Guess what? Ad-blockers and related ad policies continue to be a very hot topic.
Bloomberg wrote on Friday that “after seven months of work, the biggest digital advertising companies think they have a solution to the existential threat of consumers blocking online ads.”
“Google, the biggest player in this world, is at the center of the plan, although the company and its partners are keen to present the initiative as a group effort,” the news agency added.
Also worth a mention were Google’s latest developments in Russia. As The Guardian reported, the tech behemoth “has been forced to open up Android to rival search engines and applications in Russia, after settling a two-year battle with competition authorities for 439m roubles (£6.2m).” The newspaper noted that “deal sets a new precedent for Google, which until now has resisted permitting the pre-installation of rival search engines and certain applications on to the world’s most popular operating system.”
While a merger with Tesla — currently one of the largest automakers worldwide, as gauged by market cap — has always been seen as highly unlikely, it is fair to question whether Google’s investment in Nevada, near Reno and Tesla’s Gigafactory site, changes the prospects of a tie-up that could disrupt not only the world of digital, but also the trucking sector.
This might be an opportunistic move; the headline from Dow Jones this week — “Housing Crunch Threatens Reno’s Tech Boom” — was unequivocal.
Either way, we could do here with some help from Facebook, which is on the right path to read our brain, apparently. In other news, Amazon confirmed “every Australian retailer’s worst fear” at a time when in the US “record pace of brick-and-mortar closings” have been registered.
Finally, in the finance word, this earnings season reminded us that managing expectations has become more important than in past, given frothy valuations in the equity markets.
Verizon was the usual underperformer, its quarterly results showed on Tuesday, while quarterly results from eBay, Qualcomm and IBM similarly resulted in value destruction for shareholders.
- Google & Ad-blockers (Wired, 20/4/2017)
- Google Says Tool Eases Creation Of Software That Listens (Fortune, 19/4/2017)
- Google Settles Russian Antitrust Dispute (Federal Antimonopoly Service Of The Russian Federation, 17/4/2017)
- Alphabet Invests In Nevada (The Wall Street Journal, 17/4/2017)
Key highlight of the week:
Digital: Uber, Lyft, Apple, Snapchat, Facebook…
- Uber and Lyft Sued For Patent Infringement (Tech Crunch, 22/4/2017)
- Apple Eyes Satellite Internet Business (Bloomberg, 21/4/2017)
- Snapchat Spends $7.7M On Protection From Facebook (Tech Crunch, 20/4/2017)
- Facebook Tries To Read Your Mind (The Verge, 19/4/2017)
Key highlight of the week:
Trending Finance: Verizon, Qualcomm, eBay, IBM…
- Verizon Struggles — No Surprise Here (Zacks, 20/4/2017)
- Qualcomm Revenues Fall (Reuters, 19/4/2017)
- eBay Destroys Value (MarketWatch, 19/4/2017)
- IBM Disappoints, Again (Business Insider, 19/4/2017)
Key highlight of the week:
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