Why PayPal billionaire CEO Peter Thiel must be stopped

May 31, 2016

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This is great from today’s NY Times:

“Mr. Thiel wants a world in which he, personally, encounters no resistance, whether it comes from government or the free press or anyone else for that matter. He has declared, “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible,” and he is on the board at Facebook. The new breed of technologists who are taking control of the news media do not feel they should pay taxes or submit to regulation or offer anything more than disruption to their employees. They need to be challenged. And Gawker, at least, has challenged them.”

You can catch up on the Gawker/Hulk Hogan/Peter Thiel kerfuffle here.

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Get to Paris or Brussels for £25

May 31, 2016

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Congestion pricing is hot.

As well as Uber, now Eurostar have adopted the approach to spread demand for Eurostar tickets.

Eurostar‘s Snap ticket will allow travellers to get to Paris or Brussels for £25 each way, but time of travel will only be given 48 hours in advance, says The Guardian.

Passengers have to sign up via Facebook and specify whether they would prefer to travel in the morning or afternoon.

The fare must be booked at least seven days before travel and once passengers have paid for their ticket they are locked in, even if they don’t like their allocated departure time.

That means anyone who chooses a weekday morning could end up on the first Paris train of the day at 5.40am, while anyone who opts for the afternoon might not reach the City of Lights until 11.32pm.

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The high street is NOT dead

May 31, 2016

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The Census Bureau just released data showing that online retail sales surged 15.2 percent between the first quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016.

But that can be misleading. A surge off the back of a small number can just be another small number.

More important is the fact that 20 years after the internet was opened to commerce, the US Census Bureau tells us that brick and mortar sales accounted for 92.3 percent of retail sales in the first quarter of 2016.

The retail industry is getting “reinvented” but not how you think. It’s all about the blend of digital and non-digital. Retailers know this, it’s just getting it right is hard.

A recent study graded more than 600 Internet retailers on how easy it was for consumers to shop, buy, and pay. Almost half of the sites didn’t get a passing grade and only 18 percent got an A or B.

 

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Advertisers and brands: try these data specialists

May 31, 2016

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Strike Social has an intelligence platform that can predict which YouTube videos will perform best and the ad spend required to reach a brand’s desired scale.

Pathmatics provides ad spend and impression estimates, with a vast creative library to analyze strategies and monitor competitors.

iSpot.tv tracks real-time TV advertising data, connecting television commercials to the digital properties that extend their reach.

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Amazon shoppers are more likely to search for unbranded terms than brand names

May 27, 2016

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Amazon shoppers are more likely to search for unbranded terms than brand names, says a new study.

FMCG marketers pour billions of dollars into advertising, and Amazon also encourages brand loyalty through subscription programs like Dash and Subscribe ‘n Save.

However, new findings suggest that most Home Care brands need to do even more to remain at the top of consumers’ minds.

 

 

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