Good Monday morning. It’s September 10th. Rosh Hashanah started last night, and Islamic New Year starts tomorrow night. We wish the best to everyone celebrating.
Today’s Spotlight takes about 3 minutes to read.
Highlights
- Major internet providers (telecoms) were accused of slowing traffic from YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and NBC Sports. Bloomberg has details–and you can ask my family about Amazon Prime on Fios.
- Bloomberg also broke the story of MasterCard selling consumer data to Google that lets Google prove to select advertisers that the advertising created a sale.
- Twitter will mirror Facebook’s political advertising rules. Social advocacy ads are also required to have much more disclosure beginning September 30.\
Facebook Usage Slipping
Still a powerhouse of the global Internet, Facebook usage seems to be declining among U.S. adults.
- Pew Research says 74% of U.S. users adjusted their privacy setting, took a break from checking the service, or deleted the app from their phone. Read the report.
- Shaun Dakin surveyed his George Mason marketing students as he does every semester. Half of them said Instagram is the first app they open each day. Not one chose Facebook. Other responses: YouTube, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Spotify, Gmail.
- Facebook and Google apps now account for 54% of all mobile device screen time. Remember that Facebook owns Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp while Google’s Gmail and YouTube are top 10 apps. Here’s a pretty infographic from Visual Capitalist showing the data.
Amazon Takes on Advertising
Facebook and Google are splitting up 60% of the $88 billion U.S. digital ad market. Amazon has a little more than $2 billion of that market, but says it’s ready to challenge the current duopoly.
- Movie information site IMDb will be the home of a new broadcast-like TV service. That’s one of the ways Amazon will grow ad revenues.
- Amazon already knows when shoppers buy and how they search for products on the site. Google paid MasterCard millions for that information and may not have an ongoing data feed.
- Big bets in health care and grocery retail have prepped Amazon to understand how to enter new industries at scale. Their mantra remains Get Big Fast.
- Why it will work: Bezos’ executive team shares his passion for the long game. With their control of e-commerce and billions of dollars in profitable hosting services, the financial community continues to let Amazon disrupt industries. That’s why few complained about the big acquisitions in retail, logistics (20,000 vans!), and health.
Spotlighted
- Google has a new search engine for data sets. Looking for the databases to do your own research? Search for them here.
- Google also banned third-party technical support ads from unverified companies. The program is only starting now, but will soon make it harder for scammers to advertise.
- Instagram is reportedly working on a shopping-specific app.
Thanks for starting your week with Spotlight. Have a great week, joy-filled holidays, and send this to a friend or colleague so they can subscribe too.