Facebook's loss might be proving to be Google's win. Just as Facebook is tweaking its news feed to weaken the emphasis on news, Google is capitalizing on it by winning a big share of traffic growth that publishers are seeing on their platforms. Sara Fischer, Media Reporter at Axios, was with us to discuss big tech's play on the shifting news industry.
According to new data from Chartbeat, the vast majority of traffic growth publishers are seeing from platforms is now coming from Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages). Fischer said this is a big red flag for digital publishers to invest in Google AMP. Traffic to publishers using AMP is up 100% since 2017, according to the data.
The head of its Journalism Project Campbell Brown said twice at Recode's Code Media conference on Monday that they should've been more transparent around experiments and tests. She said going forward, Google, Snapchat, and Twitter should learn from Facebook's experience. The best thing for these companies to do is to communicate goals with publishers, added Fischer.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
Hear from Gabino & Stephen Roche on Saphyre’s institutional AI platform that centralizes pre‑ and post‑trade data, redefining settlement speed and accuracy.
Elon Musk’s X has reached a tentative settlement with former employees of the company then known as Twitter who’d sued for $500 million in severance pay.
