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Disney+ is boosting its library by running a Starz ad (update)
When you first launch Disney+ after it becomes available next early week, you might find something that wasn't supposed to be there. According to The Verge, the streaming service will show some subscribers an ad promoting premium TV channel Starz after they finish the initial sign-up process. Disney confirmed to Engadget that the one-time promo will be shown to some users once they finish signing up for the service and entering payment details.
Igor Bonifacic
11.05.2019
Facebook will let politicians run false ads during UK elections
Facebook's policy of allowing politicians to run false ads is going to get tested in short order. CNN Business has confirmed that the social network won't fact-check candidates' ads in the weeks ahead of the UK election on December 12th. It will bar candidates from linking to debunked or pro-violence material, and will still scrutinize groups like Leave.EU, but voters will have to rely on skepticism beyond that.
Jon Fingas
11.02.2019
The writer of ‘The Social Network’ rails on Zuckerberg in open letter
Aaron Sorkin, the screenwriter of The Social Network, has become the latest high-profile individual to criticize Facebook for its policy on political ads. In a new open letter addressed to Mark Zuckerberg and published in The New York Times, Sorkin relates how sensitive Facebook was about the biopic when he wrote it almost 10 years ago.
Igor Bonifacic
10.31.2019
Mark Zuckerberg still won't ban 'political' ads from Facebook
For the better part of the past four years, Facebook just hasn't been able to keep its name out of the bad news cycle. The latest backlash the company is facing has to do with its political ad policies, which essentially allow politicians to spread misinformation on the site. CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed the topic during Facebook's Q3 2019 earnings call today, saying he doesn't agree with "critics" who claim the company won't ban these controversial ads because "all we care about is money." Zuckerberg said ads from politicians will be less than 0.5 percent of Facebook's revenue this year, noting that the $5 billion FTC fine was more than 10 times more costly for the company.
Edgar Alvarez
10.30.2019
Twitter will put a stop to political ads on November 22nd
Twitter has found a way to get around the ethical questions surrounding political ads: like TikTok, it's getting rid of them entirely. Jack Dorsey has announced that the social network is stopping all political ads outside of non-partisan exceptions (such as voter registration), whether they come from candidates or interest groups. It'll provide the finished policy on November 15th, and will start enforcing it on November 22nd.
Jon Fingas
10.30.2019
Hundreds of employees criticize Facebook's political ad policies
Over the past month, Facebook has come under criticism for allowing politicians to run false or misleading ads. Now, employees are speaking out. More than 250 Facebook employees wrote a letter addressed to CEO Mark Zuckerberg and top Facebook officials calling Facebook's political ad policies "a threat to what FB stands for."
Christine Fisher
10.28.2019
Facebook takes down fake political ad meant to test its fact checking
Facebook's stance on truth in political ads has been put to the test. The social media giant has removed a 'stunt' ad from a Political Action Committee, the Really Online Lefty League, that falsely claimed Republican Senator Lindsey Graham supported the Green New Deal proposed by some Democrats. A company spokesman told Reuters that the ad was eligible for a fact-checking review since it came from a political action group rather than a politician.
Jon Fingas
10.27.2019
Spotify will alert you to new music with sponsored pop-ups
Spotify is testing another way for artists to promote their music, but it's one that might annoy users. Artists and their teams will be able to sponsor the Brand New Music for You pop-ups in the mobile apps to let fans know about music they just released.
Kris Holt
10.24.2019
Roku spent $150 million so it can sell more ads
Roku is no longer just a company making TV streaming boxes and dongles. It's become a powerful advertising company, too. By some estimates, it streams more ad-supported hours than any other over-the-top (OTT) platform. Today, it announced plans to double down. It has acquired the Boston-based ad-tech firm Dataxu for $150 million in cash and stocks.
Christine Fisher
10.23.2019
Facebook's version of political neutrality isn't neutral
Yesterday, Facebook outlined how it will prevent the 2020 elections from being hacked and influenced in the same way they were in 2016. That includes crackdowns on "coordinated, inauthentic behavior" and securing the accounts of individual politicians and campaigns. But one thing that Facebook still won't do is make sure that the content of political ads on its site is truthful.
Daniel Cooper
10.22.2019
Mark Zuckerberg defends free speech on Facebook
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to the stage at Georgetown today to defend freedom of expression. Most recently, Facebook has been criticized for allowing politicians to post misleading ads. But Zuckerberg is calling for more free speech and cautioned against "potentially cracking down too much" on social networks.
Christine Fisher
10.17.2019
Google avoids serving repeat ads with machine learning
Like it or not, ads keep the internet running. However, they've become obnoxious and intrusive over the years, leading some to install anti-tracking software on their devices. This makes it difficult for advertisers to show a variety of ads to those users, rather than showing the same ad over and over again. As a privacy-focused workaround, Google -- which dominates the online advertising world -- will use machine learning to manage how frequently an ad is shown to a user when third-party cookies are blocked by users.
Marc DeAngelis
10.09.2019
Twitter admits your phone number may have been used for targeting ads
Twitter is only supposed to use phone numbers for two-factor authentication, but it appears to have been unintentionally used for more. The social network has learned that phone numbers and email addresses provided for safety and security (including two-factor authentication) might have "inadvertently" been used for ad purposes. Advertisers on Twitter can customize promos based on uploaded marketing lists, and Twitter may have matched people on those lists based on phone digits and email addresses that were supposed to be off-limits. "This was an error," Twitter said.
Jon Fingas
10.08.2019
Facebook’s updated ad policy is letting politicians post misleading ads (updated)
Facebook's updated ad policy is making it easier for politicians to post misleading ads. Nick Clegg, the company's vice president of global affairs and communications (and a former politician) explained the policy last week: "We will not send organic content or ads from politicians to our third-party fact-checking partners for review," he said at the time. "However, when a politician shares previously debunked content including links, videos and photos, we plan to demote that content, display related information from fact-checkers, and reject its inclusion in advertisements."
Igor Bonifacic
10.03.2019
Disney+ may not be on Fire TV due to a reported ad dispute
When Disney confirmed all the platforms on which you'll be able to stream Disney+, there was a notable omission: Amazon's Fire TV ecosystem. It seems the companies are tussling over terms for not just Disney+, but apps for the likes of ESPN+ and Disney Channel.
Kris Holt
10.03.2019
FTC sues Match for allegedly using deceptive love interest ads
If you've ever been irked by dating service ads claiming that someone was pining for your affection, you're not alone. The FTC has sued Match Group for allegedly using fake love interest email ads to goad customers into paying for Match.com subscriptions until May 2018. "Millions" of the accounts generating the ads had already been labeled as likely frauds, the Commission said, but they were still used to generate "you caught their eye" ads for free users -- you might pay for a subscription only to find the bogus courtier deleted. Match's own studies showed that nearly 500,000 people signed up within a day of receiving one of these ads, according to the FTC.
Jon Fingas
09.25.2019
Internet metrics giant settles charges it faked its own numbers
The online ad world (among others) thrives on metrics to gauge how well its campaigns are working, but what happens when the company providing that data is cooking its own books? The industry is grappling with that issue today. Comscore and its former CEO Serge Matta have settled SEC charges they committed fraud to artificially inflate revenue by $50 million and otherwise inflate their metrics between 2014 and 2016. Reportedly, Matta had Comscore join "non-monetary transactions" where it would exchange data without expecting money, but recognized revenue on that data based on an inflated sense of its value -- and lied to both accountants and auditors about it. That, in turn, made it look like Comscore was growing at an unrealistic pace.
Jon Fingas
09.24.2019
TiVo says all retail DVR owners will see ads before recorded shows
TiVo isn't wasting much time implementing pre-roll ads before recorded shows. The company told Light Reading in a follow-up statement that these promos will reach "all eligible" retail DVRs within 90 days. This marketing will be a "permanent part of the service," a spokesperson said. TiVo reiterated that you'll have the ability to skip these ads, although an early tester said he had to fast forward to get to the show.
Jon Fingas
09.21.2019
TiVo tries running pre-roll ads before your recorded shows
It might soon be that much harder to avoid ads by using a DVR. TiVo appears to be testing 15-second pre-roll ads that play before recorded shows, making it difficult to avoid at least some marketing -- you can fast-forward through the promos, but it's "not that seamless," according to community forum member AndyF. The test ads are low-resolution but appear to come from a number of well-known companies, including Amazon, Keurig and Toyota. It's uncertain how many people are included in the test, although AndyF noticed them on a Bolt DVR using the TiVo Experience 4 interface.
Jon Fingas
09.20.2019
Facebook wants to make its ads more interactive
While Facebook will likely never be ad-free, the social network is at least trying to make advertisements more entertaining -- or more annoying, depending on how you see it. The social network is making more interactive ad formats available to advertisers around the world, including video poll ads for the News Feed on mobile. Ever come across poll stickers in Instagram Stories ads? Facebook's is very similar, giving you options to choose from with a video background. E! used it to promote one of its priority TV shows, so you might have already seen one around.
Mariella Moon
09.19.2019

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