legislation is oftentimes the first step in open banking implementation. According to an analysis by tech and management consultancy Capco, these recent developments in Thailand suggest that an open banking framework could be just around the corner.
In Australia, the introduction of the Consumer Data Right (CDR) on July 1, 2020 saw the launch of the first phase of open banking. In the EU, the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) combined with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are forcing banks to both open up and protect their customers’ data.


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In case you're wondering what us tech writers would be writing about this week if not for the iPhone 4 drama. Here's the top of the charts: the new Motorola Droid X launches through Verizon today (Thursday, July 15th). See the bottom of the posting for other tech headlines. But in the meantime...
The Droid X is a beast. It has an 8 megapixel camera on board, with a 4.3 inch screen (the iPhone is 3.5 inches). It records video in high definition at 720p, has a HDMI output. For an extra $20 a month, you can use it as its own WiFi hotspot for up to five devices (or you can get the bootleg app and do it for free. Oops, was that my outside voice.) It goes for the typical price point of $200 on a two year contract.
Verizon is promising that there will be no wait for the Droid X. They have plenty on hand.
One has to wonder if Apple took into consideration that the time lapse between the announcement of its big press conference on the iPhone 4 (last night) and the actual conference itself (tomorrow) just happens to coincide with (that is, overshadow) the launch day of the Droid X today.
Of course, they did. Is this why the conference is on Friday, instead of Monday (which would have given East Coast and foreign press time to fly into California)? Hmm... what's that witchy word that starts with a "b"?
By the way, in other non-iPhone 4 tech news this week:
1. HP is scrapping plans to put out an Android tablet this year. It was supposed to come out fourth quarter. Change your holiday shopping lists, accordingly. It's not happening.
2. And, I've been meaning to get to this all week. Thank you to my boots on the ground in Austin, TX, ZC who brought this to my attention daaaays ago now. (How embarassing or me). Anyhoo, Microsoft has announced that it will allow businesses to downgrade to Windows XP for free until 2020. I'll pontificate more on this later. It's a pretty amazing announcement on Microsoft's part and, oh my, Windows XP is just the little engine that could now isn't?
3. Worldwide PC sales are up 22%. It seems IT budgets are finally loosening up enough to allow for upgrades in the workplace. That, and I'm sure the higher confidence level in Windows 7 than the dreaded Vista has a big something to with it. Another sure sign that the business world is still revolving despite the double dip recession/dare I call it a depression, Intel posted its biggest record in quarterly profits since the tech bubble. Intel chips are in about 80% of the world's computers.


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The number of travelers arriving in Vietnam has decreased considerably in recent months but while neighbors draw up solutions Vietnam tourism is fumbling for answers.
|Tan Hong travel company’s represntatives (r ) receive visitors arriving in HCMC on Princess Cruises (Photo:TTO)|
The number of European and American visitors to HCM City, Hanoi and other honey pots, including Hoi An, Hue and Da Nang, has fallen 30-40 percent.
Visitors on caravan tours and cruise ships have also dropped.
Many international tourists have canceled tours to Vietnam, said some travel firms. 160 tourists from Thailand and Europe have canceled tours within the last 10 days, said Nguyen Hang Quy, director of Huong Giang International Travel.
Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Da Nang City, Ngo Quang Vinh, said that services such as hotels, transport businesses and tourist companies should reduce tour prices and provide special treatment to international visitors. The tourism industry should promote and advertise destinations to neighboring countries, namely Thailand, Singapore, China and Korea.
He added Da Nang has just opened some shopping and entertainment areas after midnight.
The city also holds musical performances at theaters and museums to draw local and foreign visitors.
The deputy Director of the HCMC Department of Culture, Information and Tourism, La Quoc Khanh, said that the relevant departments, travel services such as hotels, restaurants, airlines and tourist companies should join hands to offer promotions and offer competitive prices to stimulate the tourism market.
|Foreign tourists shopping at Ben Thanh Market. (Photo: Anh Vu)|
According to Mr Vu The Binh, Director General of the Traveling Department of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), travel firms in Ho Chi Minh City will take responsibility for promotion to markets in Australia, Northern and Western Europe, Japan and ASEAN countries. Tourist companies in the North will look after the Chinese market.
The promotion package will be officially presented to international visitors and tourist companies at the 2009 ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF 2009) to be held in Hanoi January 5-12.
The deputy Head of the VNAT, Nguyen Manh Cuong, said that Vietnam tourism industry has to launch promotional programs to attract visitors from major markets from now until the day before ATF 2009.
About 1,500 people, including ministers, heads of national tourism agencies and businesspeople, are expected to attend the event, which is an opportunity for travel companies to offer cheap and competitive promotion packages to visitors.
Promotional programs will be advertised on internet, he added.
Mr. Cuong said that promotion package will be launched December 30 at the latest.
He said that Vietnam tourism industry should have many active programs next year. Countries in the region need to work together. The region must prepare for when the global financial crisis is over.


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While Amazon is looking to solve last-mile delivery problems with the use of drones, its competitor Walmart plans on employing them within its retail stores. Yes, drones could soon become in-store employees to help you procure your daily supplies at the retailing giant.
Initially reported by Fortune, Walmart has been granted a patent which imagines a drone delivery system that will shuttle the products from one department to another inside the store. The drones will be employed as messengers to help simplify the purchase process for the extensive crowd of customers who visit its brick-and-mortar stores on the daily. In the patent filing, Walmart says,
[Drones] can greatly improve the customer experience without overburdening the human associates of the facility. Waiting can contribute to reduced customer satisfaction.
Thus, the primary aim of deploying this drone-based system would be to minimize the time its customers spend walking around their super-sized stores and collecting products. This will also be employed to reduce the time you spend waiting for employees to return or make their way to you from a far-end of the store.
Further, the patent document mentions that Walmart is keeping the security of their customers a top priority. It states that flying the drone above customers’ or employees’ heads doesn’t pose any immediate safety risks. But still, the retail chain behemoth is designing its drone delivery system to maneuver using a pre-determined path over the high-rise shelves instead of the aisles themselves. This is expected to provide customers an increased sense of security while shopping as the drones will be flying high enough to avoid any sort of collisions, says Walmart.
As for the functioning of the delivery system, Walmart plans on installing a central computer system that would act as the automated air traffic control for the drones. Similar to an airplane control room, it will determine flight paths, dispatch drones and monitor the same when they’re out and about helping customers pick products. The drones will be affixed with a cohort of sensors to help it steer clear of obstacles, especially customers (if one of those is sitting on the shelf, by any chance).
To further streamline the drone flight mechanism, Walmart will be setting up landing zones across its stores. While some of these are expected to be visible to customers (as they’d collect the ordered items from it), the other would be hidden from plain sight. The retail giant will make the drones capable of capturing and carrying the product to the customer using hooks or nets.
But, Walmart assumes that there may be some products that might require human intervention. And it is planning to develop a system for the same, where a nearby employee will receive specific instructions via text message or an exclusive app. This concept sounds just so fun and interesting to implement, but mind you, it’s still a patent filing. Walmart might be working on this futuristic technology but we shouldn’t expect to see it implement across the stores anytime soon (or never).


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Telltale Games Is Being Revived as a New Company With the Rights to The Wolf Among Us and Batman
The Wolf Among Us and Batman may return!
Telltale Games is being revived as a new company following the purchase of all its assets, including the back-catalog rights to licensed properties The Wolf Among Us and Batman, by LCG Entertainment.
As reported by Polygon, this new Telltale Games is being run by Jamie Ottilie and Brian Waddle. Ottilie was the founder and CEO of Galaxy Pest Control, which worked with such licensed properties as Duck Dynasty and Power Rangers, while Waddle had previously ran sales and marketing for the Havok game engine.
Ottilie confirmed that "some workers from the original Telltale Games will be offered freelance roles, with full-time positions possible in the future."
In addition to The Wolf Among Us, which was scheduled to get a sequel, and Batman, the new Telltale also has full rights to original Telltale games like Puzzle Agent. In addition, Ottilie confirmed that "there are some other expired licenses that we’re looking at."
While Ottilie said that "it's possible the new Telltale will pick up some stories where they left off," they are still evaluating how they will handle each property going forward.
There was no mention of the status of other previous Telltalle Games properties like Borderlands, Game of Thrones, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Minecraft. However, The Walking Dead license is now owned by Skybound and Stranger Thing's rights have reverted back to Netflix, so those most likely won't be making a return through Telltale Games.
“This is a viable business that went away due to market conditions and some scale choices [Telltale’s previous management] made,” Ottilie said. “I like games that tell stories and I think our industry should have a company that specializes in narrative-driven games.”
Negotiations for this deal began six months ago, although no purchase price has been announced. It is known that publisher Athlon Games is a partner in the deal and will "handle storefront operations and distribution."
The new Telltale Games will be located in Malibu, California.
“We’re going to stay small over the next six months and we will work for more of a distributed development pipeline than Telltale was known for,” Ottilie said. “We’ll focus on tools, technology and design in-house. Some things like animation and motion capture will be done with the right partnerships externally.”
“We will probably keep the concept of episodes but with different pacing. This is a different world, from a media consumption standpoint," Ottilie continued. "We need to look at how people like to entertain themselves. I like the idea of binge watching.”
“[The original Telltale Games] brought me some of my favorite stories to play and they did an amazing job building a company," Ottilie concluded. "It’s unfortunate the way that it ended. Certainly we’re working very hard not to make similar mistakes.”
Telltale Games was founded in 2004 and its biggest success arrived in 2012 with the first season of The Walking Dead that told the story of Lee and Clementine.
There is currently as class-action lawsuit going on against the original company's executives, but this will not affect the new company as these individuals are not part of the relaunch, although "Polygon understands that some former managers have been consulted in an unofficial capacity."
When Telltale Games closed, The Walking Dead's final season was cut short and was supposed to end after episode 2. As previously mentioned, Skybound came in and finished the project with the help of some previous Telltale employees. In our review, we said "The Walking Dead’s and Telltale’s goodbye succeeds by closely examining the mother/son dynamic between Clementine and A.J."
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to firstname.lastname@example.org.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN who hopes this works out as narrative driven games definitely have a place in this industry. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst.


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Associated British Food PLC’s (LON:ABF) third-quarter update showed once again that it was Primark bailing out its struggling sugar business.
The FTSE 100 company has long been questioned about the possibility of spinning off its successful value fashion chain, but the answer has always been the same: being part of a larger group gives all of its businesses more financial firepower.
To some extent, that makes sense: had Primark been spun out, today’s update would have almost certainly been a profit warning.
A glut of sugar has sent prices of the sweet stuff crashing, so much so that AB Foods now expects its sugar division to see a “substantial reduction” in sales and profits over the next two years at least.
Primark, on the other hand, is continuing to see sales rise even in its core UK market, where the gloomy high street trading conditions have been well documented.
Sales are up by 7% so far this year – a slight tail-off compared to earlier on in the year – with more stores opening across the UK and abroad. Primark is also in the process of an ambitious expansion into the US, which could prove to be a lucrative market if it gets it right.
Could Primark demand a higher premium on its own?
It’s the bottom line which is making real progress though. AB Foods said in today’s update that the retailer’s full-year profits would be ahead of expectations as margins continue to improve.
Primark already accounts for around 53% of group profits, but that looks set to rise again this year.
Despite the decent figures from its star asset, AB Foods shares are down 4.2% today to 2,603p, which begs the question: could Primark’s value be higher if it was hived off? IG’s chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp thinks so.
“I’m not sure why ABF hangs on to the sugar division when it continues to impair overall performance.
“Primark has demonstrated the ability to keep growing, and it would likely command a higher premium without the sugar business dragging performance.
He added: “Sugar prices are down 25% year-to-date and there’s no sign of a bounce as production continues to rise – we can expect a repeat of today’s RNS in the months to come.”
Does Costa hold the key?
While chief executive George Weston and his team have shown no interest in splitting up the company, Beauchamp reckons their minds could be changed if Whitbread PLC’s (LON:WTB) de-merger of its Costa Coffee business goes smoothly.
Whitbread, which also owns Premier Inn, came under pressure from investors who said it didn’t make sense to have a coffee shop chain and hotel group under the same roof.
“An activist investor may well push ABF down this road [as well], and if Whitbread succeeds more than a few will start to ask questions,” said Beauchamp.


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The frontier of Interactive Print, as it spreads across the globe, has made a stop in paradise.
MediaHouse, one of the largest media companies in Bermuda, has introduced Layar’s technology in its portfolio of properties, including the Bermuda Sun newspaper, Bermuda.com, Island Press and more.
Readers of the Bermuda Sun can see stories and advertisements come alive with videos, photo galleries and music four sections of the paper: News, Life, Sports and Tech. The printed Bermuda.com guide for April (pictured on the right) features a cover video that brings the photo of a flyboarder to life. And employees at the Island Press are having fun showing off their interactive business cards.
Check out the video below of people around Bermuda reacting to the interactive content.
MediaHouse says it recognizes the opportunity not only to enhance its editorial content, but also to provide a premium service to advertisers. Several ads in the Bermuda.com guide have interactive elements that can be accessed by scanning the pages with the Layar App.
“Advertisers are keen to get their messages onto the smartphones of their audience, careful to entice without annoying,” the company said. “Augmented Reality (AR) provides that opportunity because users engage their smartphone or tablet voluntarily.”
The company says it intends to increase its use of Layar going forward, so expect more great content from Bermuda in the future!


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YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
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Read the profiles of the selected guests for the editorial live interview series.
Local nonprofit director takes national job
Local rancher pleads guilty to $2.4M fraud scheme
Ruby’s shuttering on Sunshine part of consolidation plan
Opinion: Instagram Husband creators respond to Taco Bell’s Instagram Boyfriend
HQ Trivia, Vine co-founder found dead at 34
Elfindale retirement community adding $13M assisted living center
Amazon moving to cut the ‘CRaP’
more sbjlive videos


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FDA Warns Companies Selling Fake Accutane
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday warned Internet companies in California, Colorado, Florida, Oregon, and Canada to cease illegal sales of unapproved isotretinoin products that are advertised as Accutane on the companies' Web sites.
Accutane is Roche Pharmaceutical's FDA-approved brand name for isotretinoin.
The product was approved in 1982 to treat severe recalcitrant nodular acne and is known to cause severe birth defects and spontaneous abortion.
Under Roches' FDA-approved System to Manage Accutane Related Teratogenicity risk management program, only certain physicians may legally prescribe the drug, and prescriptions must be filled within seven days and bear a yellow sticker certifying the patient is not pregnant.
Patients are also required to sign a consent form attesting that they are aware of the risks associated with Accutane.
One California company, through its Web sites 2bbrands.com and mexicandrugstore.com, is selling products advertised as "Accutane topical gel," according to FDA.
The products shipped to the United States are labeled as "ISOTREX ISOTRENINOINA GEL 0.05%" and the labeling is in Spanish, the agency said.
The company sells the products to U.S. consumers without a prescription, FDA added. The orders are filled by a Mexican pharmacy.
Two Oregon companiesToday's Business and Medicine-Mexico, through the Web site medsmex.comare also selling the unapproved and misbranded "Accutane topical gel" product labeled in Spanish.
FDA warned Canadian company Smart Med Pharmasave that it was illegally shipping to U.S. consumers unapproved "Accutane Roche 40" capsules labeled as containing 40 mg of isotretinoin.
The product is advertised on smartmed.ca as Accutane, according to FDA.
A Florida company was selling a product labeled as "Roaccutane Isotretinoin 10 mg tablet" on its Web site medicapharma.com.
The orders for the product were filled by a pharmacy in Thailand, FDA said.
A Colorado company was selling a similarly labeled capsule product on three Web sites: Edrugnet.com, Accutane-acne-treatments-medication.com, and 1accutane.com. Those "Roaccutane" orders were also filled by a Thai pharmacy, the agency said.
FDA gave the companies 15 days to respond to the agency in writing describing "the actions you are taking to assure that your operations are in full compliance with United States law."


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Wang Jinzhen(王锦珍), vice chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and representatives from 8 South Asian countries attended the forum to promote cooperation on new energy, tourism, agriculture transportation, IT, metals and infrastructure etc.
Rishad Bathdeen, Minister of Industry & Commerce of Sri Lanka presided over the forum.
The bilateral trade exceeded $2.8 billion between China and South Asian countries, which is a 40% increase compared to that of 2009. A breakthrough of $100 billion is expected to achieve between China and South Asian countries this year.
Pakistan is announced to be the next rotating chairman of China –South Asia Business Forum (CSABF).
A cooperation memorandum, in which several consensuses have been reached, is signed between China and South Asian countries yesterday afternoon (June 5) at Yunnan Convention Center.
The cooperation consensuses are as follows:
1. The common goal is to build the win-win cooperation relations and improve economic development standards and lives of people both in China and South Asian countries.
2. The regional economic development, bilateral and multilateral trade exchanges in new models will be promoted between China and South Asian countries.
3. Countries should strives to improve the trade opportunities, reduce barriers blocking the investment risks and eliminate relevant barriers on both tariff and non-tariff areas.
4. Countries should strengthen the mutual visiting and exchanges to develop business trade.
5. China-South Asia Business Forum website and China- South Asia Business Council website should be fully used.
6. Related coordinator from each country should be confirmed to enhance communications.
7. Exchanges and trainings on laws and seminars should be held regularly.(Reporter:Lynn,editor: Minnie Mao)


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Tue, 18 Apr 2023 16:31:00 GMT
Freschetta pizza, a Minnesota based company, has launched The Great Frozen Pizza Expedition with TBWA\Chiat\Day LA to bring delicious frozen pizza made with high-quality ingredients to the residents of Angle Inlet, MN in the most Minnesota way possible - using local sled dogs to carry a freezer full of Freschetta pizzas across the frozen lake.
Due to a mapping error in the 1700s, the town of Angle Inlet is the northernmost point of the contiguous US, locked between Canada and a lake, so residents must cross the US-Canada border (twice) and back just to get to the grocery store.
When there’s a town of pizza lovers with limited access to groceries and frozen pizza - and must cross borders to get their hands on Freschetta pizza - that deserves respect.
In a state where it has become a mealtime go-to, the maker of Freschetta pizza wants to share its pizza respect with the residents of Angle Inlet because this centuries-old mapping error has made it difficult for them to easily access frozen pizza
Of course, this can be done the Minnesota way: using sled dogs to carry a freezer full of Freschetta pizzas across the frozen lake, providing a stash of 150 pizzas to the citizens of Angle Inlet, and saving them trips across the US-Canada border.
The Freschetta pizza freezer is housed at local Angle Inlet snowmobile club The Northwest Angle Edge Riders for residents to enjoy.
Categories: Food, Ready MealsTBWA\Chiat\Day LA, Tue, 18 Apr 2023 16:31:00 GMT


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Amazon to open package pickup outlet on EMU campus
In a sign of how Amazon.com is changing retail, Eastern Michigan University said today it is reducing the size of its student center bookstore so the online juggernaut can build and open a package pickup center this fall.
It is expected to be Amazon’s first fully staffed campus pickup center in the state.
Instead of opening another store — or eatery — the university said it decided to lease the 3,200-square-foot space on its Ypsilanti campus to the online seller.
"We felt this was a better use of space and more in line with what our students want," said Walter Kraft, EMU's vice president for communications. "This is Amazon, one of the most powerful brands in the world and we know how people shop right now."
The center gives the university’s 22,000 students — as well as faculty, staff and nearby residents — a way to buy just about anything online and get it within a day, or hours, without fears about whether it might be stolen.
In effect, the university is adding a virtual store.
"You will not go in there and see products," Kraft said. "You will see boxes."
Amazon, which was started by Jeff Bezos in 1995 as an online bookseller, has pickup centers at other university campuses nationwide, including Purdue University; the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Texas, Georgia Institute of Technology and Stony Brook University in New York.
Students using the centers are notified their package has arrived either by text or e-mail and pick it up at a counter.
For Amazon, the center boosts its visibility among young, tech-savvy shoppers and adds to its recent push into Michigan. The Seattle-based tech company is expanding its delivery network in the Midwest to shorten the time it takes to get packages to customers.
Amazon is adding a cluster of large and small distribution centers in southeast Michigan.
Its first large distribution center in the state, a 1-million square foot warehouse in Livonia, is expected to create up to 1,500 jobs and open in the fall. Amazon already has a small center in Brownstown, and other centers are slated for Hazel Park and Romulus — and possibly Shelby Township.
At the same time, critics of the online seller — which sells books, clothing, electronics and even groceries — fear that it is becoming too dominant and may be endangering competition, eliminating jobs and putting traditional retailers out of business.
Half of all U.S. households subscribe to the retailer's membership program Amazon Prime, which promises two-day delivery, according to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
Traditional retailers — large and small — also blame Amazon for declining sales.
“We’re excited to offer the greater Eastern Michigan University community a convenient location to pick up and return Amazon orders,” said Ripley MacDonald, Amazon's director of student programs. “From everyday essentials to technology, we’re thrilled to be able to bring the convenience of shopping on Amazon here to Ypsilanti.”
Construction began on the EMU center this week.
The university's 10-year lease with Amazon calls for the retailer to pay $81,250 a year, and spend up to $1 million to build the center. It also is expected to employ 9-15 people, many of them likely to be EMU students, the university said.
"It makes it more convenient because they don't have to worry about it sitting outside their door," Kraft said. "This is bringing what we see everywhere to a college campus."
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or email@example.com.


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As the industry moves boldly into the second quarter of the year (and more tentatively out of the Covid-19 pandemic), we were treated to media research galore last week with the publication of a number of new studies: our love-hate relationship with social media continues, Amazon goes from strength-to-strength not only in ecommerce but also in advertising, and there are signs too that new global players – not to mention new media monetisation models – are beginning to enter the arena. So join us this week for a data-driven expedition around some of the key artefacts of the modern media landscape…
7 in 10 US adults use social media: A new study from the Pew Research Centre has shown that roughly seven-in-ten Americans use some kind of social media site – a share that has remained relatively stable over the past five years.
Shein’s time to shine: But we can dig deeper still, as last week investment bank Piper Sandler released the results of its 41st semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens® survey in partnership with DECA. The sample is made up of 7,000 teens across 47 US states with an average age of 16.1yrs. Snapchat was found to be the preferred social media platform of this demographic (31% share), followed by TikTok (30%) and Instagram (24%), which interestingly is beginning to lose share.
Amazon’s advertising business grew 53% last year: One of the reasons Amazon is unlikely to be looking back over its own shoulder in the ecommerce industry, is that it is too busy chasing down rivals in front of it in the digital advertising space. New research released by eMarketer last week showed that the company’s advertising business grew by 53% last year.
NFTs: New Fangled Technology: Another area of the digital ecosystem that has nudged its way into the media headlines this year is NTFs: Non-fungible tokens. Loosely speaking, an NFT is a unit of blockchain data and importantly, a unique one. These tokens can embody anything digital, but this new-fangled form of fashionable technology is currently making waves in – yep, you’ve guessed it – the art world.
You can read the article in full on the FIPP website here.