10 Things In Tech You Need To Know Today (FB, VZ, AAPL, YHOO, EA) | ||
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1. Facebook stock was down 10% last night after it announced its Q3 earnings. Its performance was solid, but guidance spooked investors. 2. The Antares rocket exploded seconds after launch yesterday. It was carrying over 5,000 pounds worth of supplies for the International Space Station. 3. Verizon has launched a tech news site. Its writers are reportedly banned from covering surveillance or net neutrality. 4. Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed the reason why the company discontinued the iPod Classic. He claims they simply couldn't get the parts anymore. 5. Marissa Mayer is reportedly close to hiring Amazon's top ad executive. She may become Yahoo's COO. SPONSORED BY Delta 6. Video game publisher Electronic Arts announced its Q2 earnings yesterday. They blew away expectations. 7. Some MacBook owners have filed a class-action lawsuit over problems with their graphic cards. They accuse Apple of refusing to repair defective products. 8. WhatsApp has disclosed its recent financial performance. Revenue was $10.2 million in 2013. 9. The retail group behind Walmart, Best Buy and Gap has threatened its retailers with steep fines if they introduce Apple Pay. CVS and Rite Aid both tried the system but later opted out. 10. The FBI created a fake online news article to catch a bomb-threat suspect. It used the page to spread spying software. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Good morning! It's going to be a rainy day in New York. Here's the tech news you need to know for today. Here Are The Most Important Things Marketers Need To Know From Facebook’s Earnings (FB) | ||
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But marketers and advertisers had plenty of reasons to be excited by the future Facebook the company described in both its earnings release and call. Here’s a few of the key outtakes: DAILY ACTIVE USERS Facebook’s daily active users continue to grow all over the world. Overall, DAUs were up 19% year on year to 864 million. Facebook had 1.35 billion monthly active users, up 39% year over year. MOBILE GROWTH That growth continues into mobile. Facebook posted its first billion dollar mobile quarter. Mobile revenue represented 66% of advertising revenue in the third quarter, up from approximately 49% of revenue in the same quarter last year. Think mobile-first if you're advertising on Facebook. THE COST OF ADS The average price per ad rose 274% year on year, while total ad impressions were down 56%. Basically, although it's becoming more expensive to buy any single ad, that means each of those ads is becoming more effective because there are fewer of them. Advertisers love that. Facebook says the increase in the price of ads was driven primarily by the redesign of its right-hand column ads, which it claims “resulted in larger, more engaging ads that delivered more value to marketers and thus had higher reflective prices.” Those right-hand column ads were also fewer in number, partly due to the shift in usage to mobile where those ads don’t appear. What makes that takeaway all the more interesting is that Google’s advertising has been working in the opposite way. In Q3 the average cost per click across Google sites decreased 2% year on year, while the number of paid clicks increased 17%.
One of the often-overlooked facilities of Facebook is performing really well: Groups. More than 700 million people are using Groups ever month. Groups may seem like archaic forums (and Facebook may eventually be trying to eradicate Groups altogether with the launch of its standalone Rooms app) but the majority of its users are using them in some way. It could be a key area for marketers to start thinking about using to have conversations with their consumers — not least because organic reach of pages is now so low. INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT Globally, Instagram users are on the app 21 minutes a day on average. That is a massive engagement figure for a single app that has limited use cases and highlights why brands should begin looking at their Instagram strategies, if they haven’t already. But, Facebook once again reiterated that it is continuing to roll out advertising deliberately “slowly.” The same slow pace will be mirrored for Facebook’s auto-play video advertising rollout. The company doesn’t want to upset users by ramping up advertising too quickly, it would rather they get used to these kinds of brand ads first. TARGETING Facebook claims its age and gender targeting is “45% more accurate than the industry average.” Most targeting on the internet is largely based on guesswork, but the fact that users share lots of information when they register with Facebook, means it has a far more accurate idea of who they are.
On the earnings call, Facebook spent a fair chunk of time promoting Atlas, the platform bought from Microsoft and relaunched in September this year to implement and measure their ads’ effectiveness across the web and multiple devices. Atlas is one of Facebook's steps toward what it calls "people based marketing." Facebook highlighted the efforts it is undertaking to improve measurement for marketers, using Atlas. COO Sheryl Sandberg derided measurement systems that “over emphasize” the value of the last click. “This does not make sense, given that studies of Facebook campaigns show that over 90% of ad-driven in-store sales come from people who saw an ad but didn’t click on it.” Atlas identifies as a user skips from device to device then ultimately — and securely, without passing on to Facebook or marketers who an individual person is — links marketing to in-store sales. Facebook says it has had “productive conversations” about Atlas with many marketers and agencies and it is “pleased” with their interest. FURTHER ADTECH INVESTMENTS Elsewhere, Facebook also plans to make additional investments in improving other areas of its adtech stack, like the LiveRail video ad platform it bought earlier this year, which allows publishers to personalize ads via their apps and websites using Facebook data. Sandberg wanted to emphasize the investments it is making in adtech are large and strategy investments for the long-term. Facebook is a huge, but limited in terms of inventory. Its adtech investments help it expand its presence beyond the Facebook platform across the entire stretch of the desktop and mobile web. She added: “We recognize that by staffing engineers in these strategic adtech areas, we forego shorter-term product improvements which would generate revenue quickly.” SEARCH Search is not a short-term priority, so marketers should continue concentrating their search strategies outside of Facebook for now. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said its products only become “interesting” once they reach 1 billion+ users, and search is not there yet and that the company would not try to aggressively monetize it for at east two years. VIDEO Despite saying video advertising will continue on its slow trajectory, “video is a very big priority,” according to Zuckerberg. In particular, it looks as though Facebook will be trying to encourage more public figures and news outlets to use the Facebook platform to distribute their videos. Zuckerberg said Facebook will share more video stats soon (video views on Facebook reached 1 billion in Q3). SEE ALSO: Facebook Tanks After Management Spooks Investors With Weak Guidance Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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ATLAS The Underground World Of Plant Theft Is More Massive Than You Think | ||
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Some of London's rarest flowers have to be locked up and monitored by security cameras due to an upswing in plant theft. The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Hampshire has become a "crime hotspot," the BBC reports, as an increasing number of people are swiping buds to sell on the black market for hundreds of dollars. Certain rare species of plants, including new species of orchid, are worth up to £300 ($500) each, according to the BBC. Barry Clarke, who works at the Hillier botanical gardens, said that up to 20 plants are stolen from the site each year. He suspects that "anyone from the little old lady down the street to a young person out of agricultural college," could be behind the plant heists. Plant crimes are widespread in Britain. Earlier this year, a rare, endangered water lily was stolen out of the glasshouse at Kew Gardens, one of the largest botanical gardens in the world. The import and export of endangered species requires a permit issued by CITES, the organization that regulates the protection of wild fauna and flora. However, horticulturists believe that loads of endangered plants are being sold online without the CITES permit. As a preventative measure, many botanical gardens have started "anchoring plants underground, growing them under cages, and installing CCTV cameras," the BCC writes. Some universities are also working on an alarm system. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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10 Things In Advertising You Need To Know Today | ||
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Start your day with the most important advertising stories from around the world. 1. Here are the key facts marketers should pay attention to from Facebook’s Q3 earnings. The cost of a Facebook ad is up, Instagram usage is huge, and Facebook is making some really big bets on adtech. 2. Facebook’s share price tanked in after-hours trading last night after its management spooked investors with weak guidance for 2015. Facebook described 2015 as an “investment year,” where expenses could grow as much as 70% as it plans to increase headcount and investment in adtech. 3. The UK’s biggest newspaper publisher thinks that Facebook’s idea to get publishers to post articles direct to its mobile app is a farce. The chief marketing officer of News UK, which publishes The Sun and The Times, described the move as a “tax on navigation” and a “tax on audience.” 4. Yahoo looks close to hiring Amazon’s top ad sales executive. Lisa Utzschneider has been with Amazon for six years and has been building out its highly effective e-commerce ads offering. 5. Verizon has reportedly been broadcasting your internet advertising to advertisers for two years — and there’s nothing consumers can do to stop it. Reports suggest the company has been injecting a serial number-like code into the web traffic that flows between its users and the websites they visit, allowing advertisers to see people’s identity as they browse the web. 6. Tumblr is following Facebook’s lead with the launch of auto-play video ads, AdAge reports. Universal Pictures, Lexus, Unilever and JCPenney are among the 10 launch advertisers for the new format. 7. Taco Bell went "dark" on social media Tuesday as a stunt to build up anticipation for its new mobile app. The Taco Bell app allows customers to customize and pay for their orders ahead of picking them up in-store. 8. Digiday explores whether Fabric can solve Twitter’s growth problem. Fabric offers a series of app development tools that allow brands and publishers to integrate tweets and its mobile platform MoPub into their apps, which Digiday says can help Twitter monetize its “outsized influence on culture.” 9. Marketing Magazine has spoken to Philips about how it plans to rewrite its digital advertising strategy following the announcement that its business is splitting in two. The company has built “centers” of digital experts in-house and is using data from its growing number of connected products to inform its marketing, the report details. 10. Publicis Groupe has acquired real-time data management and programmatic ad buying platform RUN. Financial details were not disclosed but Publicis says the platform will be aligned with Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) and be available to all the networks within that group. SEE ALSO: Did A Louisiana Democrat Steal John McCain's Campaign Logo? Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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10 Things In Tech You Need To Know Today (FB, VZ, AAPL, YHOO, EA) | ||
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1. Facebook stock was down 10% last night after it announced its Q3 earnings. Its performance was solid, but guidance spooked investors. 2. The Antares rocket exploded seconds after launch yesterday. It was carrying over 5,000 pounds worth of supplies for the International Space Station. 3. Verizon has launched a tech news site. Its writers are reportedly banned from covering surveillance or net neutrality. 4. Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed the reason why the company discontinued the iPod Classic. He claims they simply couldn't get the parts anymore. 5. Marissa Mayer is reportedly close to hiring Amazon's top ad executive. She may become Yahoo's COO. SPONSORED BY Delta 6. Video game publisher Electronic Arts announced its Q2 earnings yesterday. They blew away expectations. 7. Some MacBook owners have filed a class-action lawsuit over problems with their graphic cards. They accuse Apple of refusing to repair defective products. 8. WhatsApp has disclosed its recent financial performance. Revenue was $10.2 million in 2013. 9. The retail group behind Walmart, Best Buy and Gap has threatened its retailers with steep fines if they introduce Apple Pay. CVS and Rite Aid both tried the system but later opted out. 10. The FBI created a fake online news article to catch a bomb-threat suspect. It used the page to spread spying software. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here Are The Most Important Things Marketers Need To Know From Facebook’s Earnings (FB) | ||
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But marketers and advertisers had plenty of reasons to be excited by the future Facebook the company described in both its earnings release and call. Here’s a few of the key outtakes: DAILY ACTIVE USERS Facebook’s daily active users continue to grow all over the world. Overall, DAUs were up 19% year on year to 864 million. Facebook had 1.35 billion monthly active users, up 39% year over year. MOBILE GROWTH That growth continues into mobile. Facebook posted its first billion dollar mobile quarter. Mobile revenue represented 66% of advertising revenue in the third quarter, up from approximately 49% of revenue in the same quarter last year. THE COST OF ADS The average price per ad rose 274% year on year, while total ad impressions were down 56%. Basically, although it's becoming more expensive to buy any single ad, that means each of those ads is becoming more effective because there are fewer of them. Advertisers love that. Facebook says the increase in the price of ads was driven primarily by the redesign of its right-hand column ads, which it claims “resulted in larger, more engaging ads that delivered more value to marketers and thus had higher reflective prices.” Those right-hand column ads were also fewer in number, partly due to the shift in usage to mobile where those ads don’t appear. What makes that takeaway all the more interesting is that Google’s advertising has been working in the opposite way. In Q3 the average cost per click across Google sites decreased 2% year on year, while the number of paid clicks increased 17%.
INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT Globally, Instagram users are on the app 21 minutes a day on average. That is a massive engagement figure for a single app that has limited use cases and highlights why brands should begin looking at their Instagram strategies, if they haven’t already. But, Facebook once again reiterated that it is continuing to roll out advertising deliberately “slowly.” The same slow pace will be mirrored for Facebook’s auto play video advertising rollout. The company doesn’t want to upset users by ramping up advertising too quickly, it would rather they get used to these kinds of brand ads first. TARGETING Facebook claims its age and gender targeting is “45% more accurate than the industry average.” Most targeting on the internet is largely based on guesswork, but the fact that users share lots of information when they register with Facebook, means it has a more accurate idea of who they are.
Facebook highlighted the efforts it is undertaking to improve measurement for marketers, using Atlas. COO Sheryl Sandberg derided measurement systems that “over emphasize” the value of the last click. “This does not make sense, given that studies of Facebook campaigns show that over 90% of ad-driven in-store sales come from people who saw an ad but didn’t click on it.” Atlas identifies as a user skips from device to device then ultimately — and securely, without passing on to Facebook or marketers who an individual person is — links marketing to in-store sales. Facebook says it has had “productive conversations” about Atlas with many marketers and agencies and it is “pleased” with their interest. FURTHER ADTECH INVESTMENTS Elsewhere, Facebook also plans to make additional investments in improving other areas of its adtech stack, like the LiveRail ad platform it bought earlier this year, which allows publishers to personalize ads via their apps and websites using Facebook data. Sandberg wanted to emphasize the investments it is making in adtech are large and strategy investments for the long-term. Facebook is a huge, but limited in terms of inventory. Its adtech investments help it expand its presence beyond the Facebook platform across the entire stretch of the desktop and mobile web. She added: “We recognize that by staffing engineers in these strategic adtech areas, we forego shorter-term product improvements which would generate revenue quickly.” SEARCH Search is not a short-term priority, so marketers should continue concentrating their search strategies outside of Facebook for now. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said its products only become “interesting” once they reach 1 billion+ users, and search is not there yet and that the company would not try to aggressively monetize it for at east two years. VIDEO Despite saying video advertising will continue on its slow trajectory, “video is a very big priority,” according to Zuckerberg. In particular, it looks as though Facebook will be trying to encourage more public figures and news outlets to use the Facebook platform to distribute their videos. Zuckerberg said Facebook will share more video stats soon (video views on Facebook reached 1 billion in Q3). SEE ALSO: Facebook Tanks After Management Spooks Investors With Weak Guidance Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Hackers breach White House computer system, Russia suspected | ||
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Washington (AFP) - The White House's unclassified computer network was recently breached by intruders, a US official said Tuesday, with The Washington Post newspaper reporting that the Russian government was thought to be behind the act. "In the course of assessing recent threats, we identified activity of concern on the unclassified EOP network," said the White House official, speaking on condition of not being named. "Any such activity is something we take very seriously. In this case, we took immediate measures to evaluate and mitigate the activity." The Washington Post quoted sources as saying hackers believed to be working for the Russian government were believed to be responsible. The hackers entered the US presidential mansion's unclassified computer network in recent weeks, the Post quotes the sources as saying. In a statement, the White House official said the Executive Office of the President receives daily alerts concerning numerous possible cyber threats. In the course of addressing the breach, some White House users were temporarily disconnected from the network. "Our computers and systems have not been damaged, though some elements of the unclassified network have been affected. The temporary outages and loss of connectivity for our users is solely the result of measures we have taken to defend our networks," the official said. No additional information was immediately available. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Legal costs push Deutsche Bank into red in Q3 | ||
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Frankfurt (AFP) - Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest lender, said Wednesday that litigation and other costs pushed it into the red in the third quarter. In the period from July to September, the group booked a net loss of 94 million euros ($120 million), compared with a profit of 41 million euros a year earlier, Deutsche Bank said in a statement. "Net income in this quarter was materially impacted by provisions as we continued to work toward resolution of litigation matters related to legacy issues," the bank's two co-chief executives Juergen Fitschen and Anshu Jain were quoted as saying in the statement. "We also incurred costs of adapting to new regulation." Just last week, Deutsche Bank revealed that it had run up litigation costs of 894 million euros in the third quarter, which are not tax deductable. Deutsche Bank has found itself accused of a long list of wrongdoings in the past, including attempted manipulation of the currency markets, rigging the Libor and Euribor interest rates and doing business with countries subject to US sanctions such as Iran. Nevertheless, Jain and Fitschen insisted that Deutsche Bank's underlying performance was "solid, with well-balanced earnings contributions and underlying revenue growth across all four core businesses": corporate banking and securities, private and business clients, global transactions, and asset and wealth management. Net revenues were up 1.5 percent at 7.864 billion euros in the July-September period and operating profit amounted to 266 million euros, compared with just 18 million euros a year earlier.
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