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The Browser Bowsers
A decades-long truce among browser operators – Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome – is dissolving as Google and Microsoft militarize their platform borderlands.
Last year, Google introduced a one-click button for Windows devices that set Chrome as the default browser instead of Edge. Windows, meanwhile, released an update that broke the Chrome button and plagued Chrome with bugs. For example, enterprise customers would see the Windows default settings page every time they opened Chrome.
According to Gizmodo, the issue could be avoided by changing the Chrome app’s name – a clear sign Microsoft was directly targeting its rival. Mozilla’s one-click browser default button was unaffected.
The Chrome app issues disappeared, funnily enough, after Google pulled the Windows button.
Separately, Microsoft is alerting IT administrators that Outlook and Teams will ignore the default browser (usually Chrome) and open links in Edge, The Verge reports.
Google would be deluged with antitrust suits if it responds in kind.
But, just like with Bing’s new challenger status to Google Search, Microsoft is dusting off down-and-dirty tactics from the ’90s when Internet Explorer was the center of a landmark antitrust case. United States v. Microsoft, anyone?
The News Pulse
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Daily Roundup
News publishers are losing interest in Twitter and, while they’d love to patch things up with Meta, that’s more of a “it’s not you, it’s me” breakup situation. Then there’s Substack, which is the enemy.
What about TikTok?
Sure, TikTok is under investigation as a potential national security threat, because it routes US user data to Chinese servers and there’s no visibility into how and why it serves certain news or content to young Americans.
But TikTok also has a scaled audience and a neat new contextual targeting product that’s custom-made for publishers, The Wall Street Journal reports. The product allows advertisers to target posts alongside content from well-known publishers, which get a 50% cut of the contextual impression.
There is no targeting by publisher or type – for now, at least. TikTok serves alongside all the publishers in the program, which include NBCUniversal and Condé Nast.
But the product is built on TikTok Pulse, which guarantees advertisers that they will be adjacent to viral content – the top 4% of posts daily, to be precise – and, in that case, content creators get the same 50% cut.
Old Dog, New Tricks
Corporate gifts are a staple of the business world. Thoughtful knickknacks can get vendors a foot in the door with business decision-makers or earn client brownie points.
But this analog sales tactic to strengthen ties and increase brand awareness is getting a data-driven update as marketers turn to personalization and tracking to choose a gift that seals the deal, Adweek reports.
Gift-sending platform Sendoso lets senders personalize presents to different recipients and keep track of clicks and conversions on client websites via CRM, marketing automation tools and platforms such as HubSpot and Salesforce, since there’s almost always a way to claim the gift by email.
Maybe B2C marketers should take some notes. Gifting is getting more scrutiny as consumer brands wonder whether it’s worth the money – or the carbon costs – to ship and return mountains of free influencer merch.
But Wait, There’s More!
The FTC proposes barring Meta from monetizing the data it collects from young users. [WSJ]
Nielsen’s next move to count multiscreen viewers has backing from Disney, IPG and Sony. [Variety]
Checks, a Google-incubated product for mobile privacy and app compliance, “exits” to Google. [TechCrunch]
The IAB expects digital video ad spending to rise 17% to $55.2 billion this year. [B+C]
How many ads do we see in a day, really? [The Drum]
Snapchat is already testing sponsored links in its My AI chatbot. [The Verge]
Unity Software to lay off 600 employees, or 8% of the company. [CNBC]
You’re Hired!
Onetag expands its UK sales operations with new hires. [release]
