Meta’s Horizon Worlds features can monetize VR: Creators will be able to sell items “in-world,” with Meta taking up to 47.5%. Will creators balk at the cost of business in the metaverse?
Our analyst Andrew Lipsman is joined by Sara Livingston, head of customer solutions at Rockerbox, to discuss where direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands' Facebook ad budgets are flowing since iOS tracking changes disrupted ad targeting and measurement last year. Find out why Google, TikTok, and connected TV are capturing more spend and how D2C budgets are likely to migrate in the coming years.
The old music you love is more valuable than the latest tunes: Elvis’ catalog is the latest to get scooped up as listening shifts away from newer hits.
Disney+ bets on “Dancing With The Stars” fans to boost subscriptions: Moving the flagship broadcast to streaming shows where Disney’s priorities are.
Meta looks to bring commerce to its Horizon Worlds platform: Creators can earn money from their metaverse products and experiences under a test program.
Once the domain of gamers and young social media users, AR and VR are entering the mainstream. This year, more than a quarter of the US population will use AR and nearly a fifth will use VR. As device-makers improve VR headsets and AR spreads to new use cases, the number of AR and VR users will continue to grow over the next four years, with AR outpacing VR.
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Podcasts have Spotify seeing dollar signs. The company’s US podcast ad revenues will hit $191.9 million in 2022 and cross the $400 billion mark in 2024, with growth well into the double-digit percentages. The format will also make up an increasing share of Spotify’s overall ad revenues: 16.7% of its $1.15 billion in US ad revenues this year, before growing to 19.4% in 2024.
“We only detain IT specialists”: As Russia’s tech workforce rapidly flees to other countries where their skills are also in demand, the Kremlin’s belligerent response will only intensify the retreat.
Restaurants are experimenting with robots, but customers aren’t enthused: Labor crunches and high costs are pushing fast-food chains like Chipotle and Panera Bread to adopt automation front and back of house.
Panera’s new AI uses sensors, algorithms, and analytics to ensure coffee is optimally brewed: Restaurants are leaning into AI and automation, but will long-term effects lead to reduced hospitality and fewer customers?
Online marketplaces compete to draw new merchants to their platforms: Amazon and Walmart offer incentives for new vendors as Etsy sellers go on strike.
Nubank lands $650M to double down in Mexico, Colombia: The Brazil-based neobank could use its home market products to deepen its presence in other LATAM countries.
As hybrid work gains traction, office furniture companies sense an opportunity: Startup Branch scored $10 million in funding to help furnish employees’ home and in-person offices.
Fifteen trademark applications filed last week suggest Mastercard is buying the NFT and metaverse hype.