text:
Digital TV News: Movistar
Latin America SVOD subscriptions to double
Mar 16, 2020 – According to Digital TV Research, Latin America will have 81 million SVOD subscriptions by 2025; almost double the 42 million recorded at end-2019. This growth comes despite the recession affecting most countries in the region.
News categories: Digital TV Research, Simon Murray, Digital TV, Latin America, Market Research, OTT
Movistar to be launch partner for Disney+ in Spain
Mar 8, 2020 – The Walt Disney Company Iberia and Telefónica have announced that Movistar will be the strategic distributor for Disney+ launch in Spain. Adding Disney's new streaming service builds upon a long-standing relationship between the companies.
News categories: Telefónica, Disney, Emilio Gayo, Jan Koeppen, Digital TV, OTT, Spain
Movistar Spain launches new voice remote control
Feb 12, 2020 – Movistar has launched a Voice Remote Control that allows customers to change channels, perform searches, request recommendations or carry out actions on Movistar+ content in a natural and simple way thanks to Aura, Telefónica’s virtual assistant.
News categories: Movistar, Digital TV, Set Top Box, Smart Home, Spain, UX
Telefónica announces Movistar Living Apps for its STBs
Nov 13, 2019 – Telefónica has announced the availability of Movistar Living Apps, proprietary apps and from third-party companies that offer new digital experiences to Movistar customers that have its Movistar+ UHD TV set-top-box.
News categories: Telefónica, Chema Alonso, Apps, Digital TV, Set Top Box, Smart Home, Spain
Telefónica Spain to launch €8 pm Movistar OTT TV offer in June
Apr 25, 2019 – Telefónica España has provided an update on the strategy the company will be developing in the coming quarters. As part of its plans, the company intends to strengthen its commitment to television, in particular with the launch in June of a Movistar OTT TV offer.
News categories: Telefónica, Emilio Gayo, Digital TV, OTT, Spain
Latin America to add 24 million SVOD subscriptions
Apr 1, 2019 – Latin American SVOD subscriptions are forecast to almost double by 2024. The top six regional platforms will account for 85% of the region’s paying SVOD subscribers at that time, according to Digital TV Research.
News categories: Digital TV Research, Simon Murray, Digital TV, Latin America, OTT, Subscribers
Telefónica deploys NAGRA content protection on Movistar IPTV worldwide
Jan 8, 2019 – NAGRA (SIX:KUD.S) has announced that Telefónica has deployed the NAGRA Security Services Platform (SSP) managing the NAGRA Connect client to secure its Movistar IPTV service and 4K Ultra HD content in multiple countries with newest STBs.
News categories: NAGRA, Telefónica, Maurice Van Riek, CES2020, Content Protection, Digital TV, Europe, IPTV, Latin America, Set Top Box
Telefonica Spain upgrades Movistar+ UI to add Netflix
Dec 11, 2018 – Telefónica España has announced the arrival of Netflix on Movistar. Movistar customers now have the option of new Fusión packages that includes Netflix, access to more mobile data and an additional mobile line.
News categories: Telefónica, Netflix, María Jesús Almazor, José María Álvarez-Pallete, Reed Hastings, María Ferreras, Apps, Digital TV, IPTV, Set Top Box, Spain, UX
Telefónica announces partnerships for launch of Movistar Home
Oct 18, 2018 – Telefónica has announced Movistar Home, a home device that incorporates Aura, Telefónica’s AI system. The unit is equipped with a display so that users can manage Movistar+ content as well as the communications and connectivity of the device.
News categories: Telefónica, Digital TV, IPTV, Satellite, Smart Home, Spain
- Contentos integrates Theta Network decentralized video delivery for COS.tv
- SeaChange selected by Midco to monetize video streaming service
- Apptopia and Braze release state of streaming industry report
- Edge Networks announces 'Evoca' ATSC 3.0 pay TV service
- Allegro DVT releases AL-D21x video decoder IP family with AV1 support
- Nielsen and Sinclair Broadcast announce multi-year renewal
- Verimatrix introduces DRM for video protection between devices
- Deltatre unveils SaaS platform for real-time, data-driven UX decisions
- Omdia cuts 2020 TV shipment forecast by 10 percentage points
- Comscore research shows continuing surge in U.S. daytime TV viewing
- FCC proposed rule change to support ATSC 3.0 distributed transmission
- VideoAmp creates combined Smart TV and STB viewing dataset for the U.S.
- Roku OS 9.3 begins roll-out
- Italian local re-broadcaster RAS goes live with Synamedia virtualized DCM
- Altice Europe terminates discussions on acquisition of Partner Communications
- Asia Pacific set for 417 million SVOD subscribers
- Velocix introduces CDN software for 5G video streaming
- Comscore sees notable rise in U.S. streaming usage
- Movies Anywhere app comes to LG Smart TVs
- Singtel puts HOOQ into liquidation


text:
NEW YORK —Retailing,by its very nature,is aDarwinian proposition,and the hunt is always on fornew retail concepts.
This story first appeared in the December 26, 2002 issue of WWD. Subscribe Today.
The Gap has said it is reducing expansion and ismaking o commitments for 2003.Retail analysts actual-ly expect the company to close stores.Eddie Bauer,Wilsons Leather and BCBG are pruning locations,and J.Crew ’s expansion is on hold.In addition,the first waveof so-called entertainment retailers has hit the skids.The Disney store is scaling back its chain from a high ofmore than 500 stores in the U.S.to about 350 by 2005.Warner Bros.Studio Store was phased out last year,andthe Discovery Zone was forced into bankruptcy.
It ’s a telling sign that one of the few new chains forwomen is Adrienne Vittadini,a 23-year-old brand thatpeaked in 1990 with a volume of around $110 millionwholesale.While it was an important fashion resourcein department stores,the collection disappeared as thebridge market sank in the late Nineties.
Retail Brand Alliance,the owner of Casual Corner,Brooks Bros.and Petite Sophisticates,acquiredVittadini in 2001,and is giving the brand a second life.The company hopes to have 30 stores,ranging in sizefrom 5,000 to 6,000 square feet,operating by October2003,and malls are eager to welcome Vittadini.
“It ’s a brand-new apparel tenant in a category –bridge –that ’s been very challenging,”said DavidWeinert,group vice president of leasing for theTaubman Company.
Most of the new chains on the horizon are eithersiblings or extensions of already successful concepts.Chico ’s,a chain whose comfortable fashions concealflaws in physique that come with middle-age,is rollingout Pazo,aimed at 25-to-35-year-old fashion-consciouswomen,next year.
Others are targeting younger customers.Forever 21and Hot Topic ’s Torrid are aiming at juniors and largesize teens,respectively.It ’s o coincidence that many ofthe new chains are geared to teens.The group spent $172billion on apparel in 2001,according to TeenageResearch Unlimited (TRU),or about $104 per week.
But the field is crowded.Some see opportunities inthe children ’s arena.Mary Drolet,a former retail exec-utive,opened Club Libby Lu,a chain for girls.”Therearen ’t a lot of people playing in the [tween ]field,”shesaid.”In the ext eight years,demographics will swingheavily towards teens,but there are a lot of players inthat market already.”
Paco Underhill,founder and managing director ofEnvirosell,a testing agency for stores and banks,ex-pects more foreign merchants to test U.S.waters.Naartjie,a Cape Town export,selling children ’s cloth-ing in colorful ethnic fabrics,opened several locationsin California.
“Why Mango isn ’t here is a good question,”saidUnderhill,referring to the trendy Spanish clothingchain.He also cited Mavi,the Turkish denim resource,which is opening its first two stores,including onesouth of Union Square here,and another in Vancouver,in December .
“Urban retailing is increasingly strong,”Underhillsaid,”but the major vehicle for selling is still going tobe the shopping mall,at least for the next three years.”

domain: news


text:
Over the years H. Ross Perot has been called a great many things. The self-made billionaire and two-time presidential candidate has been labeled everything from a genius to a kook. Recently, however, Perot has garnered a new epithet. Many IP experts argue the Texas businessman is a patent troll.
Perot's transformation occurred in early July when he became the principal investor in the Ocean Tomo Capital Fund. The $200 million fund claims to be the first private equity fund to invest solely in firms with undervalued IP.
Many in the IP community eye the fund with suspicion. They believe the fund will invest in small companies that produce little, but which own patents that can be asserted against the products of other, more lucrative enterprises. These Ocean Tomo-backed companies are positioned to launch a wave of infringement actions that could force larger, successful businesses to pay millions of dollars to defend themselves in court--and possibly hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements or court-awarded damages.
The small companies that engage in such behavior are sometimes called Patent Licensing and Enforcement Companies (PLECs). More often, they are derisively labeled patent trolls.
Ocean Tomo vehemently denies it's a troll. James Malackowski, president and CEO of I|C|M|B Ocean Tomo, the merchant bank that operates the fund, says the company only puts its money into businesses that want to expand their sales of goods and services based on their IP. Malackowski adds that one big reason his company is staying away from the PLEC business is that Ocean Tomo does a lot of IP valuations for large companies, and suing these clients for infringement would jeopardize that segment of Ocean Tomo's business.
If Ocean Tomo were to become a patent troll, it wouldn't be alone. A growing number of established companies are jumping into this line of work.
"It has become more and more apparent that this is a business to be in," says David Simon, chief patent counsel for Intel Corp.
This development is bad news for other businesses, consumers and the overall U.S. economy, according to many IP experts. Moreover, unless Congress makes some major changes to the country's patent system, many fear that the problem will only get worse.
"More and more companies will spend more and more money arguing over IP rights and proportionately less money on developing new technologies," warns Adam Jaffe, an economist at Brandeis University. "That's good for lawyers, but not for anyone else."
Patent trolls have been around a long time, but the problem has grown dramatically in recent years. One reason is that the courts have become more responsive to infringement charges.
"The legal landscape has changed over the past two decades, making it more likely that if you sue, you'll win and get big damages," Jaffe says.
Another factor is that the Internet has created particularly juicy targets for PLECs' lawsuits. E-mail, instant messaging and many other online products and services have leapt in value as more and more people adopt them. If any such technology infringes a patent, the patent owner can reap a windfall.
For instance, Forgent Networks claims to own a patent on the popular JPEG format for compressing digital images online. In the past three years, it used this patent to wring out more than $100 million in licensing fees from various companies, including Adobe Systems and Macromedia. Forgent claims its patent covers digital cameras, personal digital assistants, cellular phones, printers, scanners and other devices.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) also has encouraged PLECs by granting a lot of broad, but questionable, patents. "Examiners are too lax in enforcing the requirement that inventions be novel," Jaffe says. Patent trolls then use the dubious patents to squeeze money from other businesses.
Eolas Technologies, for instance, obtained a patent for enabling a Web browser to automatically open up another program--such as a PDF reader--years after many companies were already using such technology. The validity of this patent was widely criticized, but that didn't stop the company from winning a $521 million infringement verdict against Microsoft. The courts overturned the verdict after the PTO threw out the patent in a rare re-examination procedure, which belatedly found that Eolas' invention was not really new. As of this writing, however, Eolas continues to press its case before the PTO and courts.
An Unfair Fight
Another strength of patent trolls is that many companies are afraid to fight them in court--and for good reason. A company targeted by a troll has a lot at stake. If the troll wins an infringement suit against the company, the defendant could be hit with hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and an injunction that prevents the company from selling its key products. Thus, firms faced with even a small chance of losing in court often take the safe road and simply pay off the troll.
Moreover, the outcome of a patent lawsuit is extremely unpredictable. "Patent litigation is so risky, few lawyers will tell us our chances of losing are just 1 in 10," Simon says.
This unpredictability doesn't bother patent trolls because they have little to lose in a suit. They may not even pay attorneys' fees because their attorneys frequently work on a contingency fee basis.
"If the court rules against them, they just lose $50,000, and if they win, they win a whole lot more," Simon says.
Patent trolls have yet another important advantage in trials: jury bias. Trolls often portray themselves in court as small inventors fighting big corporations, and in such situations, jurors frequently want to help the little guy.
This bias against big companies is greater than companies and their counsel often realize, according to Kimberly Moore, who teaches patent law at George Mason University School of Law. Moore recently completed a study of patent lawsuits and found that when an individual sues a company in a bench trial, each side has an equal chance of winning. When a patent trial goes before a jury, however, the individual is significantly more likely to win. If corporate counsel realized the extent of jury bias, the attorneys would try harder to avoid jury trials, Moore says.
With all of these advantages, it's no wonder that many individuals and companies have decided to join the ranks of the trolls. One of the most famous converts is Peter Detkin, who invented the term "patent troll" in 2001 while serving as in-house counsel for Intel. Detkin is now a managing director at Intellectual Ventures, which most observers characterize as a troll.
Intellectual Ventures is a somewhat different type of troll. Instead of acquiring companies with patents, the five-year-old company has its own scientists who are attempting to come up with patentable inventions in a wide variety of fields. At the end of the day, however, the company's goal is to make money by licensing patents, not by manufacturing or selling products.
Some big names support Intellectual Ventures. Nathan Myhrvold, the former chief technology officer for Microsoft, co-founded the company. Google, Microsoft and Intel all reportedly invested in the company, and each has received licenses for technology Intellectual Ventures invented.
Despite the growing allure of the PLEC industry, companies may want to think twice before jumping into this line of work. Consider the situation of Acacia Research, one of the country's premier PLEC firms. The firm owns more than 130 patents and has made hundreds of licensing deals with a wide variety of companies, including Albertson's, Adidas, Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Target, T. Rowe Price, Nokia and Walt Disney Co. In 2004, Acacia's licensing division brought in $24 million--and was still almost $5 million in the red.
"It's not easy to set up a fully functioning licensing company," says Paul Ryan, chairman and CEO of Acacia. "It's not an overnight thing." He adds that Acacia's licensing arm is now close to breaking even.
Many companies, however, either don't know or don't care about the difficulties of patent licensing. "In the short horizon, being a patent troll looks very attractive, and new players are jumping into that business every day," Malackowski says. "There's a groundswell of money seeking to get into that business."


text:
Macduff sees annual revenue rise to £13m as whisky sales return to pre-Covid levels
Glasgow-based whisky blender and distributor Macduff International has reported a 15% rise in annual revenue to £13 million after sales returned to pre-Covid levels.
The firm made a pre-tax profit of £902,227 in the year ending 30 April 2022, up from £811,631 for the previous year. In its latest accounts filed at Companies House, the businesses noted supply chain issues as a result of Covid and Brexit hampered performance.
The company’s founders, three drinks industry veterans, established Macduff International in 1992 and bought the Lauder’s, Islay Mist and Grand Macnish brands. In 2011, it was bought by Danish private investors and David Sloan, who has been with the business since it began, remained as managing director and minority shareholder.
The accounts show that the value of its whisky stock was £20.8m, up from £18.8m in 2021. Blending, maturing, and bottling take place at the InchDairnie Distillery in Fife.
The company’s accounts were audited by Azets.


text:
Dressed in a long blue work apron overstuffed with pencils, Don Mixon spends much of his day hunched over a drafting table papered with spreadsheets, calculations and sewing patterns. But he stands taller when he speaks of Sam Roffe, his former employer and founder of the Seattle ski-wear company, Roffe Inc.
"Sam was the last of the good guys," said Mixon, who worked side by side with his old boss in the cutting room until Roffe's death in 1994. "He treated me like I was someone special. I got to know him so well, he was more to me than a boss man, you know. I miss him every day."
Now after 27 years with the company, Mixon says he owes Sam Roffe one last favor - helping his family close down a company that has been a cornerstone of the Seattle garment-manufacturing industry for 43 years.
Last week, Gerry Sportswear Co., a 50-year-old company, purchased the Roffe label and rights to produce Roffe-brand ski wear. Gerry, headquartered in Seattle, is owned by Chicago entrepreneur Jeff Anderson. Roffe was owned by Robert Roffe, Sam's son, who referred all questions to Sonny Jones, Roffe president.
At the end of the year, Gerry will close the downtown Roffe factory and lay off approximately 100 workers - including Mixon. Gerry will move 30 percent of Roffe's production work to Hong Kong.
Roffe is the latest in a long line of Seattle garment makers to disappear from the local scene.
Seattle was once one of the largest apparel-manufacturing centers in the country, and enjoyed a reputation as the nation's leader in outerwear. But cheap overseas labor - some Chinese sweatshops pay sewers as little as $1 a day - has lured business and jobs away from the United States.
In the last decade, many local garment manufacturers have come and gone, some shutting down completely, others selling out to larger companies:
-- Roffe itself in 1987 purchased the Demetre Sweater Co., which employed 60 to 80 workers in Ballard. Those jobs moved to factories in Hong Kong, Colombia and Canada, said Jones. In its heyday in 1985, Roffe employed 300 people.
-- In 1994, Source purchased McConnell Knitting, founded in 1991 by Robert McConnell, a former Demetre employee laid off by Roffe. Source changed the name to McConnell Knitting. That company folded in 1995.
-- Sunset Sportswear Inc., which had 450 workers at its peak in 1975, closed in 1981.
-- Black Manufacturing Co., which had 160 employees in 1980, is now out of business.
Workers like Mixon will try to find jobs at smaller area factories, where some production of Roffe clothing will be parceled out.
But changing jobs will not be easy.
Sam Roffe, as Mixon said, was the last of his kind. Mixon does not expect to find such an employer again.
Mixon has worked for Roffe for "pretty near my whole life." At 59, he is too young to retire or collect Social Security checks but is much older than most job seekers.
"There's one thing I think about a whole heap," Mixon said. "When you look for a job, they think about your age and they discriminate. But I'm not giving up. I'm moving ahead. I'll think about that later," after the factory closes.
Roffe, which once dominated the ski-wear industry, suffered because it did not keep up with fashion trends, said Shannon Myrin, director of marketing for Hot Gear Skiwear.
In addition, demand for ski wear has declined in recent years, although the market for other outdoor gear is growing, Anderson said.
Gerry itself has a long history of acquiring smaller sewing companies. But while it used to employ 425 people 10 years ago, it has only 60 employees now. Nearly all of its work is now subcontracted.
"Our strategy is to add on acquisitions of well-known brands with high-name recognition," said Anderson, who bought Gerry from Chicago-based Eagle Industries last year.
"We think it will help us grow our business."
Contractors may be hiring
In the end, this could mean more jobs for former Roffe employees, Anderson said. "Our contractors are already telling us they will need to hire more people to keep up with our orders," he said.
So far, Gerry has not offered jobs to Roffe factory workers.
Roffe's factory will close at the worst possible time to look for a new job - late October, when production of ski wear typically shuts down for the winter. Few factories will be hiring; most ski-garment manufacturers lay off factory workers from November to March.
Roffe pattern maker Karen Ma said she expects to collect unemployment checks when the factory closes. Ma, who immigrated from Hong Kong in 1975, has worked in garment factories since she was 13. She has two teenagers; one is preparing to attend the University of Washington this fall.
Kim Wong, a Roffe supervisor, is no stranger to changing jobs. Like many sewers, she has worked for most of Seattle's major apparel manufacturers - many now closed. If she had her way, she would stay at Roffe until she is old enough to retire.
"Put it this way: we don't like change," Wong said. "But we have no choice. I don't know what they are going to do, if (Gerry) will take us or not."
Pay not likely to be as high
If Roffe workers are hired elsewhere, chances are they will earn less money.
Unionized sewers at Roffe earn between $7 and $12 an hour based on productivity, Jones said. Seamstresses making similar garments for Gerry's contractors earn as little as $6 a hour. Most of those companies don't have labor unions representing workers.
But even Roffe jobs are not what they used to be. Sewers once were paid by the hour; now they do piece work, said Roffe factory supervisor Annie Chin.
Until last year, Roffe had never shut down production in the slow season, giving workers stability and job security, Mixon said.
"I used to work over at Sunset Sportswear, and I'd be off and on, off and on, until I couldn't make my car payments," Mixon said.
"But Sam took care of us. I learned the majority of what I know here. I tell everyone I work for Roffe, and that I worked with him. How many people can say that?"


text:
Infographic: Microsoft Advertising – attention span habits in the multi-screen age
Eighty six per cent of Brits now multi-screen when watching TV, gaming or browsing the web, a trend which has the potential to shape the digital ad realm, according to research from Microsoft Advertising.
The Attention Span study noted three main consumer attention mindsets - the Attention Ninja, the Attention Pragmatist and the Attention Ambidextrous (definitions below in infographic).
Those in the 18-24 range were found to have the strongest ‘selective’ attention, due to them growing up with digital tech and multi-screening. However, over 45s were better at alternating attention.
The news that different age demographics have varying attention spans puts the onus on brands to create ad experiences that are in tune with their audience's behaviour.
The research was developed from Sohlberg and Mateer’s model of attention, surveying 2,000 UK consumers.
Owen Sagness, UK Ggeneral manager for Microsoft Advertising and Online, said: “Consumer use of digital technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, creating both opportunities and challenges for advertisers. Our study indicates that people are adapting their attention skills according to a broad range of demographic and lifestyle factors, such as age, vocation or time of day.
“As consumers shift their behaviour to handle multiscreen environments, agencies too must shift their approach to audience engagement. Understanding different audience segments and how their attention spans impact their interaction with advertising is key.”
Sagness concluded: “In addition, agencies must invest in technologies like programmatic and data analytics. Those acting on this insight will reach audiences at the right moment, with the right type of content across the right devices, driving greater results and ROI for brands.”


text:
Electronic Arts (EA) has announced an extension of deals with the National Hockey League (NHL) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The extensions of these deals will ensure that EA Sports will develop simulation games for the two sports properties. EA recently released the NHL 21 in October and UFC 4 titles in August this year.
The NHL and EA Sports have collaborated for almost three decades now. The renewal of the partnership will provide further enhancements in ice hockey gaming. As well as innovative new gameplay, the pair will work to find more ways for fans worldwide to engage with hockey, including through new experiences within the EA Sports NHL franchise. The deal with NHL has been extended till the end of 2026.
EA Sports’ latest agreement with the UFC extends its exclusive rights till the end of 2030. The partnership with the mixed martial arts (MMA) brand will focus on design, visualization, and development innovations to improve the gaming experience.
The gaming circuit has seen a boost during the pandemic. Since other sports are not allowing fans in the stadium, virtual gaming has gained more traction during the lockdown period. EA Sports is the leading brand in the gaming industry, so they will be looking to capitalize on this situation by signing extensions for key games and improve the gaming experience for fans.
Cam Weber, EA Sports’ executive vice president, said, “The EA Sports NHL franchise these past 30 years has become synonymous with hockey culture, and this extension will ensure it remains at the forefront of connecting millions of fans around the world to the sport through interactive entertainment.”
Regarding the extension with UFC, Weber said, “We’re thrilled to extend our more than a ten-year partnership with the UFC as we continue to build one of the fastest-growing sports franchises in the world, based on the rapidly expanding sport of MMA. This agreement will allow us to push the creative boundaries of mixed martial arts video games and connect millions more around the world to the culture of the sport.”
EA SPORTS continues to introduce new fans to the sport through its realistic and entertaining approach to virtual games. The past eight months illustrate how EA is a critical extension to real-world sports, as fans turned to EA SPORTS to play and watch sports when the On-field sports were halted during the pandemic.
Tracey Bleczinski, Senior VP at UFC Global Consumer Products, said, “We’re thrilled that we will continue our partnership with EA for the next 10 years. EA SPORTS has become a natural extension of UFC’s brand and an important way to engage with our fans. We’ve just launched our most successful game to date and EA keeps proving there’s room to grow and introduce new fans to the sport. We’re going to keep pushing the boundaries together and make incredible games that UFC fans love to play.”


text:
LONDON, 23 April 2018: The Association of British Travel Agents announced Friday, ahead of Earth Day 22 April, that plastics would be the focus of its 2018 Make Holidays Greener campaign.
TTG UK reported the move in its business-day alert saying the campaign will launch in June and will run through to the end of August.
The ABTA campaign will target not just holidaymakers, but travel businesses, tourist boards, hotels, resorts and destinations.
ABTA says it is committed to sustainable tourism to support the “long-term viability” of the industry, with plastics recently having come to the fore as a key matter to be addressed.
ABTA, which represents the nation’s travel companies, has partnered with Travelife, an agency that runs its own sustainability certification scheme to encourage businesses around the world to make positive environmental changes.
According to TTG UK, ABTA’s director of destinations and sustainability, Nikki White said: “As is often the case in travel – there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ solution to plastics and other sustainability issues.
“How destinations manage their waste varies significantly, so what can be recycled in one resort can’t in another. Make Holidays Greener is a great opportunity for travel companies to share best practice of what has worked, try out new approaches and get customers involved in their sustainability agenda.
“This past year has seen a tipping point in public awareness on the damage plastics can have on the environment – and businesses can use this to drive forward a change in their approach internally, as well as with suppliers and destinations.
“Almost 70% of consumers now think travel companies should ensure their holidays help the local people and economy, so we would encourage all members to get involved with our Make Holidays Greener campaign, whether by organising a beach clean or encouraging your customers to make a sustainable holiday pledge such as saying no to plastic.”
If you have a no-plastic story to tell, alert us. TTR Weekly will give priority to your story as we focus on the urgent need for tourism and hospitality is be a leader in the war against plastic pollution.
(Source: TTG UK)


text:
High gas prices suggest the U.S. is close to a recession, Joe Petrowski told CNBC.
"Energy prices as they approach 17 percent of (gross domestic product) is a wall," the CEO of Cumberland Gulf Group, said Wednesday. "Not only do we have high gasoline prices, whether it’s $4 or $4.10 [a gallon], there’s no question for the growing economy it would be better to have energy prices 12 percent to 13 percent of GDP."
He added, "If you get to 17 [percent] you almost always have a recession. By the way we’re at 15 percent today."
Petrowski said sales at the company's 600 stores have been lower, with the consumer buying an average 9.1 gallons per transaction.
"From the distillate and gasoline demand, I’d say [economic] growth is tepid at best. We saw that when went into the $3.80s, $3.90s [a gallon] on gasoline," he said.
Petrowski said the price of gas has slowly been coming down, to about an average of $3.70 on the East Coast "and I think we’ll go 10 cents lower. I don’t think we’ll go much lower than that."
A reading Wednesday on producer prices showed gasoline prices fell 2.8 percent in July.


text:
Hilton has selected WPP's MediaCom as its media agency of record for cross-channel planning and traditional media buying following a review.
“We selected MediaCom for its ability to help us reach our target audiences worldwide with our message of unmatched hospitality.” said a Hilton spokesman.
Hilton has more than 5,300 hotels in 106 countries and territories, according to the company.
Last November, Hilton appointed TBWA as its global creative agency. The hotel chain has also been promoting direct bookings, as opposed to booking with online travel agencies, with its wide-reaching “Stop Clicking Around” campaign. Such efforts appear to be paying off: Hilton generated $2.1 billion in total revenue for the first quarter of 2018, a 10 percent rise over the year-earlier period.
Last year, Hilton spent $60.4 million on measured media in the U.S., according to Kantar Media. Comvergence, an international research company that tracks agency pitches, estimates Hilton’s global media spend at $90 million, while consultancy R3 estimates the global spend at around $150 million.


text:
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Intel Corp.
was upgraded on Monday to neutral from underweight by analysts at Piper Jaffray. "The chip industry is now solidly in the post-PC era, but PCs are not going away anytime soon," the analysts wrote in a report. "We expect a modest corporate refresh cycle driven by the end of support for Windows XP in April 2014 coupled with the release of Windows 8.1 in [the fourth quarter]." Also, with the launch of Bay Trail in the second half of 2013, "Intel now has a low-end processor for tablets with good enough performance for consumers," according to Piper Jaffray.


text:
Despite growing fears reported in the media over the past weeks of a worry that the ‘golden age of cognac’ might be drawing to an end, the largest cognac houses have announced increased buying prices of raw materials to ensure supplies.
Hennessy, number one when it comes to production and exports, and with big plans to further increase output, has announced that it’s raised its purchase price of eaux-de-vie from the Fins Bois region by 10 per cent. In monetary terms, this means growers in this area can expect to sell each hectolitre of pure alcohol for around €1000.
In an announcement made by Bernard Peillon, president of Hennessy, and cellar master, Yann Filloux, not only have upped the price by 10 per cent, but also the quantity they purchase from this area by the same amount.
Of course, one cognac house with such major purchasing power as Hennessy can’t fail to have an impact on everyone else. Courvoisier have announced an increase of 12 per cent per hectolitre (to 970 euros), and Remy Martin an increase of 3.75 per cent immediately, with an additional price to be paid in two years time.
And this, whilst of course is good news to the growers, might not be quite so positive to consumers. In fact, in his speech, Pellion said that while this is “a sign of confidence in their partners,” he warned that the consumers can not be reasonably be expected to suffer too many price increases.
This year’s harvest is looking to be around 20 per cent lower than the maximum quantity set by the BNIC. And with the worldwide consumption of cognacs continuing to grow in demand, this could certainly mean the likelihood of price increases in the future.


text:
There was an interesting little tidbit buried in the legal filings related to NVIDIA's patent suit against Qualcomm, which was just announced last week. The issue surrounds various GPU technologies that NVIDIA says Qualcomm is using without a license. More interesting than all that legal mumbo-jumbo is what NVIDIA had to say about an upcoming Tegra K1 device—the HTC Nexus 9. Yes, they actually said it.
The documents make reference to the new Nexus when talking about devices running the NVIDIA Tegra K1. The relevant section reads, "The HTC Nexus 9, expected in the third quarter of 2014, is also expected to use the Tegra K1.” It doesn't get much more clear than that. So Volantis is probably the Nexus 9, not Nexus 8. The release window is interesting, though. The third quarter runs through the end of September, which could mean a much earlier launch than expected.
None of this is official, but seeing NVIDIA tuck the information away in a legal filing like it's no big deal makes it seem more legit. Maybe we're just a few weeks away from the Nexus 9 and that sweet, sweet [insert L dessert name here].


text:
Lexus and the Corvette might not be here if not for this man.
There are certain mainstays on the market that we've come to take for granted, even at their lofty positions. Like Lexus, for example, or the Chevrolet Corvette. But neither might be here today if it weren't for Jim Perkins, a veteran automotive executive who left this world late last week.
The Texan executive started his career at Chevrolet working at a parts warehouse in Dallas in 1960 when he was 25 with a dream of one day running his own dealership. But as Automotive News relates, a string of promotions saw Perkins rise up through the ranks until he was running the entire brand.
After a series of senior sales positions at Chevy and Buick, Perkins was tapped by Toyota in '84. As group vice president, he spearheaded the launch of the Lexus brand in 1989 – sandwiched between the arrival of Honda's Acura brand and Nissan's Infiniti – with the first-generation ES and LS sedans. But he couldn't stay away for long from the automaker that he loved since he was a child.
Shortly after Lexus hit the US market, Perkins left the Lexus operation he started to return as general manager of Chevrolet (the top job at the brand), and set about saving the Corvette.
With sales flagging, GM's senior ranks were prepared to ax the 'Vette, but Perkins diverted marketing money to develop the fifth-gen C5, and the all-American sports car has remained an ever-present icon ever since. Along the way, he oversaw victory in Indy and NASCAR, and turned Chevy's truck division into a veritable powerhouse. He left GM in '96 to run the Hendrick Automotive Group – America's largest dealership chain at the time. But after decades in the industry, he passed away on Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the age of 83, leaving a legacy that won't soon be forgotten.


text:
A Tennessee hair salon selling imitation Coach handbags is being taken to task by the fashion giant. The New York company has served Hair in XS, and its proprietor Kitsana Insyxiengmay Thephavong, with lawsuits for a series of offences related to copyright infringement.
It seems strange that a small salong in Murfreesboro would even be on the fashion giant's radar, but apparently it sent an investigator to the premises after it was tipped off about the illegal activities. The private eye found he could buy an imitation Coach wallet for just $15, a fraction of the genuine article's recommended retail value.
The papers served to Hair in XS and Thephavong cite a range of crimes including trademark counterfeiting, trademark infringement, trademark dilution, copyright infringement, false designation of origin and false advertising, Tennessee deceptive trade practices and Tennessee common law trademark violations. If these charges are proved in a court, Thephavong will face some pretty hefty damages.
Understandably Thephavong has gone to ground and is refusing to speak to the media. Something tells me that keeping quiet might be the best move.
This case serves as a timely warning to other companies that no business is small enough to get away with copyright infringement.
Coach Handbags on eBay
Sorry we couldn't find anything like this on eBay. Try our Bag Search Engine.


text:
Certainly, you do not wait for us to tell you who’s Stromae, yet what you perhaps do not have in mind is that Tickets performances merit being attended and chiefly Stromae Tickets madison square garden. All you are to do after getting stromae tickets is to direct to the event to experience the bliss of being a concerts attendee and join Stromae society, of which you already take part. Stromae is not as any musician, but a special icon whose celebrity goes beyond the borders, and the musician’s supporters are counted by hundreds all around the world, yet they do not all have your luck to be on time to the event like you, but what’s uniting you is enthusiasm you all have for Stromae.
Stromae is going to stop at a lot of locations for example . And if you want to go to one of them, for example you are going to participate instants of bliss with groups of Stromae supporters. Also, if you are investigating what showgrounds Stromae performances are going accurately to stop at, we may state . Nevertheless, most important Stromae October 1 2015 performances are very attended also in and a lot of other locations.
Just Announced: Marilyn Manson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bebel... Show Announcements: Stromae, Lucinda Williams, Craig... Just Announced: U2, Def Leppard, Big Sugar, Tony Bennett... Landowners should decide whether to use pesticides I am among many people in B.C ...Read more
The second capsule collection by Mosaert, the brand started by Paul Van Haver, better known as Stromae, whose videos have attracted hundreds of millions of views on YouTube, is set to launch at Paris concept store Colette. BoF speaks exclusively with the ...Read more
BRUSSELS — Paul Van Haver is a musician for his time, with the charts, headlines and YouTube clicks to prove it — a gravel-voiced, mixed-race performer whose melancholic French-language dance pop has channeled, to popular acclaim, the gray that ...Read more
Stromae is one of Europe’s major dance artists — but now he is ready to take over the charts stateside! To jumpstart 2015, he has announced a string of North American dates. It kicks off on April 5 in Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre, with three ...Read more


text:
New technology unlocks opportunities
- April 25, 2018
- Posted by: Simon Wait
- Category: Industry News
The future of the Middle East’s automotive aftermarket is on an upward trend, with changes in new technology expected to increase business for regional and global industry players, a recent survey has revealed.
A market survey of 1,308 auto aftermarket professionals showed that 66% of respondents expressed optimism in the future of the regional auto aftermarket, while 37% believed that new technologies, predominantly related to electric, hybrid, and autonomous mobility, will open considerable new business opportunities in the region.
The survey, answered by auto aftermarket distributors, manufacturers, importers and exporters, wholesalers, retailers, consultants and service providers, further revealed that 42% of respondents had already received customer requests for products and services related to the non-petrol or diesel powered internal combustion engines.
Nearly half of the respondents also believed there’ll be notable changes in the regional auto aftermarket within the next five years due to technology changes, with electric vehicle and hybrid vehicle technology presenting the main challenge to diesel and petrol technology.
Ahmed Pauwels, CEO of Automechanika Dubai’s organiser Messe Frankfurt Middle East, which also conducted the survey, said, ‘The Middle East Automotive Aftermarket Outlook survey was conducted to ascertain the current situation in the regional aftermarket, where it’s headed, and where the potential opportunities are in the Middle East.’
Tellingly, 44% of respondents of the survey believed there’d be fully autonomous vehicles on Middle East roads within the next five years, underlining the rapid transformation regional governments, particularly in the UAE, are gearing towards in the coming years.
The extensive survey was conducted ahead of Automechanika Dubai 2018. The full report and findings will be revealed on the first day of the showpiece event, which opens from 1 – 3 May at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.


text:
Apple's transition to its own silicon is one of the best decisions its made in recent years. Its ARM-based custom laptop chips are power-efficient beasts, electrifying this year's highly praised 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros.
The Cupertino-based tech giant kicked Intel out of the window in favor Apple silicon, but its got another company in its crosshairs: Qualcomm. According to Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, Apple may be ditching its chips for its own data-connectivity components (via CNBC).
Could the iPhone 16 get an Apple-made modem?
"We're making no plans for 2024, my planning assumption is we're not providing [Apple] a modem in '24, but it's their decision to make," Cristiano Amon told CNBC at Mobile World Congress.
For years, Apple has used Qualcomm's modem chips for iPhones, but as 9to5Mac pointed out, the relationship between the two companies hasn't always been peachy. Five years ago, Apple said Qualcomm overcharged it by billions of dollars in an illegal double-dipping scheme. That same year, the legal battle intensified when Qualcomm accused Apple of blackmail. Things came to a head when Qualcomm said it will no longer sell its components to Apple for the iPhone XS and XR. In response, Apple planned to ditch Qualcomm for Intel, but unfortunately, Intel announced that it was leaving the 5G modem industry.
As such, the Cupertino-based tech giant had no choice but to make nice with Qualcomm, but behind the scenes, Apple was reportedly still working on its own modem design. After all, Apple did acquire Intel's smartphone modem arm in 2019, so speculation that Apple would go solo for its wireless connectivity has been heating up for years.
Apple's decreased dependence on third-party manufacturers has been a boon for the iPhone maker, so we're excited to see that the iPhone maker is reportedly making custom-made modems for the iPhone 16.
Stay in the know with Laptop Mag
Get our in-depth reviews, helpful tips, great deals, and the biggest news stories delivered to your inbox.
Kimberly Gedeon, holding a Master's degree in International Journalism, launched her career as a journalist for MadameNoire's business beat in 2013. She loved translating stuffy stories about the economy, personal finance and investing into digestible, easy-to-understand, entertaining stories for young women of color. During her time on the business beat, she discovered her passion for tech as she dove into articles about tech entrepreneurship, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and the latest tablets. After eight years of freelancing, dabbling in a myriad of beats, she's finally found a home at Laptop Mag that accepts her as the crypto-addicted, virtual reality-loving, investing-focused, tech-fascinated nerd she is. Woot!


text:
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals will develop and release a “next generation” antibody treatment against the omicron variant early next year after the company said its current antibody cocktail loses potency against the new Covid variant.
Just because a company has a good quarter in the past doesn’t mean that their stock prices will continue to rise in the future. That’s why our AI models provide an in-depth look at a company’s financials and performance so you can make the best decisions for your portfolio.
A surge in the stock prices of companies developing COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and testing kits has minted at least one new billionaire and boosted the fortunes of nine members of the three-comma-club.
Regeneron and Sanofi are cutting the price they charge pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts for their cholesterol medicine, Praluent. In return, Express Scripts will remove almost all restrictions on the medicine, and make it cheaper for patients.
Regeneron's billionaire chief executive Leonard Schleifer has said that the drug industry's pricing is "ridiculous." So when his own new drug, Dupixent for eczema, was approved, he took an unorthodox path to setting its $37,000-a-year list price.
Share in Regeneron opened down 5.23% Friday morning after a court ruling on Thursday determined that its cholestorol-lowering drug Praluent infringes on rival Amgen's patents. The court order the company to stop sales of Praluent in the U.S. within 30 days. (Credit: David Yellen) Founder and CEO, Leonard Schleifer, saw his fortune drop [...]
Leonard Schleifer, the founder and chief executive of the biotechnology company Regeneron, is now a billionaire according to Forbes' estimates. He joins only a small number of pharmaceutical industry executives to reach that level of wealth. Regeneron, based in Tarrytown, N.Y., has seen its share price increase 220% over the past [...]


text:
Bitcoin’s price has gone above $11,300. After a period of stability, the price of Bitcoin has risen significantly in the last 24 hours. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts have filled Twitter with tweets about the increase of Bitcoin. The famous Youtuber Ivan on Tech has expressed his satisfaction saying that these are great times to be alive.
ETH crossing $350 any minute now…
Bitcoin breaking out too
What a time to be alive 🤩
— Ivan on Tech (@IvanOnTech) July 31, 2020
Moreover, according to Coindesk, Bitcoin is on track to the highest July price gain in 8 years.


text:
The United States has an online population of around 190.7 million people aged 15 and over (which represents five per cent growth from Q1 2011). According to comScore’s analysis of worldwide internet usage in Q1 2012, the average US internet user spends 38.8 hours online per month (behind Canada at 44.3 hours, and ahead of the UK at 35.1 hours).There are roughly 32.2 million Hispanics online in the USA and this figure expected to reach 42 million by 2014.
- The USA is the biggest market for most globally successful social media channels
- Pinterest is the social channel experiencing the highest growth at 4377 per cent
- The US Hispanic population was the fastest growing ethnic group on Facebook and WordPress in 2011
- Facebook adoption is growing at a faster than expected rate
- The majority of online video viewers use YouTube
The United States is Facebook’s primary market, with 155,551,340 users and a 50.14 per cent penetration. 55 per cent of Facebook users are aged 34 and under, and slightly more women than men use the social network. The site gets around 167 million unique visitors per month from the US, with an average monthly use of over six and a half hours. Although it’s still gaining users, at 4 per cent growth between May 2011 and 2012, its growth is slowing compared to other social platforms.
Semiocast analysis has shown that of the 383 million Twitter profiles created before January 1st 2012, 107.7 million were created by users in the US, making it the biggest user of Twitter in the world. It’s the fourth most active country on Twitter. Around 39 million unique users visit the site from the US each month, with an average monthly use per visitor of 39 minutes. Twitter experienced a 58 per cent growth in US users between May 2011 and 2012.
Unsurprisingly, the US also has the highest number of users on Google+. With 29 million profiles created in the US Google+ gets around 18 million unique visitors a month from the US, and they spend an average of six minutes on the site. Over 45 per cent of Google+ users are aged 18 to 24, and the majority of US users are male (60.37 per cent).
Online video is very popular in the US. In June 2012, comScore reported that the top three video sites were: Google video sites (mainly YouTube) which had 154,507 total unique views and averaged 1,238.1 minutes of viewing time per viewer; Yahoo! sites at 51,453 unique views and 75.5 minutes per viewer; and Facebook, which had 49,003 views and 20.3 minutes per viewer. In March 2012, US internet users viewed 187 million minutes of video. Hours of viewing have increased from 14.7 per user in March 2011 to 21.4 in March 2012. Almost 23 per cent of YouTube’s traffic is from the United States.
Without doubt, the fastest growing social media site in the United States at the moment is Pinterest, which experienced a staggering 4377 per cent growth between May 2011 and 2012. It has 12 million unique visitors per month from the US and the average monthly use per visitor is one hour and 17 minutes. Blogging platform Tumblr is also growing quickly, its US user base grew 168 per cent between May 2011 and 2012. It has 17 million unique monthly users, who spend an average of one hour 38 minutes each on the site.
LinkedIn has seen a growth in US users of 67 per cent between May 2011 and 2012. As of January 2012, it had 147 million members worldwide, 58.5 million of them in the United States. LinkedIn has 33 million unique visitors a month from the US, who spend an average of 17 minutes per month on the site. MySpace may not be the force that it used to be, but it still has 19 million unique visitors a month from the US, who spend an average of 12 minutes each on the site.
United States: Hispanic population
Social media use by US Hispanics has grown by 38 per cent in the last year (compared to a growth of 16 per cent in the US as a whole). Social media is the second most popular online activity after email, with 77 per cent of those online using social channels. Nielsen reported that the three most used social platforms amongst US Hispanics were Facebook (16.7 million users), Twitter (3.4 million users) and LinkedIn (1.8 million users).
Blogging is also very popular, with 5.6 million people using Blogger, 2.5 million WordPress and 2.3 million Tumblr (in fact, of all the top social networks in the US, Tumblr has the highest concentration of Hispanic users). Hispanics were the fastest growing ethnic group on Facebook and WordPress in 2011.
- US brands are running social media campaigns that involve multiple social channels
- US brands are coming up with innovative campaigns which are tailored to the habits of specific social channels
- The US Hispanic population are more likely to follow brands than the average internet user
In 2011, exacttarget reported that 65 per cent of US online consumers were active on Facebook, with 42 per cent of them having ‘liked’ at least one company. The top 10 most popular pages on Facebook in the U.S are all entertainers or TV shows. The three most popular pages belong to: rapper Eminem (over 60 million fans); popular cartoon series The Simpsons (nearing 59 million fans); and pop singer Lady Gaga (just over 53 million fans).
The three most ‘Liked’ brands in the US are: retailer Walmart (over 18 million fans); retailer Target (over 16 million followers); and fast-food brand Subway (over 15 million fans). Some brands have launched innovative campaigns on Facebook, often linking up with other social media channels. However, on occasion these campaigns have pushed the limits of Facebook’s policies. In 2009 Burger King launched a successful Facebook campaign called Whopper Sacrifice, which offered fans a free burger if they de-friended 10 Facebook friends. The campaign took off, with 234,000 people being virtually dumped for the sake of a free burger. However, Burger King stopped the campaign when Facebook asked it to make changes. The app sent the de-friended person an email telling them they’d been dumped for a free hamburger, and Facebook doesn’t notify people when they’ve been ‘de-friended’.
ExactTarget reported that 17 per cent on US online consumers have created a Twitter account at some point, and nine per cent of them are currently active Twitter users. Five per cent have followed at least one company. (It’s worth noting that the same report highlighted that 41 per cent of worldwide Twitter followers have followed a brand, only to unfollow the account at a later date, and that when asked why they unfollowed, over half listed the reason as the account’s tweets became too dull and repetitive.)
The top 10 Twitter accounts in the US are all entertainers, apart from the @BarackObama account, which comes in at fourth most followed, with over 18 million followers. The top three accounts are: @ladygaga (approaching 28 million followers); @katyperry (just over 24 million followers); and @britneyspears (over 19 million followers). It’s no surprise that the most followed brands have a fraction of the followers of these big names accounts.
Food retailer Whole Foods is the most followed brand, with over 2.8 million followers. It uses its main Twitter account @wholefoods, in addition to specialist interest, and many local store accounts to engage with individual customers. Coffee chain Starbucks is next with over 2.7 million followers: it uses social media campaigns (such as the recent #INDIVISIBLE campaign which asked people to highlight individuals making a difference in their local communities) to engage people about interests outside of its core product. Another popular brand is the Samsung Mobiles US account, which has over 2.4 million followers and is primarily a news feed (the brand has a separate customer support account @SamsungSupport which had just over 39,000 followers).
In December 2010, Mercedes-Benz asked its Facebook fans to volunteer as drivers in a ‘Tweet Race’. Once the drivers and teams were selected, the brand used social channels to build online buzz about the February 2011 race. The Mercedes-Benz Tweet Race saw each team driving a specially kitted out Mercedes-Benz in a race against each other. Each team had to generate enough support on Twitter to progress, and eventually win, the race (get four tweets, drive one mile). The campaign ended up having nearly 30,000 participants, and gained the brand 77,000 Twitter followers, 72,000 Facebook fans and around two million video views.
As for YouTube, the three most popular channels are: entertainment brand, Universal Music Group which is approaching 43 million channel and 7 billion video views (it only has 34 video uploads, but most of the views come from its playlist page which features music videos by genre); gaming entertainment network Machinima (approaching 150 million channel and 3 billion video views – it uses the playlist tab to list videos by gaming title and has an events tab for live online gaming streams); and how-to channel Expert Village (over 32.6 million channel and 2.5 billion video views).
The three most popular branded YouTube channels in the US are: animation giants Disney Pixar (over 3.2 million channel views and nearing 179 million video views); drinks brand Red Bull (over 1.1 million channel views and 94.4 million video views); and gaming brand EA Sports (over 10.3 million channel views and almost 84 million video views).
One of the most popular recent YouTube campaigns was from Old Spice. The aftershave brand crafted campaigns around the characters Old Spice Guy and later Old Spice Guy vs Fabio. Although the first campaign was seen as more successful, the second run helped Old Spice gain 22 million YouTube views in a week, and the channel became the most viewed of the month. In another example of brands using multiple social channels, Old Spice also gained 68,000 new Facebook fans.
Pinterest is proving to be a brilliant channel for many American brands, with comScore research reporting that US Pinterest users follow more brands than Twitter or Facebook users. In February 2012, Mashable listed the top brands at the time as being: wedding blog Perfect Palette (at the time it had over 244,000 followers and 6925 pins, that had risen to over 265,000 followers and 8415 pins in August 2012); hints and tips magazine Real Simple (in February almost 35,000 followers and 1795 pins, increasing to over 145,000 followers and 3780 pins in August); and hair and make-up site The Beauty Department (which had almost 30,000 followers and 255 pins in February and almost 230,000 followers and 476 pins in August).
According to comScore, Pinterest buyers spend more money and buy more often than LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr users. With this in mind, brands have started making Pinterest part of their social media campaigns. Fashion brand Uniqlo’s Dry Mesh campaign created a moving image on Pinterest by creating and pinning from over 100 accounts. Honda has used Pinterest to offer top pinners a “Pintermission” – giving them $500 to take the day off pinning and get out and see some of the places or things they have been pinning.
Again, the top pages on Google+ are those of celebrities. Britney Spears still has the page with the most followers (nearly four million), meanwhile rapper Snoop Dog and Google CEO Larry Page are both approaching 3.5 million followers. The most popular brand pages are: Volkswagen USA (over 942,000 followers); Chevrolet (over 855,000 followers); and Samsung USA (nearly 772,000 followers). Google doesn’t allow contests, sweepstakes, special offers or coupons on Google+, so businesses looking to engage fans on the network need to be creative. Popular comic brand Marvel Entertainment uses its Google+ page to link to coupons and offers listed on other websites, which is allowed under Google’s terms of service.
United States: Hispanic population
In comparison to the average US internet user, Hispanic adults are 25 per cent more likely to follow a brand and 21 per cent more likely to post content. They’re also 17 per cent more likely to blog and seven per cent more likely to use one or more social network, according to Nielsen.
- The US is mostly English-speaking with a strong culture of individual freedom, though has no official language
- Fifteen per cent of the US population is Hispanic and tend to use English to converse online
The US has no official language – although there is an on-going debate about making English the national language. It’s estimated that over 80 per cent of the population has English as their primary language. Twelve per cent of the US population speak Spanish. In 2010 the US Census Bureau reported that there were 325 languages spoken in the United States. According to a December 2011 report 372,095 people in North America spoke a Native American language (the most popular being Navajo at 169,471).
US culture is strongly influenced by cultural values such as individualism and liberty. Americans tend to have a more individualistic world view, believing that government should allow people the freedom to achieve their goals. This philosophy leaves those who cannot or will not seek to improve their own situations without the aid of the state, because state interference in the private lives of individuals would be seen as encroaching on personal freedoms. (Interestingly, research by Pew records the opposite attitude in the United Kingdom, where most would prefer more limited freedom so that those less fortunate could be supported by a stronger state.)
American culture is celebrated for being meritocratic. For example, the American Dream ideal is that anyone can grow up to be President of the United States if they work hard enough. Some argue that the inherent inequality of meritocratic societies effectively prevents this, as talented children from working class areas tend to grow away from their community rather than use their talent, intelligence, wealth and opportunity to benefit those they leave behind.
Privacy is taken extremely seriously in the United States, with the Bill of Rights detailing what the government needs to do before it’s allowed to investigate an individual’s body, houses, papers and personal effects. Some forms of modern communication are protected under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (1986), but there have been calls to include more modern forms of communication.
The most popular sport in the US is American Football, which is so popular that television networks CBS, Fox and NBC have said they will start paying $3 billion a year in total for the rights to screen it from 2014. The Super Bowl is probably the most popular event of the year, with the 2012 match being watched by 111.3 million viewers.
The ethnic composition of the United States is around 80 per cent white, 13 per cent black, 4.5 per cent Asian, 0.97 per cent Amerindian and Alaskan native, 0.18 per cent Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and 1.61 per cent of people are classified as being two of more races.
United States: Hispanic population
The term Hispanic refers to someone of Spanish, Hispanic or Latino origin and covers people from Central and South America as well as Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and even Spain, but the US Census Bureau does estimate that around 15 per cent of the US population is Hispanic. Seventy-two per cent of Hispanic digital influences use English online, where many come together in communities to discuss their shared cultural heritage and interests.


text:
Snap points out that its Snapchat app is a free download, available to everybody.
The accusations were found in documents from a lawsuit between Pompliano and Snap Inc., Snapchat's parent company.
Snapchat is strongly denying allegations by a former employee Anthony Pompliano, who had alleged in a lawsuit that CEO Evan Spiegel had once shot down his suggestion to pursue growth in certain global markets. "I don't want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain", Spiegel is alleged to have said.
According to Variety magazine Snapchat has previously argued that Pompliano's suit contained "trade secrets that could damage the company and help its competitors".
The critical remarks about the company by Pompliano stem from his lawsuit in which he claimed he was sacked from his position after he questioned Snapchat's internal methods for calculating daily active users. Hashtags like #BoycottSnapchat and #Uninstall Snapchat have also started trending on Facebook and Twitter.
The comments have caused a major furor in India, with thousands of Indians down-rating the app on online stores and uninstalling it.
"Obviously Snapchat is for everyone!" a spokesman told Newsbeat.
While speaking to a youth website, Fernandes said that he has no bad feelings against Spiegel and has created the app just for fun.
A group of hackers in India claims it has siphoned the private information of 1.7 Snapchat users and leaked it on the darknet, payback for Spiegel's "arrogance".
Pompliano's lawsuit accuses executives of exaggerating user data to mislead advertisers. "We are grateful for our Snapchat community in India and around the world", Snap said in a statement.


text:
The confluence of extremely challenging events that occurred in the second half of fiscal 2001, which stalled most of the Top 10 publicly traded supermarket companies in their tracks, provided additional momentum to a much bigger factor in food retailing -- Wal-Mart's growth.
According to second-half company performance figures compiled by SN, the Top 10 chains showed hardly any growth in same-store sales. They averaged 0.1% during the period, compared to 1.1% in 2000. The 10 chains included in the comparison were identical to the previous year. (See second-half financial breakout chart for Top 10 companies, Page 96.) In comparison, Wal-Mart Stores -- including supercenters -- saw a 7% increase in comparable-store sales during the second half.
Analysts interviewed by SN predicted Wal-Mart supercenters would continue to penetrate the country as they rolled out more food formats and thus cut away at traditional food retailers' sales and market share.
The three leaders behind Wal-Mart in food retailing -- Kroger, Albertson's and Safeway -- all have experienced some disruptions to various degrees in their respective markets due to the Wal-Mart factor, said analysts.
Neil Currie, equity analyst, UBS Warburg, New York, noted the domino effect. While Safeway has been the least impacted by Wal-Mart to date, especially on the West Coast, Kroger's ramping up of its cost structure to bring its pricing down to compete with supercenters will make it tougher for Safeway stores on the West Coast even without Wal-Mart supercenters, Currie said.
"If Wal-Mart is the cause of Kroger's issues, then the domino impact for Safeway is that it has -- if you exclude Canada -- 58% of its stores within five miles of Kroger," he said.
The pressure from alternative formats only became heightened during the second half of last year following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, massive layoffs and the country plunging into a recession. This caused consumers to be even more price-conscious as they traded down on food as well as flocked to the discounters. This was coupled with an overcapacity of retailing space, particularly in the discount sector, fierce price competition and a slow growth market, which all resulted in a dismal second half for many of the top food retail companies.
"The slowdown came to a standstill in the fourth quarter," said Mark Husson, equity analyst, Merrill Lynch, New York. This was caused by a combination of events, said Husson, "the size and the [slow] growth of the market, the increase in store capacity that came onto the market just as it was slowing down, the increased price competition, in particular the price competition by Wal-Mart and Kmart in the same market. They were knocking seven bells out of each other during the quarter, and a number of retailers got caught in the crossfire."
Besides the economic slowdown, there was no inflation, noted Husson, and a significant amount of trading down by consumers and increases in private-label sales. "All of this really served to dump on the top line," he said.
"It's hard to isolate the impact of Sept. 11 and the general slowdown of the economy," said Jack Murphy, vice president, Credit Suisse First Boston, New York.
"The sales environment turned out to be a lot more cyclical than expected. There were already other factors like a tougher competitive environment, which is more important," he added.
"If it was just a single negative, it would be manageable," said Gary Giblen, vice president and director of research, C L King & Associates, New York. "But a lot of negatives taken together were pretty challenging for even the best and the brightest." While total sales actually increased 4% over the previous year from $97.9 billion in 2000 to $101.9 billion in 2001, those numbers don't clearly reflect the shifts taking place in individual markets. During the period, Kroger announced it would further leverage its size to achieve greater economies of scale and reinvest in its core business to increase sales and market share, and Albertson's began to exit underperforming markets in Houston, San Antonio, Memphis and Nashville. Others of the Top 10 simply reassessed their positions in their respective markets and acted accordingly by pulling out, selling stores, cutting costs and pursuing other, internal cost-cutting measures for survival.
Safeway struggled with its integration of Genuardi's Family Markets, Norristown, Pa., said some analysts, as it has with acquisitions in other markets. The purchase of Genuardi's in February 2001 impacted Safeway's third and fourth quarters.
Meanwhile, operating income for the Top 10 companies rose 17.1% to $5.7 billion, up from $4.7 billion in the previous year.
But flat comparable-store sales remain a big challenge for supermarkets. "Same-store sales growth softened fairly substantially in the third and especially fourth quarters for all companies," noted Jonathan Ziegler, San Francisco-based managing director, Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, New York.
"The real issue out there was too much square footage and too much consumer products. That combination of oversupply drives prices down," he noted.
Forecasting into the first half of 2002, analysts did not expect much improvement in growth in spite of an improved economy.
David Shriver, food retail analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston in London, who follows Ahold and the Delhaize Group, said, "The whole industry has to think through how to differentiate themselves from supercenters with the realization that competition has got fiercer. The industry has to rethink what they are doing to add value for the customer." The analysts offered their observations on the performances of the Top 10 chains:
KROGER CO., Cincinnati, whose sales were off by 0.6% while operating income rose 3%. Comparable-store sales in the third quarter rose 1.4% but fell to 0.3% in the fourth. "We are operating in the most challenging economic and competitive environment of the past 20 years," said Joseph A. Pichler, Kroger's chairman and chief executive officer during the period.
Pichler's statement was probably the best indication on how tough the environment was out there, said Murphy. The company changed its business strategy and announced it would institute promotions funded through $500 million in cost savings, which included company layoffs, Murphy noted. "Being sharper on promotions is the right strategy," said Murphy. "The only issue is that Kroger set an aggressive goal for getting its identical sales up. It's very tough for any supermarket to get sustainable sales growth much above a flat 1%."
Ziegler said that what is impacting Kroger the most "is the awareness that Wal-Mart ain't going away."
While many agreed Kroger's strategy is positive, Currie questioned whether Kroger's re-engineering efforts were coming too late in the game. "Wal-Mart is bigger than Kroger. Is it going to be enough?"
ALBERTSON'S, Boise, Idaho, whose sales grew by 3.2% and operating income dipped 0.3%. Comps rose 2.3% in the third and were flat, 0.2%, in the fourth.
Larry Johnston, chairman and CEO, said Albertson's was meeting challenges of the marketplace, which included aggressive supercenter competition.
"Performance in the fourth wasn't as strong as in the third, so as a recovery story one would expect better performance," said Currie. "What they are doing with the cost structure will help operating performance, but all eyes must be on sales performance, and whether they can have sustained profitable sales improvement over the year," he said.
"Albertson's has now emerged as a company with a clear future and vision," Giblen said. "It took a year for the new CEO to get his feet wet and understand what he had to do."
SAFEWAY, Pleasanton, Calif., saw sales rise 6.7% and operating profit increase by 15.1%. Comps were up 1.6% and 2.1%, respectively.
Said Steve Burd, chairman, president and CEO, "In spite of the soft economy, we were able to accelerate cost-reduction efforts to fuel double-digit earnings growth."
Ziegler said he was disappointed with Safeway's performance in the second half. "Although they are probably doing fine on the West Coast with not much overlap with Wal-Mart, other markets such as Texas are dragging them down," he said. The Genuardi's integration has caused a temporary disruption in that market, according to Ziegler, by "Safewayizing it" with private brands.
Safeway's first-quarter results, reported earlier this month, shows a deceleration in sales, analysts noted, but most expect improvement as the economy continues to get brighter.
"I still think they are the gold standard," said Giblen. "Although they are a little tarnished at the moment, they do have revitalized competition. Wal-Mart is better in food than it use to be."
"Look at Safeway's performance on an underlying basis," said Currie. "They've missed every quarter. But it has made up bottom-line expectations by buying back shares, or having lower tax rates or pushing its margins up. The sales performances have declined period by period, and that is not healthy."
AHOLD USA, Chantilly, Va., sales rose 17.4%, including its food-service business. Retail sales alone were up 6.8% to $10.9 billion. Comps posted 3.8% and 3.1% increases for the quarters, respectively.
This period reflected the impact of Grand Union stores, which were converted during the first six months of 2001. The company also acquired PYA/Monarch, Parkway and Mutual food-service businesses. Bruno's Supermarket acquisition was being completed during the period.
Shriver of Credit Suisse First Boston, described Ahold's U.S. retailing business as good last year with the exception of Bi-Lo, which was experiencing challenging market conditions.
"Ahold has phenomenal success in bringing together Ahold USA and leveraging its scale and skill and those aspects of the business end where it is appropriate," said Shriver. "They are doing it on a global basis as well."
Shriver sees the acquisition of the food-service businesses as a big opportunity for Ahold USA retailing operations. However, right now Ahold is in the early stages of integrating those businesses.
DELHAIZE AMERICA, Salisbury, N.C., sales were off by 0.2%. Operating income soared 79%. Comps increased 2.3% in the third quarter and dropped a negative 0.5% in the fourth. In the third quarter, Delhaize closed 19 Super Discount Markets in Atlanta and sold nine Save-A-Lot stores to Supervalu. The benefits of the merger with Hannaford Bros. continued to be realized.
In the fourth quarter, comps fell due to a weak economy, particularly reflected in the results at Kash n' Karry, where seasonal residents' return was delayed. December sales were negatively impacted vs. the prior year due to unseasonably warm weather and the midweek holiday.
According to Shriver, "Delhaize clearly missed guidance for comps over the course of the year. A lot of focus has been on integrating Hannaford. The challenge for Food Lion is what it is offering relative to Wal-Mart. It has to find other reasons to differentiate itself than on a straight price comparison."
WINN-DIXIE, Jacksonville, Fla., sales were flat at 0.2%. Operating profit rose 139%. Comp sales were off a minus 5.2% and 4.3% for the first and second quarters, respectively. The company unveiled an aggressive new marketing campaign in October 2001.
Comps decreased in part due to the elimination of unprofitable sales departments and the elimination of unprofitable sales items in remaining departments.
Said Al Rowland, president and CEO, "Our focus is to grow Winn-Dixie profitably based on strong financial fundamentals. We intend to build our sales through continued improvement in store operations, improved merchandising and an aggressive marketing campaign."
"Some of the things Winn-Dixie is doing to improve, like remodeling stores and relaunching advertising, should accelerate them up to flat," said Husson.
"Short term, I am bullish on Winn-Dixie," said Giblen. "Beyond short term, I question how much of a sustainable strategy they have to grow and compete."
"It's a high-risk stock," said Currie. "The competitive situation will get worse. The company is doing some good things, but there is big question mark over the asset base."
A&P, Montvale, N.J., sales rose 1% and operating profit was up 138%. Comps were up 3.1% in the third quarter and flat in the fourth at 0.5%.
The company announced in November 2001 a program to improve operating results by disposing of underperforming assets, including 39 stores.
Elizabeth Culligan, president and chief operating officer, said, "We acted decisively in fiscal 2001 to review and improve our store network in terms of overall quality and growth potential. That effort, and the initial results of ongoing programs to upgrade our operating disciplines and merchandising execution, were major factors in our performance."
Currie and other analysts said Culligan has been a big catalyst in A&P's turnaround. "They achieved what they set out to do and turned business back into profit, improved sales and operating performance, and cut costs. It's been a steady recovery story," Currie said.
PATHMARK STORES, Carteret, N.J., sales slid to a flat 0.2%; operating profit also dropped 8%. Comps were up 2.3% in the third quarter but sank to 0.9% in the fourth.
Said Jim Donald, chairman, president and CEO, "Outstanding effort and execution were keys to our strong third-quarter financial and operating performance, despite a recessionary economy and the uncertainties surrounding the tragedy of Sept. 11."
Giblen sees Pathmark as a "wonderful" turnaround story. "They are choosing to invest margin to drive market share, yet comps are still on the flat side."
"They have been able to restructure, and that has been driving earnings growth," said Murphy. PENN TRAFFIC CO., Syracuse, N.Y., sales rose 1.2%. Operating profit was up 7.7%. Comps increased 2.3% in the third, but fell flat to 0.9% in the fourth.
"A softening economy and a greater-than-normal amount of promotional activity made the fourth quarter a challenging one for us," said Joseph Fisher, Penn Traffic's president and CEO.
Said Giblen, "Joe Fisher has done a great job in getting things accomplished in terms of quick payback on initiatives long overdue. The company has driven positive comps and EBITDA growth. The short-term performance is better than the premium quality companies."
HARRIS TEETER, Mathews, N.C., sales were flat at 0.1%, but operating profit rose 43%. Comps were up 2.5% in the fourth quarter and fell to a minus 1.1% in the first.
"Harris Teeter's earnings have picked up nicely," said Husson. "Sales are still rather difficult to come by, but it looks like they have been successful in refocusing their business on core markets rather than having poor-performing stores stuck out in the provinces like Atlanta. Getting out of those areas and focusing on the Carolinas has been a big win for them. We conducted a recent competitive study in the marketplace indicating that consumers that shop Harris Teeter are very impressed by them."


text:
Jack’s recent claim that “Eight out of 10 food and drink products at Jack’s will be grown, reared or made in Britain,” is a clear statement of intent that British is best. Whilst celebrating local UK provenance is nothing new, it’s certainly something a growing number of retailers are capitalising. Trust of certain imported goods is in decline, exacerbated by an uncertain future of international trade, and the environmental virtues of low-carbon product journeys are being exuded.
This UK provenance is taking place in a range of companies, shaping a large proportion of their communications, from the Co-op’s 100% British Meat to Vauxhall’s True Brit. But, in this strive for all things British, could there be a greater opportunity for retailers to differentiate themselves through how they work globally?
There are clearly benefits from an all-British supply chain; it supports the local economy, is a way to put a face or brand on an otherwise faceless, corporate supply chain, and is a seemingly more environmentally friendly way of operating. However, these positives aren’t always clear-cut. Riverside Farm, a Devon-based vegetable box delivery service found that, despite wanting to support year-round local tomato production, it’s actually up to ten times better to truck (not fly) out-of-season peppers or tomatoes from Spain where they do not require heat, than to grow them using heat in the UK. Some modern greenhouses using combined heat and power or possibly biomass boilers may help reduce the disparity, but come nowhere near justifying such avoidable CO₂ emissions and resource use. The benefits of Spain-grown tomatoes go beyond simply tasting better…
Celebrating a global approach to retail also creates an opportunity to make a wider political statement. Britain certainly isn’t the most welcoming place right now, with a 2017 Ipsos MORI study revealing anti-immigration feeling as the main driver of the Brexit outcome. In such a time, many people are looking for leadership to champion a more positive, progressive set of values and, in a void of such leadership, retailers have an opportunity to step up. This is exactly what Jigsaw did with their 2017 OOH takeover of Oxford Circus tube station. The posters were refreshingly direct. “♥ Immigration” was plastered in front of ethnically diverse models against quintessentially British rolling hills and heritage homes. It was a clear statement of the value they saw in a global retailing approach, all supported by their manifesto poster, which read: “There’s no such thing as 100% British.” standing out in dramatic contrast to the multiple cookie-cutter retailers lining Oxford Street.
Humans are fickle creatures; we want locally produced goods whilst demanding the diversity and difference that requires outsourcing abroad. So, rather than focus single-mindedly on the virtues of local goods, could celebrating the benefits of a global approach to retail (from supply chain to political outlook) be a way to stand out from the crowd?


text:
The mobile search evolution is gaining momentum. In the last couple of weeks, Yahoo! and Ask.com have rolled out initiatives aimed at improving the mobile search experience for their users.
There’s been no disguising the focus of the top search engines on the mobile search arena. In a year when they’ve all been teaming up with handset providers and trying to gain the mobile market ascendancy, the focus is now on ensuring they’re offering the best search experience on the mobile interface.
Ask.com last week released their search results in a new mobile optimized format (mobile.ask.com). Employing Skweezer to improve readability and download speed, the initial reviews of the service are quite positive.
A comprehensive range of mobile services are available including:
- Web Search
- Business Listings
- Bloglines link
This mobile search release will help them catch up to the likes of Yahoo!, Google and MSN which offered mobile search sometime ago.
Yahoo! has also released a significant initiative in their drive to be the top mobile search provider. The beta version of their sponsored search results will be provided on their mobile web service in the US and UK.
Yahoo! are providing mobile optimized landing pages for advertisers whose sites are not yet set-up for mobile which will help with the conversion on such sponsored listings.
Both mobile releases are significant strategic moves for the respective companies. While Ask.com are still playing catch up, it does show that they’re heading in the right direction, and for Yahoo!, sponsored mobile listings was the logical next step for their existing web services.


text:
“Itâ€™s no wonder then the hotel industry has become a target of well-meaning legislators and bureaucrats looking to save some precious water for the state. The California State Water Resources Control Board recently instituted new rules that among other things require foodservice establishments to provide water only to customers who request it and mandate hotels give an option to guests of not having linens and towels laundered daily.”
Letâ€™s face it: The hotel industry in the United States over the past 20 years has mostly been paying lip service to sustainability issues. Itâ€™s difficult to blame hotel owners and operators for that attitude because environmental issues are seldom major operational or profitability concerns at most properties.
There are exceptions, of course, but for the owner of a typical mid-market suburban hotel, green issues typically are only seriously addressed for one of two reasons: the vague promise of operating cost savings or the public relations glow generated by being a good and green citizen.
That situation is beginning to change, especially in California and the Southwest. The culprit is water, or the lack thereof.
For more:Â http://bit.ly/1yPC4Pa


text:
CPT lowers 10.2-inch panel prices to reinforce competitiveness in netbook market
Max Wang, Taipei; Yvonne Yu, DIGITIMES
Taiwan-based TFT-LCD panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) has reduced its prices for 10.2-inch panels to as low as US$30 from typical prices of US$35-38 in order to maintain its competitiveness in the netbook market, according to industry sources...
The article you are trying to open requires News database subscription. Please sign in if you wish to continue.


text:
Thousands of homeowners across the nation are adopting smart home technology to improve their quality of life and their home security. The most basic smart home technology follows similar steps, so if you’re looking for how to install video cameras, digital thermostats or door locks, read on to discover how.
The popular reality show, Shark Tank, features entrepreneurs who pitch business ideas to a panel of potential investors…or “sharks.” Here are four TV-inspired tips to help keep your business swimming forward this year.
Football season has officially arrived. And with that, tailgating season has begun, too. We know what it takes to host a successful tailgate, but it’s important to keep yourself, your cars and your guests safe, too. Here’s what you need to know before the big tailgate.


text:
Information in this column is from the Global New Products Database, the premier source of global product intelligence, published by Mintel International Group; 351 W. Hubbard, 8th Floor; Chicago, IL 60610; call: 312-932-0600; fax: 312-932-0474; or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org
Eco-friendly F&B Packaging
Sustainability has become a mainstream cause in America only recently, as a result of heightened media attention and increased consumer awareness of issues, including global warming, pollution and food safety. The Mintel report, “Packaging Trends in Food and Drink--U.S.--March 2009,” cites this is evidenced by manufacturers’ packaging-related sustainable efforts, such as reducing their carbon footprint, light-weighting, improving the base-line raw materials used in packaging, and recycling programs. Furthermore, consumers are demanding these measures. In 2009, 58% of respondents to Mintel’s custom survey said they believe that plastic bottles are “really bad for the environment,” and two thirds report they “usually” recycle plastic bottles and containers. This is an increase from the 46% who reported recycling in 2008. The majority of consumers believe manufacturers are partially responsible for plastic packaging, with only 8% saying that “if plastic bottles hurt the environment, it’s not the manufacturers’ fault.” Mintel GNPD shows manufacturers are increasingly launching products packaged in an environmentally friendly manner. In 2006, there were 80 global products making an environmentally friendly package claim, which increased to 9,362 in 2009, now comprising 6% of all global food and drink products. One manufacturer who has offered innovation in environmentally friendly packaging is Frito-Lay Sunchips. The bag is made from more than 90% renewable, plant-based materials, with the ability to break down completely in compost.


text:
The Austrian data protection authority (DPA) decided a case on 15 March about two tools that appear on thousands of websites: Facebook Login and the Meta Pixel. The DPA determined that a website using these tools was violating the GDPR.
Does this mean that Facebook Login and the Meta Pixel are now illegal across Europe? Here’s an overview of this case and what it means for European companies using these tools.
The case against Facebook Login the Meta Pixel
Facebook Login is a single sign-on (SSO) service that enables users to log into third-party services via their Facebook account. This saves users time but carries some privacy risks, as Meta can receive data about the user’s online activities.
The Meta Pixel is an analytics tool that measures how users interact with ads on a website. The Meta Pixel is a code added to a website’s backend. Using a tool such as the Meta Pixel requires consent.
In August 2020, the privacy group “noyb”, led by activist Max Schrems, accused an Austrian website of illegally transferring personal data to Meta’s US servers through its use of these tools.
Let’s look at what the DPA said.
What personal data do Facebook Login and the Meta Pixel collect?
In its decision, the Austrian DPA established that Facebook Login and the Meta Pixel collect a lot of information, including:
- IP address
- Web browser version
- Screen resolution
- User ID
- Mobile operating system
- Website visit date and time
This data is visible to Meta in plain text.
Some of the information collected by Meta’s tools might not be personal data in itself, such as information about a person’s browser, screen resolution, and device type.
But this information can be personal data when combined with unique IDs that can be linked to a Facebook account.
Meta’s US data transfers
Having established that Facebook Login and the Meta Pixel collect personal data, the Austrian DPA also determined that the website using these tools transferred that personal data to Meta’s US servers.
Furthermore, the DPA found that the website and Meta did not have any safeguards in place to make the transfer legal under the GDPR.
The GDPR requires EU organizations to implement safeguards before transferring personal data outside of the EU. These safeguards are designed to ensure that non-EU governments cannot access personal data for surveillance purposes.
At the time of the complaint, Meta said it was certified under “Privacy Shield”. Privacy Shield was a framework recognized by the EU as an adequate means of facilitating a legally compliant international data transfer.
However, Privacy Shield had been invalidated the month before the complaint. In a July 2020 case known as “Schrems II”, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) found that Privacy Shield did not effectively protect personal data from the US intelligence services.
As such, there were no safeguards in place to protect the transferred personal data. The website’s use of Facebook Login and the Meta Pixel was illegal.
Has Meta put safeguards in place since the complaint?
In September 2020, Meta implemented a new data processing addendum. This agreement covers both Facebook Login and the Meta Pixel.
Meta’s data processing addendum includes the European Commission’s “standard contractual clauses” (SCCs).
SCCs can be a valid means of making an international data transfer under the GDPR. Because Meta includes SCCs in its data processing addendum, the company is contractually obliged to protect EU personal data to EU-equivalent standards..
But in the Schrems II case, the CJEU stated that organizations can only proceed with an international transfer using SCCs if they can effectively protect personal data from by non-EU governments.
Meta is subject certain problematic US national security laws. Under these laws, the US government can order Meta to disregard its SCCs to provide access to EU-originating personal data.
Therefore, transferring personal data to Meta’s US servers would only be legal if there were other technical measures in place to ensure that Meta could not access the data (and pass it onto the US government).
Facebook Login and the Meta Pixel vs. Google Analytics
So are Facebook Login and the Meta Pixel legal to use now that Meta has put SCCs in place? Possibly not.
Since early 2022, eight EU regulators have decided complaints about another popular online tool—Google Analytics. In each case, these regulators found that websites using Google Analytics were engaged in illegal data transfers.
These decisions came despite the fact that Google has SCCs in place to cover transfers to its US servers.
The problem is that Google, like Meta, can still access personal data imported from the EU. The SCCs are effectively worthless, as they do not mitigate the risk of US government access.
It would appear that the same problem arises for Meta. Meta needs access to personal data transferred via Facebook Login and the Meta Pixel to deliver its services. Therefore, websites using these tools should consider whether they could be violating EU data transfer rules.


text:
InnovaFeed goes organic
Insect farmer InnovaFeed, which produces an aquafeed protein ingredient from black soldier fly larvae, has achieved organic certification.
The company, which operates what it says is the world’s largest insect production facility at Nesle in northern France, has been certified by German company Naturland, which used the European Organic Standards as the basis for the first set of organic standards for insect rearing.
The European Union’s Farm to Fork strategy aims at increasing the proportion of land being farmed organically from 8.5% now to 25% by 2030.
InnovaFeed said in a press release that the availability of organic feed ingredients is a bottleneck to organic farming growth. Insect ingredients (both oil and protein) offer a solution, driven by the rise of the insect sector over the past two years.
“Insects are at the heart of everything organic farming stands for: naturality, sustainability and strengthening of local agricultural ecosystems,” said Chloé Phan Van Phi, head of sales and marketing at InnovaFeed.
“Reintroducing insects in pig, poultry or fish feed is based on the biomimicry principle: insects are part of their natural diet. In the wild, insects comprise up to 70% of a trout’s diet. The zero waste and circular model of insect farming ensures insects are both a performant and sustainable resource for both plants and animal growth.”
Under the Naturland certification, primarily organic vegetable by-products and residual materials from agro-industries processing are to be used as a substrate for insects.
The use of products that are in direct competition with human or animal nutrition is to be avoided.
Naturland certified insect producers need to follow a priority list and can feed their insects after approval with non-organic by-products, if and only if they can demonstrate there is no sufficient organic by-products available locally. These non-organic by-products must comply with a set of strict requirements including a complete ban on pesticides, heavy metals, GMO and be locally sourced.
Reinforcing organic aquaculture
“We believe the insect industry has an important role to play in supporting the growth of the EU organic agriculture and farming, in particular with regards to improving animal nutrition and reinforcing organic aquaculture, two of the key areas outlined in the Action Plan for the Development of the Organic Sector released by the European Commission,” said Clément Ray, InnovaFeed’s co-founder.
“To realise the potential of the insect industry for organic farming, the EU needs to define clear and adapted organic standards for insects.
“With such European standards and up to 500,000 tonnes of insect protein expected to be produced by 2030, this is an additional five million tonnes of organic fish, poultry or swine that could be produced in Europe.”