Twitter user growth trumps ad slide in long term 23 Jul 2020 Lockdowns have encouraged people to try the $29 bln social network. Users were up 34% year-on-year in the second quarter. Advertisers have pulled back. But Twitter’s problem has always been attracting more devotees. After the pandemic, newcomers will remain – and ads will return.
N.Y. Times’s next boss may not have Trump to thank 22 Jul 2020 The Gray Lady named Meredith Kopit Levien as its new CEO during an auspicious time: It’s enjoying a market value not seen in nearly 20 years. The upswing coincided with President Trump’s election and a surge of subscribers. The streak may be broken after the election.
Seller wins in eBay’s $9 bln classifieds auction 20 Jul 2020 Norway’s Adevinta, controlled by media conglomerate Schibsted, won the race to buy the U.S. group’s online-listings business, Reuters reported. It may struggle to make a decent return. EBay, however, gets a good price and the chance to gain from likely consolidation in Europe.
Sugar war divides food group fitties from fatties 10 Jul 2020 UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to ban junk food promotions, the Times reported. The pandemic is spurring a new crackdown on unhealthy snacks. Giants like Nestlé were already curbing their sweet cravings. Others like Cadbury-owner Mondelez have less room to shape up.
Facebook’s new best friends are a weakening link 8 Jul 2020 Small firms account for a large chunk of the social network’s ad revenue. The pandemic has also made them more dependent on the platform just as big companies from Ford to Unilever boycott it. But a Covid-19 surge may hurt the minnows when CEO Mark Zuckerberg needs them most.
WPP boss gets best of both worlds with PR mash-up 7 Jul 2020 Finsbury and two other companies owned by the $10 bln advertising giant are uniting. The trio’s managers will hold nearly 50% of the new company. CEO Mark Read, who keeps control, benefits if they do well while a simpler structure lets him focus on chasing dwindling ad revenue.
Tencent’s hot sauce fraud exposes expired tech 3 Jul 2020 The Chinese video-games titan appears to have been taken by crooks pretending to work for Lao Gan Ma, a popular spicy condiment, using a forged company seal to ink an advertising deal. Such old-fashioned methods have embroiled others including SoftBank. Digitisation is overdue.
Corporate boycotts expose an inconvenient truth 26 Jun 2020 Brands like Ben & Jerry’s and Verizon are pulling ad spending from Facebook because of racist content. It’s as if capitalism sprouted a conscience. But much as some might claim otherwise, companies just aren’t wired to drive social change. The possible exception: Facebook itself.
Cable networks risk post-virus vicious cycle 7 May 2020 Live sports are a big reason Americans tolerate pricey pay-TV packages. The lack of games is an excuse to cut the cord. Yet the NFL and others will want more for broadcast rights to make up for empty seats. That could push cable bills higher, and more subscribers toward the exit.
Jeff Bezos puts shareholders in the corner 30 Apr 2020 Amazon’s revenue jumped 26% in the first quarter. Conditions are just right: more online shopping and a growing pool of jobless people from which to hire. But shareholders will have to join the queue, thanks to a giveaway of some $4 bln to customers and staff. It's classic Bezos.
Facebook goes on viral offensive 29 Apr 2020 While Alphabet is cutting costs, Facebook will hire 10,000 people and just did its biggest deal since 2014 in India. Revenue growth fell to 18% last quarter, but the $550 bln social network is not slowing down. Mark Zuckerberg can afford to ignore any reluctant shareholders.
Coronavirus can spur ad companies’ transformation 29 Apr 2020 Groups like Publicis and WPP are grappling with the collapse in demand. The crisis may help them shift from traditional advertising into data-led services. Painful cost cuts can speed tough decisions. But it will be hard to judge the success of the shake-up until demand recovers.
Corona Capital: Rich vs. poor, Carnival 31 Mar 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The rich may save even more while the coronavirus rages while the poor will be further squeezed, and Carnival tries to bail out its sinking cruise business with a big sale of equity and debt.
Twitter’s revenue problem is bigger than Covid-19 24 Mar 2020 Users of the social network are flocking but advertisers are bailing as coronavirus content proliferates. But for revenue, it’s the ads that matter most. Twitter may hope to turn its new users into advertising dollars, but being widely read doesn’t guarantee being profitable.
Corona Capital: Religious aid, Ad-spending slump 23 Mar 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence wants Americans to donate to religious institutions to bolster community aid. But churches have their own fiscal problems. Plus: TV ad revenue look set for a pounding.
YouTube makes itself a needless political football 21 Feb 2020 President Trump has bought prominent ads on the video platform on Election Day. That’s because YouTube has enormous reach. Yet, parent Alphabet is in regulators’ crosshairs and campaign money is a tiny slice of revenue. It’s a wonder why it accepts political ads at all.
Twitter’s advertising model gets ratioed 24 Oct 2019 The social network’s shares crashed nearly 20% after it revealed unexpectedly slow summer sales and a slew of issues of its own making such as bugs that hampered targeting ads and sharing data. Fall may be better for ads, but it’s fair to question Twitter’s ability to fix itself.
Google could buff its browser-privacy blemishes 11 Oct 2019 Chrome’s owner lags both Mozilla’s Firefox and Apple’s Safari in trying to make the web less creepy. The prospect of losing revenue may explain Google’s resistance to blocking certain ad trackers. If more users abandon the web’s most popular browser, Google is likely to act.
Publicis turnaround even tougher than it looked 11 Oct 2019 The French group’s shares dropped 12% after its second revenue warning in three months. Traditional advertising is shrinking faster than new consulting-style services can grow. CEO Arthur Sadoun admits the outlook for 2020 is fuzzy. That shows in Publicis’ discounted valuation.
WPP’s turnaround pitch ceases to be brand-dilutive 9 Aug 2019 The $15 bln ad group is still shrinking, but CEO Mark Read has slowed the decline and seemingly ended its habit of repeated profit warnings. Having cut debt and trimmed founder Martin Sorrell’s sprawling empire, Read’s next job is to win some big accounts in the key U.S. market.