Wendy’s observed National Frozen Food Day on March 6 by trolling rival burger chain McDonald’s on Twitter. Read more…
Category: Social Media
AT&T’s managerial shakeup at its WarnerMedia unit marks one of the first times in recent memory that media industry job cuts aren’t happening at an embattled publisher. Read more…
The Federal Trade Commission alleged the company illegally collected personal information from children. The $5.7 million settlement is the largest civil penalty ever obtained by the commission in a children’s privacy case. Read more…
TikTok is testing sponsored videos that direct users of the video-sharing app to an advertiser’s website. Read more…
Percentage of U.S. adults who get news on social media
| Response | Percentage |
| Never | 32% |
| Hardly Ever | 21% |
| Sometimes | 27% |
| Often | 20% |
Percentage of U.S. adults who get news on each social media site
| Site/App | Percentage |
| 43% | |
| YouTube | 21% |
| 12% | |
| 8% | |
| 6% | |
| 5% | |
| Snapchat | 5% |
| 2% | |
| Tumblr | 1% |
Twitter for the first time reported monetizable daily active usage (mDAU) in its quarterly earnings report to show how its audience is linked to growing revenue. The social network said mDAU grew 1.6% to 126 million in Q4 2018 from the prior quarter and 9% from a year earlier. Read more…
Additional Reading:
Twitter is among the companies that will have to contend with growing competition from Amazon, the biggest disruptor in the digital ad market. The e-commerce giant’s fledgling ad business reported a 95% surge in revenue to $3.4 billion in Q4, easily dwarfing Twitter’s $791 million. Amazon is a newcomer to the digital ad market, but is already getting some of the blame for lost revenue among ad agencies. Its power to help brands in direct-to-consumer marketing means they have less need for media agencies. “The combination of consumer packaged goods and North America for us points to the rise of Amazon more than anything else, offering a brand new channel for brands to connect directly to consumers,” Mirabaud analyst Neil Campling said in a note cited by Bloomberg.
Facebook this month will add a feature to its app and website that lets users see how their contact information is used for ad targeting. Read more…
Other reading:
Germany to restrict Facebook’s data gathering activities
How Facebook’s Tiny China Sales Floor Helps Generate Big Ad Money
Delay, Deny, and Deal Flow: Two New York Times Reporters Cash in on Seven-Figure Facebook Opus
Snickers is readying a campaign for the day after Valentine’s Day, urging Twitter users to “smooth over” their holiday “nomance” gaffes. Read more…
“Cringe” moments and embarrassing “fails” make up a hugely popular genre of user posts on social media platforms.
Key results from Twitter’s fourth quarter 2018:
Monthly active users fell to 321 million from 326 million in the prior quarter. U.S. users slipped to 66 million from 67 million. International users fell to 255 million from 259 million.
Total revenue rose 24 percent to $909 million from a year earlier (up 26 percent on a constant currency basis). Ad revenue climbed 23 percent to $791 million. Licensing revenue increased 34 percent to $117 million.
U.S. revenue rose 24 percent to $506 million. International revenue also rose 24 percent to $403 million (up 27 percent on a constant currency basis).
For first quarter 2019, Twitter forecast:
- Total revenue to be between $715 million and $775 million
- GAAP operating income to be between $5 million and $35 million
For 2019, the company forecast:
- GAAP and cash operating expenses to be up approximately 20 percent from prior year
- Stock-based compensation expense of $350 million to $400 million
- Capital expenditures between $550 million and $600 million
Snapchat parent Snap reduced its quarterly loss as revenue surged 36% from a year earlier to $389.8 million on strong gains in digital advertising. Read more…