What happened in the world of technology, marketing and advertising? Main weekly news from the Western media
Goodbye, likes!
From now on, users can hide their likes for their own and other people’s posts on Facebook and Instagram. The official release states that this step will reduce social pressure and improve the user experience on both social networks. Many people, especially the younger generation, felt anxious and frustrated when their posts received insufficient likes.
Instagram conducted pilot shutdowns of likes among a small group of people back in 2019, and in April 2020, together with Facebook, launched a global test. From now on, disabling likes will be optional for all users of these social networks. For example, influencers, whose collaboration with brands directly depends on the popularity of publications, may continue to leave likes open.
Vimeo has become public
On May 25, video hosting Vimeo held an IPO and began trading under the VMEO ticker on the NASDAQ.
On the first day of trading on the stock exchange, Vimeo shares fell 15% and closed on May 26 at $45.39 apiece. By the end of trading on Tuesday, the market value of the company increased by 33% to about $8 billion. In January, after attracting private investment, the company was valued at $6 billion.
According to the annual report for 2020, the company’s revenue increased by 57% to $89.4 million. At the same time, Vimeo’s gross profit increased by 67% from $38.6 million to 64.5 million. It seems that Vimeo has already outgrown the unofficial title of “indie version” of YouTube».
LiveRamp launches identification solutions based on first-party data
Adtech-company LiveRamp presented a new product Portrait Engine. It should help marketers create user identification databases based only on their own first-party data.
Marketers will be able to supplement their first-party data with an email address, phone number and mailbox via Abilitec from LiveRamp. The tool is currently in beta, but the company plans to launch globally this summer. More details in the AdExchanger article.
Netflix is encroaching on the video gaming industry
Within a week, Western media reported that the streaming service Netflix plans to enter the video gaming market soon. Although the company has not yet confirmed the rumors, a number of facts are even more eloquent than the official announcement.
Information initially learned that Netflix is looking for a top manager to lead the expansion into video games. It was later reported that the future service that Netflix will offer to its subscribers will be similar to Apple Arcade and will include both licensed Netflix developments and games ordered from independent studios. According to forecasts, the service will be launched in 2022.
Amazon still bought MGM
Amazon has bought one of Hollywood’s oldest film studios, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), for $8.45 billion. Rumors of a possible deal began circulating last week. The media noted that Amazon is in talks to acquire a film studio, and MGM has been actively looking for buyers since December 2020 and has hired banking professionals as consultants.
The sale will give Amazon Prime a streaming service access to MGM’s vast library of 4,000 movies and 17,000 hours of television programming, including a James Bond franchise, The Maid’s Tale, Fargo, and other hit content. Such replenishment will increase the number of users of the service, which actively competes with streaming rivals.
