Brands want ‘fewer, bigger, better’ creator relationships as the appeal of micro influencers dips, according to a new marketer survey. Here were 4 other key takeaways.
Influencer-marketing agency Linqia released a new report about trends in the industry. Influencer-marketing agency Linqia released a new report about trends in the industry. Brands prefer partnering with macro influencers (100,00 to 500,000 followers), the report shows. Here are four other key takeaways from it. According to a new report from the influencer-marketing agency Linqia,…
Inside Infillion’s 4-year plan to revive fallen adtech pioneer MediaMath back to a $100 million business
Infillion last week closed its $22 million deal to buy adtech company MediaMath out of bankruptcy. MediaMath, a pioneer adtech players once valued at $1 billion-plus, filed for bankruptcy in June. Infillion wants to hire back former staffers, win back clients, and offer a “walled garden as a service.” On Friday, adtech platform Infillion completed a…
From rolling out OpenAI’s GPT-4 to employees to preventing $27 billion in fraud, Visa exec Rajat Taneja opens up about the payments giant’s AI playbook
Visa has more than 300 live AI models that span risk management, cybersecurity, and operations. The payments giant has been using AI for 30 years, but ramped up adoption nine years ago. Visa is licensing ChatGPT-4 for all employees to be using generative AI by the end of the year. It’s been three decades since…
Some startup founders say VC influence is ‘debilitating.’ Here’s why they are turning down outside funding and bootstrapping instead.
Following a funding cooldown in 2022 and 2023, more founders are bootstrapping their startups. Bootstrapping lets founders keep more control over their companies compared to taking VC money. Bootstrapping also allows startups be nimble and pivot to find product-market fit. Jon Nordmark is no stranger to venture capital: his dot-com-era startup, eBags, raised $35 million…
TikTok’s new app store signals its goal to be an e-commerce platform that relies less on established players like Shopify
TikTok launched an app and services store for sellers using its new e-commerce platform, Shop. It’s similar to app stores from other platforms like Amazon. The move signals TikTok’s ambitions to run a full-service shopping destination. TikTok Shop, the social media app’s e-commerce platform, was officially launched in the United States on Tuesday. TikTok also…
TikTok is paying a small army of creator coaches to help influencers make money from livestreams
TikTok is paying outside agencies to coach creators on how to succeed on TikTok Live. The company is giving these agents and networks a cut of its own earnings from livestream gifts. TikTok Live has become an important non-advertising revenue source for the company. TikTok is collaborating with a group of external creator agencies and…
Adtech firm GroundTruth hires bankers to pursue a possible sale
GroundTruth, which uses location data to target ads, has hired the investment bank JEGI Clarity. It’s looking to explore its strategic options, which could include a possible asset sale. GroundTruth previously attempted to sell its consumer app WeatherBug in 2019, but talks fell apart. According to three people familiar with the matter, GroundTruth, an adtech…
Google cuts more jobs in its recruiting division
Google is cutting more jobs. The company announced Wednesday a reduction in its recruitment division. It eliminated 12,000 positions in January. Google is cutting more jobs. According to people familiar with the situation, the company announced on Wednesday that it would cut hundreds of jobs in its recruitment division. A spokesperson confirmed the information. In…
Internal Microsoft documents and insiders reveal how the company decides employee pay. Some say it’s like ‘stack ranking.’
Microsoft’s review process includes a mandate for managers to distribute employees across a scale. Some employees feel the process is essentially “stack ranking,” a controversial review process. A Microsoft spokesperson said there are no quotas or requirements for employees to rank low. According to internal Microsoft documents and employees, during the employee review process, Microsoft…
