Techmeme: How Timehop, running out of money, ditched programmatic ad partners, built its own ad server, boosted CPMs from $2 to $14, and increased revenues 10x YoY (Kerry Flynn/Digiday)

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September 2, 2018, 11:45 PM

Top News

Kerry Flynn / Digiday:

How Timehop, running out of money, ditched programmatic ad partners, built its own ad server, boosted CPMs from $2 to $14, and increased revenues 10x YoY — Timehop had three months of runway in the bank when it decided its current advertising solution wasn't going to cut it.

Tweets: @digiday, @rickwebb, @isaackrasny, @bryce, @codinghorror, @digiday, @mdudas, and @digiday

Brian Ellsworth / Reuters:

A week after pegging its money, pensions, and salaries to Petro cryptocurrency, Venezuela still fails to show proof that anyone is using Petro for transactions — ATAPIRIRE, Venezuela (Reuters) - To hear Venezuela's leftist President Nicolas Maduro tell it, this remote hamlet of 1,300 souls …

More: Forbes and Bitcoinist.com

Tweets: @amoratv, @coindesk, @sthgibbs, and @reuters

Connie Loizos / TechCrunch:

YC founder Paul Graham dispenses new advice in interview: why college-age founders are too young, how competition only killed 1 out of 1,900 YC startups, more — Yesterday, as part of some of its newest programming for startup founders, the startup incubator Y Combinator posted a new interview …

Tweets: @aparanjape and @garrytan

Rebecca Hill / The Register:

Communiqué from Five Eyes nations tells tech industry to make accommodations on encryption, or legislative or enforcement actions may be taken for lawful access — Five Eyes to tech: We have ways of making you comply — The Five Eyes nations have told the tech industry …

More: Australian Department … and ZDNet

Tweets: @riskybusiness, @chadloder, @stshank, and @alexstamos

Ben Fox Rubin / CNET:

Amazon says Alexa now comes integrated with over 20,000 devices from 3,500 brands, up from the 4,000 devices from 1,200 brands in January — Amazon executive Daniel Rausch stood onstage before a crowd of hundreds at Berlin's IFA tech show to share a few big numbers about Alexa.

More: TechCrunch, Digital Trends, and Engadget. Tweets: @iansherr. Thanks:@benfoxrubin

Gabriel Wildau / Financial Times:

Bike-sharing startup Ofo is being sued by its Chinese bicycle supplier for $10M in unpaid bills; source says Ofo is burning through about $25M a month — A Shanghai-listed bicycle manufacturer has sued Ofo, the bike-sharing start-up backed by Alibaba, for $10m in unpaid bills …

More: The Verge

Wall Street Journal:

JD.com founder and CEO Richard Liu arrested in Minnesota on a sexual misconduct allegation, released without bail; police say investigation is ongoing — E-commerce company JD.com says CEO Liu Qiangdong was released after what it says was a false accusation; Minneapolis Police say the case remains open

More: TechCrunch, New York Times, Reuters, SiliconANGLE, The Daily Caller, and Engadget

Tweets: @gabewildau and @nytimes

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

Twitter's director of product management tweets pics of changes being weighed to make Twitter more “conversational”: improved reply threads, status indicators — No thanks — Sara Haider, Twitter's director of product management, tweeted a couple screenshots today showing off changes …

Wall Street Journal:

Google starts purging ads by scammers masquerading as authorized service agents for companies like Apple after a WSJ inquiry — Wall Street Journal investigation finds fraudsters use Google search ads to masquerade as authorized service agents for companies such as Apple

More: Engadget and Fortune. Tweets: @troyhunt

Nick Kostov / Wall Street Journal:

Source: ad giant WPP taps company veteran Mark Read as new CEO and is expected to announce the news early this week, after Mr. Sorrell's resignation in April — Read succeeds Martin Sorrell and inherits an ad firm challenged by Facebook, Google — WPP WPP -.26% PLC has chosen Mark Read …

More: USA Today

Alana Semuels / The Atlantic:

Fiverr and other freelancing sites have broadened employment opportunities for workers, but endless competition has led to lower wages and little stability — When the whole world is fighting for the same jobs, what happens to workers? — You can buy almost any thing you want online …

More: Mark Graham. Tweets: @theatlantic, @alanasemuels, @alanasemuels, and @alanasemuels

Joseph Cox / Motherboard:

Google confirms its Titan Security Keys are made by a Chinese company, but says the firmware ensures security, as security experts call for more transparency — Google's Titan Security Keys, used to lock down accounts, are produced in China. Several experts want more answers on that supply chain process …

More: BetaNews and ZDNet

Tweets: @alexstamos, @brianmcc, and @mprobertson

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 11:45 PM ET, September 2, 2018.

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From Mediagazer

Associated Press:

President Trump signed an EO on May 1 instructing CPB and other agencies to cut federal funding for NPR and PBS, alleging “bias” in the broadcasters' reporting

Jack Herrera / Columbia Journalism Review:

A look at the resources NYT journalists used to cover the deportations through Panama in February, before the Trump Administration acknowledged the deportations

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:

UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy says “we would be very reluctant” to introduce a levy on streaming platforms, despite a parliamentary committee recommending it

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Bryan Menegus / Gizmodo:

After five years, Google Express shows little progress as the number of partner stores dwindles and retailers like Walmart invest in their own infrastructure

Nikkei:

Renesas, Japan-based automotive chip company, is in late stage talks to acquire US-based wireless chip maker Integrated Device Technology, sources say for $6B+

More: SiliconANGLE, Electronics Weekly, Japan Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, and Wall Street Journal. Tweets: @mmillikin

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:

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More: SiliconANGLE and Analytics Insight

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:

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Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal:

In Q&A, Alphabet chairman John Hennessy says it's not clear to him if Chinese people are better off with a “limited version” of Google or no access to it at all

Tweets: @edzitron, @stevekovach, @jason_kint, and @matthewstoller

Vindu Goel / New York Times:

Indian regulators call for European-style rules on big tech, focused on privacy and protecting local firms from competition; sources say new rules are coming

Tweets: @eastdakota, @anandwrites, and @vindugoel

Earlier Picks

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

California passes a strong net neutrality bill, which now goes to governor; EFF has called it a “gold standard net neutrality bill”

More: cyberlaw.stanford.edu, CNNMoney, New York Times, Washington Post, SlashGear, Ars Technica, NPR, Firstpost, Slashdot, The Hill, Engadget, Axios, and Gizmodo

Facebook: Scott Wiener. Tweets: @freepress, @commondreams, @npr, @superwuster, @dabeard, @nytimestech, @internetlawcent, @vanschewick, @eff, and @jrosenworcel

Jordan Novet / CNBC:

DMV report: Apple, which has 66 self-driving cars approved for road testing in CA, says one of the SUVs was rear-ended, its first self-driving collision in CA

More: TechSpot, Mashable, Digital Trends, Bloomberg, The Verge, Engadget, MarketWatch, CNET, TechCrunch, Mercury News, SlashGear, Business Insider, and Patently Apple

Tweets: @celestelynpaul and @daveleebbc

Mehedi Hassan / Thurrott.com:

Microsoft says it is updating Skype to restore simplicity and familiarity, will kill its Stories-like feature called Highlights, which launched last year

More: The Verge, Engadget, Android Police, Skype Blogs, Digital Trends, 9to5Mac, BleepingComputer, Neowin, Windows Central, and MSPoweruser

Tweets: @om, @lukew, and @brianmcc

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft quietly ends its Surface Plus hardware subscription program that allowed trade-in upgrades after 18 months and no-interest financing for two years

More: Digital Trends, SlashGear, On MSFT, The Verge, Engadget, On MSFT, Windows Central, Neowin, and MSPoweruser

Tweets: @benbajarin and @maryjofoley

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Next major Windows update will be called Windows 10 October 2018 Update and will arrive that month

More: Softpedia News, Firstpost, VentureBeat, Windows Blog, Windows Experience Blog, Computerworld, BleepingComputer, Thurrott.com, and On MSFT

Tweets: @thurrott and @maryjofoley