Facebook versus Apple. The battle of the tech titans is on. According to Facebook, “Apple announced product and policy changes that will impact data sharing across iOS. The policy and the limits it places on advertising will harm the growth of businesses and the free internet.” Here’s the interpretation of the above in a full-page […]
Productivity Is Highly Over-Rated, Particularly In Creative Circles
People are being asked to do more with less. In the ad agency industry, this has been going on since the first days of Digital Disruption. Today, with COVID-19 raging across the land and the globe, so-called “thought workers” who can work from home are doing so, but at what cost to themselves and the […]
Political Ad Spending in 2020: A Case Study In Piss Poor ROI
Big buckets of money were brought to the table by both political parties during this election cycle. CNBC reports that Michael Bloomberg spent $1 billion on his primary run for president that ended up winning only a few dozen delegates. He then spent $100 million in Florida, Ohio, and Texas on behalf of Joe Biden […]
Mozilla Is Gettin’ After It
Mozilla, the not-for-profit behind Firefox, was purpose-built to make the internet what it can be: an open tool for everyone — the powerful and the weak, the right and the left, everyone. Right now, Mozilla is on a mission to unfck the internet. “On an unfcked internet, platforms will create incentives to stop fomenting conflict […]
Is Your Homepage All the Page You Need?
For small businesses who need a website, there is a myriad of options, not all of them equal. Squarespace sells the dream in this new long-form commercial. The dream is that a website opens the door to commerce. Wake up, now! Thanks. Now, that you’re wide awake, let’s look at the pitch that Wix.com makes […]
Uber Eats Delivers Food to Your Door, And Strange Commercials To Your Screens
What are you hungry for? Depending on where you live, a driver will bring it to you? In 2018, Frost and Sullivan estimated the food delivery service industry generated $82 billion in gross revenue and predicted that this number will more than double by 2025. So, $164 billion in four years. Several players are competing […]
Brighter Futures for the Ad Industry Are Possible, Following Massive Reform
Someone moved the ad industry’s cheese. The various reactions from industry leaders have been slow and haphazard at best, but that’s starting to change. The World Federation of Advertisers has formed the Partnership for Responsible Addressable Media. “In the ancient story of the Tower of Babel, the city collapsed because its inhabitants lost the ability […]
Square and Stripe Tell Powerful Stories of the Small Business Owner’s Struggle
Small business is the backbone of the economy. Small businesses are also a radiating pain point during this devastating economic downturn. According to WBUR in Boston, earlier this summer, MassINC Polling Group surveyed 1,868 small businesses (defined as having fewer than 500 employees). Their findings show that 44% of small businesses lost at least half […]
Social Media Platforms Make Mountains of Money On the Back of Someone Else’s I.P.
Who do you want to program your screens? Who do you want to take you for a digital ride? It’s a fundamental question for consumers of information. When you choose the social media platforms as your answer, you become the product that they monetize via your daily obsessions and rapt attention, which is now the […]
This Is Etsy’s Moment
Amazon.com is positioned to win right now, but the Seattle-based behemoth isn’t the only winner. For people seeking to buy direct from the maker, Etsy.com is the way to go. Etsy reported first-quarter consolidated gross merchandise sales jumped 32% year-on-year to $1.4 billion. The Brooklyn, N.Y., company is also doing well on Wall Street. Shares […]