Mediagazer: How Facebook and Google dominate digital advertising, and why other tech companies struggle (Ben Thompson/Stratechery)

8:35 AM ET, February 11, 2016

Top News:

Twitter reports 320M total MAUs, no change from previous quarter, quarterly revenue up 48% YoY to $710M, meeting expectations — Twitter's User Growth Goes Nowhere As It Meets Revenue Expectations Of $710M — Twitter today reported its fourth-quarter earnings — one of the most important quarters …

Matthew Lynley / TechCrunch:

Twitter Will Now Put Recommended (Not Newest) Tweets At the Top Of Your Timeline — If Twitter is going to fix its growth problem, it's going to have to make some drastic moves — and, with an update today, that means even changing the timeline. — Twitter today is unveiling a new Twitter timeline …

Mark Scott / New York Times:

Source: Google to expand right-to-be-forgotten link removal to all domains when viewed from EU, starting February — Google Will Further Block Some European Search Results — Google is about to change how people view its search results in Europe. — The American technology giant …

Discussion: BBC, Street Fight, TechCrunch, 9to5Google, Ubergizmo, The Next Web, Engadget, Search Engine Land and Reuters

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

HBO Now has 800K paying subscribers 10 months after launch, short of predicted 1-2M subs — HBO NOW, The Network's Streaming Service For Cord Cutters, Has Just 800,000 Subscribers — HBO NOW may have scored as one of last year's top streaming apps in terms of revenue …

Brent Lang / Variety:
Time Warner Q4: misses estimates with revenue down 6% YoY to $7.1B; HBO revenue up 6% to $1.4B; Warner Bros. down 13% to $3.3B

Discussion: CNNMoney, The Wrap, The Wrap, @sarahfrier, Re/code, Fortune, Variety, Home Media Magazine, The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable, Ad Age, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Hollywood Reporter and Reuters

Sean O'Kane / The Verge:

Quartz launches iPhone app with curated news delivered as text messages and push notifications — Quartz's new app wants to text you the news — For a brief moment during development, the first app from Quartz — the four-year-old business news publication owned by The Atlantic …

Discussion: Guardian, Digiday, Quartz, Wired and The Next Web

Ben Thompson / Stratechery:

How Facebook and Google dominate digital advertising, and why other tech companies struggle — The Reality of Missing Out — When it comes to ad-supported services, pundits everywhere are fond of the adage “If you're not the customer you're the product”.

Discussion: Street Fight

Leo Barraclough / Variety:

NBCUniversal launches Hayu, a reality TV subscription video-on-demand service in UK, Ireland, and Australia for £4, €5, and A$6 per month — ‘Creed’ Director Ryan Coogler Named as Warner Bros. Creative Talent Ambassador in U.K. — BERLIN — Ryan Coogler, director and co-writer of …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, NEWS.com.au, Digital Spy, RadioTimes, Gizmodo Australia, Telecompaper, Digital TV Europe and Guardian

Jeremy Barr / Ad Age:

Newsweek lifts paywall, retains digital subscription for exclusive and early access to current issue — Newsweek Is Dropping Its Paywall — The Magazine Isn't Dropping Digital Subscriptions, However — How Successful Marketers Prepare for the Holidays

Discussion: MediaPost, Talking New Media, @raju, Newsweek and FishbowlNY

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Lab:

An email newsletter aimed at college students joins over 40 existing New York Times newsletters — The New York Times has a new email newsletter aimed at college students — The New York Times this week has launched a new email newsletter aimed at college students that will feature …

Ashley Armstrong / Telegraph:

Johnston Press says it is in advanced talks to buy the i newspaper for £24M, deal would create the UK's fourth largest print publisher — Johnston Press confirms £24m talks to buy the i newspaper — Newspaper group confirms it is in advanced talks with the Lebedev family to buy the tabloid …

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Judge lets actor James Woods proceed with suit against anonymous Twitter user who called him a cocaine addict — James Woods Gets Judge's Nod to Pursue Man Who Tweeted He Was a “Cocaine Addict” — The judge makes a stunning reversal, denying the anonymous defendant's attempt to kill the lawsuit.

Discussion: @realjameswoods

Associated Press:

Journalist kidnapped in southern Mexico found dead — MEXICO CITY (AP) — A reporter who was kidnapped by armed assailants in the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz this week has been found dead, Mexican authorities said Tuesday. — Anabel Flores Salazar's body was discovered on a highway …

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, The Tico Times, Daily Mail, PRI, @niemanfdn, Lawyer Herald, Amnesty International USA, Democracy Now, telesurtv.net, VICE News and @raju

Pui-Wing Tam / New York Times:

NYT ends its tech blog, Bits, will continue its Bits email newsletter, special sections, and daily reports — A New Look and Feel for Bits — For nearly a decade, one way The New York Times has shared the story of the technology industry and its impact on our lives has been through a blog called Bits.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @tcarmody and @mathewi