Techmeme: IAB: US digital ad spend rose 35% YoY to $189B in 2021, the largest gain since 2006; 10 publishers and platforms took 78.6% of the total, up from 78.1% in 2020 (Megan Graham/Wall Street Journal)

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April 12, 2022, 7:20 AM

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The Verge:

Meta rolls out a test for some creators to sell virtual items and effects in Horizon Worlds, which will take a 25% cut of any sale after app store fees — Horizon Worlds will take a 25 percent cut of any sale after app store fees — Meta is testing new features to let creators …

More: YouTube, Reuters, Protocol, Oculus Blog, CNBC, cybernews.com, PhoneArena, Cryptonews, TechCrunch, Neowin, Social Media Today, VRScout, Tubefilter, Android Central, CoinDesk, Road to VR, UploadVR, VentureBeat, Engadget, and The Economic Times

Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg. Tweets: @slhamlet, @tomaxwell, @brianjjackson, @mixedrealitytv, @oculos410, @alexdchandler, @jonvirtual, @alexeheath, @ericpresidentvr, @iainmacl, @alexeheath, @ballmatthew, @ernestle, and @boztank

Andi Ortiz / The Wrap:

Last Week Tonight's John Oliver weighed in on data brokers, showing how easy it was to target members of Congress with ads after obtaining their personal info — John Oliver escalated his typical shenanigans on Sunday night's episode of “Last Week Tonight,” going from poking fun at politicians to outright blackmailing them.

Olga Kharif / Bloomberg:

Ethereum developers launch the so-called mainnet shadow fork, a key stress test ahead of the proof-of-stake Merge upgrade, expected to reduce energy use by ~99% — Ethereum's network is inching closer toward its much-anticipated software upgrade known as the Merge, having just entered a key testing step.

More: CoinDesk, Fortune, Cointelegraph, Cryptonews, Micky, CryptoPotato, The d-Learner Path, and Forkast

Tweets: @vdwijden, @vdwijden, @bulldogholmes, @cory_eth, and @monetarywonk

Janko Roettgers / Protocol:

Netflix is rolling out a Double Thumbs Up ratings option, which will appear next to the thumbs up and down buttons, to let it refine content recommendations — For nearly five years, Netflix has had simple thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons to express viewing preferences and help its algorithms provide better recommendations.

More: About Netflix, The Verge, TNW, XDA Developers, Variety, Tom's Guide, Fossbytes, Neowin, Phandroid, Pocket-lint, Digital Trends, SlashGear, MobileSyrup, GameSpot, iPhone in Canada Blog, Android Police, CNET, Engadget, and Android Authority

Tweets: @mmasnick, @dcseifert, @carnage4life, @alexhcranz, @ihnatko, and @jank0

See also Mediagazer

Bhanvi Satija / Reuters:

Research: TikTok's ad revenue is projected to triple in 2022 to $11B+, surpassing Twitter and Snapchat combined, which are expected to make $5.58B and $4.86B — Video-sharing app TikTok's advertisement revenue is likely to triple in 2022 to more than $11 billion, exceeding the combined sales …

More: eMarketer, PYMNTS.com, Coinspeaker, The Information, dot.LA, The Times, Benzinga, Pandaily, PingWest, and Tech News. Tweets: @tanarrowz

Max A. Cherney / Protocol:

Filing: Chipmaker Ampere Computing, founded by former Intel president Renee James, has filed for an IPO; Oracle reportedly has a 20%-50% stake in Ampere — Oracle-backed server processor startup Ampere Computing said Monday that it plans to go public, filing initial confidential paperwork with the SEC.

More: DCD, SiliconANGLE, The Next Platform, CRN, Silicon Valley Business …, and Oregonian. Tweets: @dylan522p

Brad Stone / Bloomberg:

Marc Andreessen has tweeted ~350 times in the past two weeks, often referring to “the current thing” meme, joined by Elon Musk and others — Three of America's top technologists are talking and tweeting with unusual fervor. But first... - Beijing is targeting tech companies' algorithms

More: Protocol, Gizchina, Washington Post, NBC News, Financial Times, and ZDNet

Tweets: @parmy, @tomgara, @chafkin, @markmilian, @ryanlawler, @crypto, @technology, @spakhm, @jesslivingston, @tvietor08, @quasimondo, @ldrogen, @pmarca, @retalk_network, @paulg, @paulg, @elonmusk, @bradstone, @karaswisher, @elonmusk, @paulg, @pmarca, @pmarca, @pmarca, @pmarca, @pmarca, @pmarca, and @pmarca

Bloomberg:

Sources: Singapore-based fashion marketplace Zilingo suspends CEO Ankiti Bose, after attempts to raise $150M-$200M led to an investigation over its accounting — Zilingo Pte, one of Singapore's highest-profile startups, has suspended Chief Executive Officer Ankiti Bose after an effort …

More: Inc42 Media and Tech in Asia

Tweets: @sindhuhtoi, @pelstrom, and @chandrarsrikant

Dina Bass / Bloomberg:

Some business customers say Microsoft's licensing rules make it harder and costlier to run Windows and Office on rival cloud platforms like AWS and Google Cloud — The current tide of antitrust scrutiny and regulations focused on big technology companies has conspicuously omitted one company …

Tweets: @dinabass, @bradstone, @markets, and @pelstrom

Jill R Shah / Bloomberg:

Filing: Meta spent $26.8M on Mark Zuckerberg's security in 2021, up 6% from 2020, far above other execs, such as Sundar Pichai ($4.3M) and Jeff Bezos ($1.6M) — The cost of keeping Mark Zuckerberg safe keeps going up for Meta Platforms Inc., far outstripping what similar technology companies with high-profile executives are spending.

More: Meta, B&T, LatestLY, Silicon Valley Business …, New York Post, and Australian Financial Review

Tweets: @gregbensinger, @davidgura, and @jackpullara

Megan Graham / Wall Street Journal:

IAB: US digital ad spend rose 35% YoY to $189B in 2021, the largest gain since 2006; 10 publishers and platforms took 78.6% of the total, up from 78.1% in 2020 — Advertising has followed shopping online during the pandemic at a breathless rate. The ad spend was concentrated—78.6% …

Tweets: @neilretail and @megancgraham

Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:

Meta has sent ~90 subpoenas related to the FTC's antitrust case to companies including Dispo, which says the requests are “overbroad, vexatious, and harassing” — On a quest to show the FTC that it isn't a monopoly, Meta flooded a wide swath of major tech companies with subpoenas last month.

Tweets: @tayhatmaker, @dlisscious, @nmasc_, and @seyitaylor

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:

Over 14,000 Etsy sellers start a week-long strike over an increase in transaction fees from 5% to 6.5%, grievances with Etsy's Offsite Ads program, and more — If you're in the market for funky trinkets and unique, handmade clothing, you might want to put off your shopping until next week.

More: Wall Street Journal, CBC News, The Recount, Protocol, Engadget, CNN, and PYMNTS.com

Tweets: @esdin, @local12, @saraschaefer1, @chuckwendig, @aharonbernal, @abc12wjrt, @modestproposal1, @miarsato, and @charitylscott

Eli Tan / CoinDesk:

Coinbase will produce a movie trilogy based on the Bored Ape Yacht Club, set to premier at NFT.NYC in June; BAYC owners can submit their apes for consideration — The trio of films will tie into the launch of Coinbase's long-awaited NFT marketplace. — The Bored Ape Yacht Club is getting …

More: CryptoSlate, Coinspeaker, Benzinga, HYPEBEAST, one37pm.com, The Block, Protocol, Bitcoin News, Crypto Briefing, Decrypt, and Forkast

Tweets: @mdudas, @mixtatiq, @piques15, @electiondaymad1, @discoverxnft, @alex, and @valkenburgh

Reuters:

Epic Games, which makes Fortnite, raises $2B from Sony and KIRKBI, the holding company behind LEGO, at a $31.5B post-money valuation — Epic Games said on Monday it had raised $2 billion from Sony Group Corp (6758.T) and the family owned holding company behind the Lego Group, giving the “Fortnite” maker a valuation of $31.5 billion.

Maria Chutchian / Reuters:

Cloud services provider Sungard files for bankruptcy with $424M in secured debt, its second bankruptcy filing in three years — (Reuters) - Technology company Sungard Availability Services returned to bankruptcy on Monday about three years after wrapping up its prior Chapter 11 case.

More: Sungard Availability Services, ZDNet, and SiliconANGLE. Tweets: @reuterslegal

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From Mediagazer

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

People magazine launches its first standalone app, featuring a TikTok-style interface and exclusive content; e.l.f. Beauty is the app's launch sponsor

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

Gannett says it will stop publishing its workforce demographic and diversity data and has removed diversity mentions from its website, citing Trump's EO on DEI

Kendra Barnett / Adweek:

Two new lawsuits allege that The Trade Desk tracks people online, builds out user profiles, and monetizes consumer data without adequate disclosures or consent

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More News

Christine Hall / TechCrunch:

Berlin-based Choco, which makes ordering tools for restaurants and suppliers, raises a $111M Series B2 at a $1.2B valuation, bringing its funding to $282.5M

More: Tech.eu

Kris Holt / Engadget:

Fitbit receives FDA clearance for passive heart rhythm monitoring to detect signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib) and will roll out the feature in the US soon

More: Silicon Republic, Android Central, TechCrunch, Tom's Guide, Softpedia News, PhoneArena, MobiHealthNews, PCMag, MSPoweruser, The Hill, and Pocket-lint. Tweets: @fitbithealth

Catherine Shu / TechCrunch:

Voyager Innovations, owner of popular Filipino financial app PayMaya and neobank Maya Bank, raises $210M led by SIG Venture Capital at a $1.4B valuation

More: Tech in Asia and Bloomberg

Teddy Amenabar / Washington Post:

Educators say esports infrastructure company PlayVS is misrepresenting itself as the exclusive provider of interscholastic high school esports for some games

Tweets: @tkidd, @jeffcohen23, @leadergrev, @teddyamen, @clerkie, @vicebabe, @teddyamen, @kevin_hitt, @teddyamen, and @jacobwolf

Wall Street Journal:

Okta, IBM, and other companies are increasingly setting aside college degree requirements for US job applicants, opening up tech jobs to a range of new talent

More: The 21 Hats Morning Report. Tweets: @lvgully, @bkcwilliams, @josephbfuller, @makingsenses, @wsj, @wsj, @tomgara, @tomgara, and @kathryndill

Laura Landro / Wall Street Journal:

A look at the use of AI in some US hospitals, including adopting predictive models to help identify and prioritize ER and ICU patients who are most at risk

Tweets: @dukehospitalist, @wsj, and @aboutkp

Coco Feng / South China Morning Post:

Sources: Meituan plans to lay off 10%-20% of staff from its core business units, days after announcing that it added 17K jobs from July 2021 to mid-March 2022

More: Tech in Asia and TechNode

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Stenn, which uses data analytics to provide loans to SMBs working in international trade, raises $50M from Centerbridge at a $900M valuation

More: Finextra and AltFi

Earlier Picks

Kim Zetter / Zero Day:

Substack rolls out 2FA, initially for writers and account holders who log in via its web platform, but plans to make it available for mobile app users soon

Tweets: @kimzetter, @briankrebs, and @kimzetter. Thanks:@thekenyeung

Olga Kharif / Bloomberg:

NFT project Pudgy Penguins, once highly successful, is attempting a comeback after being acquired for 750 ETH; NonFungible says trading peaked at $13.6M/day

More: Mint Calendar. Tweets: @crypto, @olgakharif, @pudgypenguins, @asvanevik, and @business

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:

Beijing-based Cocos, which develops the open-source Cocos Creator engine for 2D and 3D games, used by 1.4M developers to date, raises a $50M Series B

More: GamesIndustry.biz, Cocos Creator & …, and TechCrunch

Andrew Duehren / Wall Street Journal:

US policy makers identified stablecoins as an initial target for regulation, asking lawmakers to pass legislation that would treat stablecoin issuers like banks

Tweets: @aduehren, @ronwhammond, @jessmarindavis, and @dizer_ym

Sara Fischer / Axios:

French social app BeReal, which encourages users to post one selfie per day, has exploded in popularity with Gen Z users; Apptopia says MAUs are up 315% in 2022

More: VICE and Social Media Today

Tweets: @semaforben, @liahaberman, @chrissyfarr, @davidskapinker, @ssingh2010, @mranthropology, @natalimorris, @mattnavarra, @martinsfp, and @sarafischer

New York Times:

In the absence of federal crypto regulations in the US, lobbyists and executives are helping draft and pass favorable bills at state level

More: The Signal, Protocol, Cryptonews, and CoinDesk

Tweets: @leereiners, @bruneski, @frankpasquale, @dukelaw, @aaschapiro, @haileylennonbtc, @ricardovalp, @silvermanjacob, @benmezrich, @blairherter, @cz_binance, @ericliptonnyt, @mdudas, @grahamdavida, @ericliptonnyt, and @rschooley

Sohini Podder / Reuters:

Datto, which provides data backup and protection services for SMBs, agrees to be taken private by Kaseya for $6.2B in cash, funded by Insight and others

More: TechCrunch, Business Wire, Cybersecurity Dive, Channel Futures, Blocks and Files, Bloomberg, CRN, Help Net Security, and Barron's Online

Omar Abdel-Baqui / Wall Street Journal:

Elon Musk appears to have deleted some tweets critical of Twitter and its leadership; Musk liked a tweet saying he was “told to play nice and not speak freely”