It’s not about copyright – the EU is trying to destroy the internet March 29, 2019 One of the feistiest debates in the classically liberal community revolves around the concept of property rights, especially in the digital age. I realise that, for many, this may not seem the sexiest topic, but at least this column isn’t about Brexit, so stay with me. Those who broadly share a similar, free-market worldview can take [...]
Watch out high street banks – Apple has a credit card and is out to steal your supper March 29, 2019 Every day, new competitors are coming out of the woodwork and vying for a piece of the high street banks’ pie. This has forced the big banks – some kicking and screaming – to evolve, and at a pace that they’ve never before experienced. Change is not a new concept for consumers when it comes [...]
Time Out looks to markets as audience reach hit by Facebook algorithm change March 28, 2019 Media company Time Out saw its audience numbers slashed by a third last year after a change to Facebook’s algorithm pushed its content further down users’ newsfeeds. The company reported an average global monthly audience reach of 144m, down 33 per cent on the year before, which it said was “primarily the result of a [...]
Facebook set to snap up Debenhams HQ as embattled retailer surrenders lease March 28, 2019 Facebook has agreed to swoop up new office space left empty by troubled department store chain Debenhams, which is vacating its West End HQ to help pay off a mounting debt pile. Read more: Debenhams bondholders back £200m rescue loan in blow to Ashley bid The tech giant, which which has been ramping up its [...]
Social media content creators The Hook explain how to make great online video March 25, 2019 Video is big business in marketing. A good video can be the difference between success and failure. After all, as Bill Gates said, content is king. Brands love video content because it is seen as more intimate and informative than just posting a picture or a wall of text. And they’ve been spending more and [...]
Growth investor VGC Partners closes £50m fund March 25, 2019 Growth capital investor VGC Partners has closed its second fund at £50m following the success of its debut fund which was anchored by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. The new fund will target UK-based consumer, media and technology companies, and make investments of between £2m to £5m for minority stakes in high growth firms. Read more: [...]
Facebook knew about Cambridge Analytica data scandal ‘months before reports’ March 22, 2019 Facebook employees knew about Cambridge Analytica’s “improper data gathering practices” months before they were reported in the media, a court filing has stated. A filing made by the attorney general for Washington DC has cast doubts over when Facebook found out about the incident. Boss Mark Zuckerberg has stated the tech firm only learned about the data scandal [...]
Facebook admits millons of unencrypted passwords were accessible by employees March 21, 2019 Millions of unencrypted Facebook passwords were accessible by more than 20,000 employees, the social media giant has admitted. A data protection failure going back as far as 2012 saw up to 600m passwords stored in plain text, according to security researcher Brian Krebs. Read more: Facebook blames server problem for worst outage ever The company [...]
Google grants €500,000 to regional UK publishers for podcast venture March 21, 2019 Local publishers Reach and JPI Media have secured €500,000 (£433,000) in funding from Google to launch a new podcast project for local news. The grant will help the two regional publishers, which have partnered with podcast platform Entale, to develop the new audio project known as Laudable. Read more: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism secures £800,000 [...]
Data breaches drive losses from fraud up to £1.2bn March 21, 2019 The theft of personal information following data breaches drove an increase in money stolen through fraud to £1.2bn last year. A number of well known companies suffered high profile data breaches in 2018, including Facebook, Google, and British Airways. Read more: Fraud office launches investigation into London Capital & Finance Unauthorised fraud, where the account [...]