Mediagazer: Alphabet reports Q2 Google ad revenue up 3% YoY to $58.14B after two consecutive quarters of falling ad sales (Miles Kruppa/Wall Street Journal)

6:10 AM ET, July 26, 2023

Top News:

Todd Spangler / Variety:

YouTube's ad revenue increased 4.4% YoY to $7.67B in Q2, above expectations of $7.43B and a reversal after three consecutive quarters of declines — Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, came in above analyst earnings expectations, with top-line growth of 7%.

Discussion: @nicoagrant, @quinnypig, @tvgrimreaper, The Information, NBC 7 San Diego, New York Times, Alphabet Inc., Deadline, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

Google says 2B+ logged-in monthly users are watching YouTube Shorts, up from 1.5B+ in June 2022, and YouTube is reaching 150M people on their TVs in the US — Google said today that more than 2 billion logged-in monthly users are watching YouTube Shorts, giving it an edge over competitors like TikTok and Instagram Reels.

Discussion: CNBC

Miles Kruppa / Wall Street Journal:
Alphabet reports Q2 Google ad revenue up 3% YoY to $58.14B after two consecutive quarters of falling ad sales

Discussion: @joshuaogundu, Reuters and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Emails: X offers discounts on new video ads in the US and UK and warns advertisers that they will lose verified status unless they reach spending thresholds — Social-media site X is offering hefty discounts to lure back ad dollars — X Corp. is cutting ad prices as it tries to woo brands back to the Elon Musk-owned platform.

Discussion: Insider Intelligence, @martinsfp, @joelmathis.bsky.social, @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social and The Drum, more at Techmeme »

Financial Times:

Sources: UK-listed online retailer THG is in talks to acquire London business newspaper City AM, which was put up for sale this month; City AM employs ~40 staff — Acquisition would mark a departure for London-listed ecommerce group — Matt Moulding's online retailer THG is in talks …

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Guardian, London Evening Standard and Sky News

Newley Purnell / Wall Street Journal:

Meta hasn't labeled propaganda accounts of state-backed media from Russia and other authoritarian governments on Threads, unlike on Facebook and Instagram — State-backed media accounts have hundreds of thousands of followers without the labels they are made to carry on Instagram and Facebook

more at Techmeme »

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek teases ways the company could integrate additional AI into its products, including summarizing podcasts and generating audio ads — During the company's second-quarter earnings call this morning, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek teased a few ways the streaming service could introduce additional AI-powered functionality.

more at Techmeme »

Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says podcasting is ageing down, citing the growth of video podcasts and “Internet-native” creators who upload “more longform content”

Discussion: @connorwein, Financial Times, @carnage4life@threads.net and Bloomberg

Reuters:

Sources: music rights company BMI is again exploring options including a sale; BMI switched to a for-profit model in 2022 after failing to sell itself in 2021 — Broadcast Music Inc (BMI), the music rights company representing top songwriters such as Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Rihanna …

Discussion: Music Business Worldwide and Digital Music News

Sarah Taaffe-Maguire / Sky News:

NatWest CEO Dame Alison Rose admits to being the BBC source for an erroneous story that said Coutts de-banked Nigel Farage for financial, not political, reasons — NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose said she thought she was confirming publicly available information to a BBC reporter …

Jon Lafayette / Next TV:

Marquee Sports Network, a Chicago Cubs and Sinclair joint venture, launches a streaming app with live Cubs games and more in the Chicago area, for $19.99/month — Subscription costs $19.99 a month — Marquee Sports Network, the regional sports network joint venture of the Chicago Cubs and Sinclair …

Discussion: The Streamable, Marquee Sports Network and Cord Cutters News

The Hollywood Reporter:

A majority of around 5,000 TV commercial production workers, organized by a group called Stand With Production, signs cards seeking to join the IATSE union — The group, titled Stand With Production, comprises an estimated 5,000 TV workers, a majority of whom have signaled their support …

Discussion: @moreperfectus, @moreperfectus, Deadline and The Wrap

Tatiana Siegel / Variety:

Sources detail Jeff Zucker's efforts to court potential investors in a bid for CNN, including Jeff Bezos, Laurene Powell Jobs, Alex Soros, and Roman Abramovich — Jeff Zucker was breezing through the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach when he spotted David Zaslav across the room.

Discussion: The Wrap, @tatianasiegel27, @agrenell, @variety, @mvpeers, @lucas_shaw, @cerealcommas, Mediaite, CNN, @theinsneider, The Information, @variety, RADAR, @variety, @variety and @mrwhite.bsky.social

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

Documents show that authorities sought evidence of alleged criminal unauthorized computer access when searching journalist Timothy Burke's home on May 8, 2023 — A search warrant obtained by The Desk shows federal investigators are looking into an alleged cyber intrusion scheme involving former Deadspin editor Timothy Burke.

Discussion: @matthewkeyslive and @matthewkeyslive

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More News:

Matias Grez / CNN:
The BBC apologizes for a reporter's “inappropriate” question at the Women's World Cup opener; the reporter asked Morocco's captain if the team had gay players

Discussion: @_shireenahmed_, PinkNews, @_shireenahmed_, @_shireenahmed_, @daniellewarby, @_shireenahmed_, @georgegalloway, @qatarifc, The Messenger, NBC News, Sydney Morning Herald, @Beeks@mstdn.party, New York Post, The Guardian, Awful Announcing, Fox News and Newser

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Snap reports Q2 revenue down 4% YoY to $1.07B, vs. $1.05B est., DAUs up 14% YoY to 397M, vs. 395M est., and Q3 revenue forecast below est.; SNAP drops 16%+

Discussion: Snap Inc., The Information, @terraf31215, @scobleizer, @alexbarinka, NBC 7 San Diego, @eric_seufert, @carnage4life@threads.net, @carnage4life@mas.to, Deadline, TechCrunch, Ad Age, Variety, New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The Guardian reports revenue up 3.4% YoY to £264.4M for FY ending March 31, 2023, digital reader revenue grew 7.6%, and digital makes up 70% of total revenue

Discussion: The Guardian, Nieman Lab, Mumbrella and MediaPost

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
In response to MPs questions over The Sun's Huw Edwards reporting, its EIC says the story had “significant scrutiny pre-publication” and corroborative evidence

Discussion: @craftyoldgit, @archewellbaby, @adambienkov, @dave43law, @stuzi_pants, @_not__happy_, @j_a_warrington, @lorna_tveditor, @adambienkov, PinkNews, The Guardian, Deadline and Variety

TechCrunch:
Threads adds an option for a chronological feed of posts from people the user follows

Earlier Picks:

Raffaele Huang / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: TikTok plans to launch an e-commerce business in the US in early August to sell made-in-China goods to consumers

Discussion: NPR, New Statesman, @michaelsobolik, @sino_market, Tubefilter, Gizmodo and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Jon Lafayette / Next TV:
Nexstar names Fox distribution head Michael Biard as its president and COO, effective August 21; Fox Corp. names David Espinosa to succeed Biard

Discussion: Observer, Fox Corporation, Business Wire, @jbflint, The Desk, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Media Play News, Variety, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, WORLD SCREEN and Radio & Television …

Angelique Jackson / Variety:
SAG-AFTRA Foundation president Courtney B. Vance says Dwayne Johnson donated a seven-figure sum to the SAG-AFTRA Relief Fund, the largest single donation ever

Thomas Seal / Bloomberg:
The UK plans to force social media and ad platforms like Google Ads to stop scam ads including fake celebrity endorsements and pop-ups with malware

Discussion: Financial Times

From Techmeme:

Kelsey Piper / Vox:
OpenAI has an unusual, extremely restrictive off-boarding agreement with a lifelong nondisparagement commitment; those who don't sign it lose all vested equity

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
The US SEC will require some financial institutions to notify customers whose personal information was compromised within 30 days of learning about breaches

The Information:
Sources: Apple is working on a significantly slimmer iPhone that could be released concurrently with the iPhone 17, a major redesign, similar to the iPhone X

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