Marketing and advertising

IBM, EU, Disney and others pull ads from Elon Musk’s X as concerns about antisemitism fuel backlash

18Nov

By adminNo Comments

Entertainment

IBM, EU, Disney and others pull ads from Elon Musk’s X as concerns about antisemitism fuel backlash

Advertisers are fleeing social media platform X over concerns about their ads showing up next to pro-Nazi content and hate speech on the site in general, with billionaire owner Elon Musk inflaming tensions with his own posts endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory.IBM, NBCUniversal and its parent company Comcast said this week that they stopped advertising on X after a report said their ads were appearing alongside material praising Nazis — a fresh setback as the platform formerly known as Twitter tries to win back big brands and their ad dollars, X's main source of revenue. The liberal advocacy group Media Matters said in a report Thursday that ads from Apple and Oracle also were placed next to antisemitic material on X. On Friday it said it also found ads from Amazon, NBA Mexico, NBC...

Snoop Dogg says he’s giving up ‘smoke.’ It caught some of his fans off guard

18Nov

By adminNo Comments

Entertainment

Snoop Dogg says he’s giving up ‘smoke.’ It caught some of his fans off guard

NEW YORK -- Asking for privacy, hip-hop legend and longtime marijuana enthusiast Snoop Dogg says he's going to stop smoking — though he didn't specify exactly what that might mean."After much consideration and conversation with my family, I've decided to give up smoke," Snoop wrote in a message shared on Instagram and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday. “Please respect my privacy at this time.”The rapper and entrepreneur, who has become known for his own weed-related ventures over the years, provided no additional details in his brief announcement, which came the week after a new marijuana-adjacent product was introduced bearing his name. Representatives for the 52-year-old Snoop, born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' re...

7Oct

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Meta considers paid subscription for users in EU to bypass targeted ads

CNN — Instagram and Facebook users in the European Union may soon be able to opt out of targeted ads if they pay for a monthly subscription. A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Meta is evaluating a range of options to comply with multiple European regulations aimed at curbing US technology companies’ use of personalized ads. Over the last year, the EU has tightened regulations and will require big tech companies to ask users for their consent around such advertising. In July, a court ruled tech companies could use subscription models as a way of offering such consent, including asking users if they want to access Facebook and Instagram without advertising, for a fee. Unde...

5Oct

By adminNo Comments

Technology

ADL says it will resume advertising on X following feud with Elon Musk

New York CNN — The Anti-Defamation League on Wednesday said it plans to resume advertising on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, following a spat with owner Elon Musk. Musk last month threatened to sue the ADL for defamation, claiming that the nonprofit organization’s statements about rising hate speech on the social media platform had hurt X’s advertising revenue. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt pushed back on the claims, saying that while the ADL was part of a coalition of groups that called on companies to pause advertising on the platform immediately following Musk’s acquisition last year, it had not been engaged in such calls in recent months. Musk’s statements about the group also ampli...

Google is laying off hundreds in its recruitment division

13Sep

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Google is laying off hundreds in its recruitment division

New York CNN — Google confirmed it will lay off hundreds of staff members who helped recruit and hire employees, as Silicon Valley continues its cost-cutting efforts. The latest cuts come after Google parent Alphabet in January eliminated 12,000 jobs, or about 6% of its workforce, across the company as it grappled with economic uncertainty that hit the company’s bottom line last year, especially its core advertising business. During Google’s July earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai said the company was continuing to slow its “expense growth and pace of hiring.” “We continue to invest in top engineering and technical talent while also meaningfully slowing the pace of our overall hiring,...

9Sep

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Elon Musk’s X Corp. sues California AG over content moderation law

New York CNN — Elon Musk’s X Corp., the parent company of the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Friday sued California’s attorney general over the state’s new content moderation law. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed bill AB 587 into law last September. The law requires social media companies to post their terms of service online and submit a semiannual report to the state attorney general outlining their content moderation policies and practices. Platforms must, among other things, disclose how their automated content moderation systems work, how they define controversial content categories such as “hate speech” and “disinformation,” and the number of pieces of content flagged or removed in such catego...

Google to require disclosures of AI content in political ads

8Sep

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Google to require disclosures of AI content in political ads

New York CNN — Starting in November, Google will require political advertisements to prominently disclose when they feature synthetic content — such as images generated by artificial intelligence — the tech giant announced this week. Political ads that feature synthetic content that “inauthentically represents real or realistic-looking people or events” must include a “clear and conspicuous” disclosure for viewers who might see the ad, Google said Wednesday in a blog post. The rule, an addition to the company’s political content policy that covers Google and YouTube, will apply to image, video and audio content. The policy update comes as campaign season for the 2024 US presidential election ramp...

Victoria’s Secret overhauls its racy fashion catwalk in the company’s latest move to be inclusive

8Sep

By adminNo Comments

Entertainment

Victoria’s Secret overhauls its racy fashion catwalk in the company’s latest move to be inclusive

NEW YORK -- For more than 20 years, Victoria’s Secret had bolstered its image built on a man’s vision of sexiness with one big annual event: its fashion catwalk extravaganza, with supermodels like Naomi Campbell sashaying down the runway in Swarovski-crystal covered wings, thongs and million-dollar fantasy bras.Now, after a four-year hiatus, the lingerie brand came back Wednesday night with a complete overhaul that was part fashion event and part preview of a documentary-style film featuring 20 global creatives. It celebrated all different body shapes. Top models like Winnie Harlow, who has vitiligo, a skin condition, showed up wearing some of the designs. The event also showcased the creators’ looks on headless mannequins of all body types. The Victoria’s Secret World Tour, to be aired g...

5Sep

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Elon Musk threatens to sue the ADL for lost X ad sales

New York CNN — X owner Elon Musk is threatening to sue the Anti-Defamation League for defamation, claiming that the nonprofit organization’s statements about rising hate speech on the social media platform have torpedoed X’s advertising revenue. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk said US advertising revenue is “still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that’s what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!” Musk also claimed that since he took over the platform in October 2022, the ADL “has been trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic.” “To clear our platform’s name on the matter o...

27Aug

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Here’s what Donald Trump’s return to X could mean for the platform’s business

New York CNN — Nine months after Elon Musk reinstated Donald Trump’s account on the social network previously known as Twitter, the former president has returned to what was once his platform of choice for communicating with the country. The return of Trump – who used to be one of the site’s most prominent, if controversial, users – could mark a turning point for the company now called X after months of turbulence. Trump, who has nearly 87 million followers, could attract a wide set of viewers, especially in the lead up to the 2024 presidential election, where he is the front-runner for the Republican nomination. But it could also present a new set of challenges for the social network, including for its effort ...