WPP to slash 3,500 jobs as it launches new streamlining strategy December 11, 2018 Advertising group WPP is cutting 3,500 jobs as it restructures the business and shifts its focus to technology in a bid to stave off competition from tech giants. WPP today said it will spend £300m over the next three years as it simplifies the business, aiming to make annual savings of £275m by 2021. The [...]
Google chief to appease lawmakers in return to US patriotism December 11, 2018 Google's chief executive Sundar Pichai is expected to flaunt the company's American roots at a US congressional hearing today, in a bid to appeal to lawmakers' inner patriotic sentiment. In written testimony published ahead of the hearing, Pichai highlighted Google's contributions to the US economy, support for American jobs and numerous bases across the country. "It's [...]
With our North American friends, we are proving that trade is not a zero-sum game December 10, 2018 All eyes will be on Westminster tomorrow as parliament prepares for a crunch vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal. We must remember, however, that the world is not stopping for Brexit, even if it continues to dominate the headlines back at home. That is why I am today starting my first overseas visit since taking [...]
What happens when the ‘FAANG’ stocks lose their bite? November 29, 2018 | City Talk There can be little doubt about the stars of world markets in recent years. The US has led the way, with tech companies to the fore and, at the very front of the march, the so-called ‘FAANG’ stocks of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google. Still, remembering the old stock market adage ‘Tall trees do [...]
Former Google chief Eric Schmidt: AI could fix the world’s productivity problem November 28, 2018 Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive and chairman of Google, has come out with a message of confidence for the future of tech in the workplace, predicting AI could provide productivity with a much-needed boost. "I can tell you that [in] the future is there’s going to be a much larger number of empty jobs, [...]
Disney signs deal to move digital ad business to Google November 28, 2018 Disney has agreed to transfer its global digital advertising business to Google in a lucrative deal for the tech giant. The deal will see Disney move its entire digital video and display business for brands such as Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars to Google's Ad Manager platform. The agreement builds on an existing relationship between the two [...]
We want the organ grinder not the monkey, Facebook November 27, 2018 Another day, another scandal. Today, Facebook executive Richard Allan is to appear at a crucial hearing about disinformation and fake news. You know, Richard Allan? The bloke who… isn’t Mark Zuckerberg. Lined up in front of the parliamentary firing squad, Not Zuckerberg is facing a grilling by 22 Members of the International Grand Committee on [...]
Five reasons why tech stocks are in trouble November 27, 2018 For months, technology stocks have been the holy grail for growth, with valuations reaching dizzying heights. So, considering that what goes up must come down, perhaps it’s not surprising that stocks started tumbling last week. Share prices for each of the five tech giants – Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google (the so-called Faangs) – [...]
Mark Zuckerberg is a modern wartime chief executive November 26, 2018 Facebook was meant to revolutionise and make everything better wasn’t it? It was a friendly social networking platform that would allow us to share photos and videos, and stay in touch with those we needed to: friends, family, and the loved ones we were separated from by distances in time and geography. But the revelations [...]
WPP to merge JWT and Wunderman as part of streamlining plan November 26, 2018 Advertising giant WPP is merging its J Walter Thompson (JWT) and Wunderman agencies as the company attempts to streamline its complex business structure. The deal to combine the two subsidiaries will create a new entity called Wunderman Thompson, which will have headquarters in New York and London. The new company will employ roughly 20,000 people in 200 [...]