The last few years in Big Tech have been marked by increasing regulatory pressure. Proponents of this approach say that Meta or Tik Tok are too powerful and monopolistic to be left free, and their influence on society and even politics must be controlled. It is hard to disagree with this.
But there is another side to this coin. The one that gave us GDPR and those wonderful cookie banners on every page. The one that pretty much blocked the development of crypto and the adoption of solutions like decentralized organizations (DAOs). And finally, the one that started regulating European AI companies before they even existed.
There are many more examples of this regulatory absurdity, and we are only talking about digital technologies. There are even more in other areas.
But perhaps the Eurocrats are slowly waking up from telegram blast their slumber, like Mario Draghi, who this week takes to the podium and presents a report on European competitiveness. In it, he calls for deregulation and a drastic increase in investment in innovation.
Draghi’s demands and criticism are right. Let’s just hope it doesn’t end as always: with debt issuance and “saving” the population of Europe from the tyranny of Messenger, from which you can’t send messages to external messengers. Draghi’s report is a wake-up call for Europe. Let’s hope we don’t hit snooze.
Contents:
- The finish line opens to competition
- Telegram is making changes
- How to get to the “Zs”?
- Are you using AI? Be transparent
- Free streaming for everyone
- YouTube Announces Fight Against Deep Fakes
- Metaverse tempts advertisers
- Lidl plays to vegetables
- Will Ferrell Sings Fleetwood Mack for PayPal
- Companies can’t handle TikTok
- Shorts
- Weekly Tool
The finish line opens to competition
Meta will open WhatsApp and Messenger to external messengers. Users of the two largest apps in their category (excluding China’s WeChat) will be able to freely contact people using other apps that support interoperability.
The decision is not a gesture of goodwill, but the result of compliance with the requirements of the EU Digital Market Act (DMA). One of its (DMA) goals is to protect competitiveness and counteract the abuse of market power by large players – such as Meta.
The giant announced that it will give users the option to integrate or segregate messages from external messengers. In other words, messages from “alternative” apps will fall into the same mailbox as messages from WhatsApp or Messenger, or a separate one – depending on the users’ choice.
Meta also intends to introduce support for advanced communication features in “relationships” with external apps, such as reactions, direct replies, and read confirmations. Further plans include the ability to create groups (2025) and make voice and video calls (2027).
Telegram is making changes
Pavel Durov has bowed to pressure from French authorities. Hours after calling his arrest a “mistake,” the Telegram boss announced changes to the app.
The “Find people nearby” function has disappeared from the messenger – it was underestimated by users (only 0.1% of users used it) and eagerly exploited by fraudsters and bots.
Instead, the service will add another useful feature: “Businessess Nearby.” The feature will allow verified businesses to display product catalogs and accept payments through the app. Telegram could gain a new source of revenue in this way, turning its current troubles to its advantage.
The app also disabled the ability to upload media to its Telegraph blogging tool, which was being “abused by anonymous users.”
Durov also stated rather enigmatically that Telegram is determined to make moderation in the app “an object of praise, not criticism.” We’ll probably find out soon what exactly he meant.
How to get to the “Zs”?
Companies have trouble reaching the Zs. The younger generation is scattered across platforms and sensitive to (in)authenticity in marketing. In addition, there are privacy regulations, which are particularly restrictive with regard to minors. They limit the ability to track personal data or the behavior of teenagers, which largely “dooms” companies to contextual advertising – tailored to the content the user is already viewing, and not based on tracking.
The challenges for brands communicating with Generation Z are highlighted in a recent report by PreciseTV (a company specializing in video campaigns) and Giraffe Insights (a British research agency). The authors emphasize that promising grammarly alternatives in the advertisers, if they want to be effective, need to understand the way teenagers consume media much better – not only at the level of channels, but also topics and even individual videos.
One of the biggest surprises of the study is the clear advantage of YouTube over TikTok among the respondents (the research sample included a thousand teenagers aged 13–17). The former platform is preferred by 46% of respondents, the latter by 29%. It is also interesting that Facebook beat Instagram among the “Zs” (25 vs. 23%). X, on the other hand, fared poorly. Only 3% of respondents indicated Musk’s platform as their favorite.
The difference in the level of tolerance for advertising is also significant. In the case of TikTok, 19% of users found advertising content attractive, while in the case of Instagram, only 10%.
Are you using AI? Be transparent
Distrust of AI remains high. A recent survey by Bentley University and Gallup found that most Americans are still skeptical about the use of AI in business.
Fewer respondents than a few years ago see AI as harmful, but a large majority still disapproves. Of the nearly 6,000 U.S. adults surveyed, 56% rated its impact as neutral, while 31% said the technology does more harm than good. Only 13% rated AI as beneficial.
The study shows that skepticism decreases with increasing knowledge. The authors of the report suggest that companies using consumer data artificial intelligence can benefit from transparency. This is confirmed by the expectations of respondents. 57% of respondents believed that businesses should inform how they use AI and what impact it has on the protection of personal data and the safe processing of information.
Free streaming for everyone
In its latest campaign, Tubi goes all out.
The streaming platform owned by Fox Corporation has released a video titled “Proud To Be Free.” The video begins in a suspiciously pathetic tone, which is soon broken by a “dark” twist. The material is too good to spoil it with spoilers, so we recommend watching the whole thing.