This morning, I read up on Snapchat’s dismal earnings — their first report as a public company. They lost $2.2 billion, with more than one-third of that amount spent on R&D — a testament to the fact that the company knows that there is no such thing as a technological moat, not with Facebook snapping at its heels, and so … Continue reading Snapchat Stories
VentureBeat has the story today of Facebook’s new partnership with Dutch airline KLM to integrate boarding passes, flight information, and customer service into Messenger. As I’ve written before, Facebook Messenger has completely embraced the platform approach and integrated everything from mobile payments to Uber booking to customer service, all in one app. And it’s compelling to see … Continue reading We Have Met the Future, and It Is Messaging
There was an article last month in AdWeek about how new parents are incredibly active on Facebook via mobile devices. Some interesting points they mention: New parents globally post 2.3 times more photos, 2.9 times more videos and 1.8 times more status updates than average users. Despite the popular perception that posts about Facebook users’ … Continue reading Digital Parenting
I first discovered Spotify on Facebook about five years ago – there was some sort of promotion or link – and now it seems appropriate that Spotify forged a tighter partnership with Messenger by allowing music listeners users to more easily share music through Messenger. I think that this helps both brands in significant ways. Facebook is out … Continue reading Spotify on Facebook Messenger
Twitter is getting deeper into the customer service game, and in so doing, seeking to combat Facebook Messenger. DigiDay reports: Twitter is making it easier for brands to initiate a direct message when private information is needed, say a record locator or a credit card number, with a new button within a tweet that directly … Continue reading For Help, Hit “Send”
OK GO’s most recent music video, “Upside Down & Inside Out” is pretty stunning. Seriously, watch it now: What makes the video particularly interesting is the fact that it premiered on Facebook, not on YouTube. In fact, a visit to the band’s YouTube channel yields only a snarky prompt to watch the video on Facebook. Devoted … Continue reading The Stars Aligned with Facebook
On Wednesday, Facebook announced a substantial increase in revenue, earning $5.8 billion in Q4, and reaching nearly 1.6 billion users. What struck me was how deeply certain Facebook products – which until somewhat recently had been just side features – are now both intrinsic to its growth strategy and a direct threat to many of … Continue reading Out-Googling Google
Whatsapp, the popular messaging service owned by Facebook, announced that it will drop its $1 annual subscription fee, and instead make money on helping build business relationships between consumers and companies. This strategy is identical to Facebook’s evolution of Messenger, which now incorporates customer service capabilites, mobile payments, and other non-chat services. Whatsapp founder Jan Koum noted that the company will … Continue reading Whatsapp is Free
My wife and I are moving into a new apartment, and so we’ve been busy doing all sorts of new apartment things: finding a painter and handyman, purchasing appliances, choosing an Internet provider, hiring a mover, and so on. At almost every step, we’ve used our iPhones – and more specifically, Facebook – to do … Continue reading Local E-Commerce
After I wrote my post about Tumblr’s hidden value the other day, Ben Schenker and I got into a conversation about if Yahoo! might present an appealing takeover target, similar to Verizon’s acquisition of erstwhile internet behemoth AOL. It’s hard to imagine, but AOL also seemed equally improbable. Despite its somewhat dated brand image, it’s still … Continue reading Who Would Buy Yahoo?
Silicon Spatula 