Top News:
Dr Richard Fletcher / Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism:
Analysis: at 2023's end, 48% of the top news websites in the US, the UK, and eight others had blocked OpenAI's crawler and 24% had blocked Google's AI crawler — In this factsheet we describe the proportion of top news websites in ten countries that block AI (artificial intelligence) crawlers.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Substack says 3M+ customers subscribe to paid newsletters on its platform, up from 2M in February 2023, and credits its recommendations feature for the growth — - The company said it plans to expand the recommendations feature, which helps writers promote other newsletters in its network …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
BuzzFeed sells Complex, acquired for $300M in 2021, to livestream shopping platform Ntwrk for $108.6M; BuzzFeed plans to lay off 16% of its workforce — - The Wall Street Journal reported that BuzzFeed is also looking to possibly sell its social media food brand Tasty.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, @iramadisonthree, @natjarv, Newser, @benmullin, @jaycodon, @milkman__dead, @runciedan, @almighty_red, @nicholasadeleon, @sarafischer, CNN, The Desk, New York Post, Deadline, Adweek, New York Times, @jalefkowit@octodon.social, The Information, Business Wire, The Wrap and Bloomberg
Michael McCarthy / Front Office Sports:
Sources: Amazon paid $120M for exclusive rights to show a 2025 NFL playoff game on Prime Video; NBCU paid $110M for a January 2024 NFL playoff game on Peacock — Out of the Big Four tech giants, Amazon is the most ambitious about invading live sports. The giant streamer is opening …
Discussion:
The Streamable, Deadspin, The Desk and Awful Announcing, more at Techmeme »
Corbin Bolies / The Daily Beast:
Newsmax joins the New York Post's editorial board and other right-leaning outlets criticizing a pair of Florida bills making it easier to sue for defamation — The cable channel joins a growing list of right-wing outlets bashing Florida GOP legislation that takes square aim at the news media.
Discussion:
Raw Story, @aaron.rupar@threads.net, New York Post and Fox News
Sheila Dang / Reuters:
Google plans to integrate Gemini into its Performance Max ad placement tool, helping brands generate longer headlines, after adding Gemini to Google Workspace — Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google said on Thursday it will integrate its Gemini artificial intelligence models into an existing product for advertisers …
Discussion:
MediaPost, CNN, Variety, AdExchanger, The Daily Beast, The Keyword, New York Post, Search Engine Land, Gizmodo and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
[Thread] Engadget announces layoffs and a restructuring that separates news and features from reviews and buying advice — Memo that went out to staffers at Engadget announcing layoffs today [image]
Discussion:
@maxwelltani
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Instagram debuts its marketplace tool to connect brands and creators for partnerships or ads in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Japan, India, and Brazil — Instagram said today that it is expanding its marketplace tool to connect brands with creators for paid partnerships or ads in eight new countries.
Discussion:
B&T, Meta and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Amazon says there are “no changes” coming to Freevee, following reports that the company plans to shutter its FAST service in the coming weeks — The statement comes after AdWeek reported that the free, ad-supported streamer was shutting down — Amazon is pushing back against reports …
Discussion:
Broadband TV News, Fast Company, MediaPost, Media Play News, The Streamable, The A.V. Club, Variety, UPROXX and Cord Cutters News
RELATED:
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Sources: Amazon plans to shut its FAST service Freevee in the coming weeks, as part of a broader effort to focus its ad and product efforts on Prime Video
Discussion:
The Sun, CarterMatt, @seriestalks, @jackgen0vese, @imperfecttl, @webbarr, @takeshikitano3, Dan Rayburn on LinkedIn, The Desk, 9to5Google, Deadline, UPROXX, TechHive, The Streamable, Geoff Clark on LinkedIn, Metro.co.uk, The Information, TVLine, @markstenberg3@threads.net, Media Play News, Consequence and Appleosophy
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
A look at German tabloid Bild, whose paid tier, Bildplus, has 707K digital subscribers and has grown subscribers by buying rights to boxing matches not on TV — Bundles and sports livestreams help, but journalism drives most subscriptions for Bild. — The head of the digital subscriptions strategy …
Discussion:
Charlotte Tobitt on LinkedIn
Reuters:
Sources: Reddit has inked a deal with Google to make its content available for training the search giant's AI models; source: the contract is worth ~$60M a year — Social media platform Reddit has struck a deal with Google (GOOGL.O) to make its content available for training …
Miranda Bryant / The Guardian:
In a Danish court, prosecutors allege a man fraudulently made ~£502K in royalties from music streamers and breached copyright law — Aarhus court hears he may have profited from artificially generated playbacks, in case thought to be first of its kind
Discussion:
The Kyiv Independent, CMU, Digital Music News and Music Ally
Stanley Widianto / Reuters:
Meta says “we understand Meta will not be required to pay for news content that publishers voluntarily post to our platforms” in Indonesia under a new law — Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META.O) on Thursday said it believes that a new Indonesia law does not require …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
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