Reverberate: US media and marketing news you need to know – Uber discourages driver ads, Facebook tests search & Spotify still bleeds cash
Morning all, here’s a glimpse at all the media and marketing news you should know today.
1. Uber has said it will ‘discourage’ its drivers from generating extra revenue by having digital ads in their cars, reports Business Insider. The move follows ride-hailing ad start-up Viewswagen providing drivers revenue for displaying its ads on seat-mounted tablet devices.
2. Furthermore, Uber could be soon valued at $50bn, according to ZDNet. The surging price would secure its place as the most valuable venture-backed startup in history.
3. Google has noted that only half of its video ads are ever viewed, reports Business Insider. The figure pales in comparison to YouTube’s 91 per cent ad view rating.
4. Facebook is reportedly testing an in-app search engine which searches keywords to get more people sharing content on the site. TechCrunch reports that some iOS users will see the new “Add A Link” option.
5. Windows 10 is going to be the final revision of Microsoft’s long-lived operating system. Tech Times reports that the OS which is lined up for this summer will be intermittently updated.
6. Spotify continues to slug it out towards profitability, reporting a £119m loss in 2014. Documents seen by the Guardian show that the music streaming firm’s revenue grew by 45 per cent to £777m.
7. Opera Mediaworks figures show that Android ad revenue has surpassed Android’s for revenue. Mediapost notes that Android accounts for 65.17 per cent of ad traffic and 45.77 per cent of revenue. Meanwhile iOS accounts for 22.34 per cent of ad traffic and 45.44 per cent of revenue.
8. Business Insider reports that it was Bill Gates’ mother who pushed him into philanthropy before she died of breast cancer in 1994. In 2014 alone the Windows founder donated a total of £1.5bn.
9. Forbes is reporting that Amazon could be a potential bidder for on-the-market firm Salesforce. Following Microsoft distancing itself from rumours of an acquisition the publication noted that a hook-up between Amazon Web Services would be “a move that would shake other vendors to the core”.
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