The Full Monty — October 10, 2016

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Industry

• Twitch, the video game live-streaming service owned by Amazon just announced Twitch Prime, loyalty badges, the ability to share clips on mobile, and video uploads. Yes, the livestreaming and gaming markets are a big deal. 
• When it comes to online news, younger adults prefer to get their news via text, not video. You might want to save some of that video budget for print stories.
• Streaming video has changed the physical structure of the Internet. Video is eating the Internet, with 70% of traffic coming from streaming video, and it's only going to continue to rise. And data packets need to be routed in a way to accommodate that.
• While we're at it, it's time for a look at the state of traditional TV, Q2 2016 edition. A lot has changed in 5 years, namely viewing by 18-24-year-olds dropped by more than 9 hours per week.

• Four big marketing trends that you might want to have a deeper look at, courtesy of Mark Schaefer.
• Snapchat, Facebook and other social platforms are trying to shed the "social" label. These platforms are diversifying and serving a number of purposes that go beyond pureplay social. 
• The mobile app development industry is more challenging than ever, as the number of US app users continues to rise — as well as the amount of time consumers spend using mobile apps each day.

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Platforms

TWITTER / VINE / PERISCOPE

• Perhaps you heard a little something about Twitter exploring a sale recently. It's been a roller coaster ride, and before we get to all of that, here's Christopher Barger serving as an oddsmaker on Twitter deals over a week ago. Was he right?
• Suitors were rumored to include IBM, Apple and Google, as well as Disney, which was looking into buying Twitter. Disney later bowed out. Which is too bad, as Twitter is a media property and could have benefitted Disney.
•  Salesforce also expressed interest, seeing the potential of Twitter's massive data feed to complement its own business. But Salesforce's investors forced the company to back away from a deal.
• Now Twitter needs to forge a new path forward. And it had better do it quickly, with a comprehensive strategy.

FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WHATSAPP

• Facebook has moved Atlas from its adtech division to its measurement division. An important distinction.
• There's a new Messenger bot that will help you register to vote. Hurry!
• Continuing its pattern of shedding functions, Facebook spun off Events into their own app.
• Marketplace is Facebook's new offering that will let you buy and sell with your local community. Now Facebook is competing with eBay and Craigslist.
• Of course, it didn't take long before users abused the system, selling guns, drugs, sex and wildlife. This is why we can't have nice things.
• Facebook has finished rolling out a "Secret Conversations" feature in its Messenger app. The new mode ensures only the two people involved in a chat can see the text. How very Snapchat-like.
• Similarly, WhatsApp added a number of Snapchat-style camera features.

SNAP

• Snapchat's parent company is now known as Snap, and it is working on an IPO which some say may be slated for March 2017.
• But is becoming a hardware company the right move for the image and messaging firm?
• David Pogue finally had an a-ha moment with Snapchat. I need one of those.

ALPHABET / GOOGLE

• Google had its big announcement on October 4. It was hardware-heavy. Here's everything Google announced. The highlights: the Pixels camera, Daydream View VR headset, Google Home (a potential Amazon Echo killer), 4K Chromecast, Assistant, and Google Wifi.
• Walt Mossberg looks at how significant these announcements are, as they move Google into an integrated hardware and software business.

YAHOO

• Just when you think things can't get much worse at Yahoo... Here's the current lineup of issues:
• Yahoo secretly scanned all incoming emails of users on behalf of U.S. intelligence, in what is said to be the largest and most comprehensive operation of its kind. The good news is that Yahoo Mail users' accounts are mostly jokes that they incessantly forward to their kids.
• Regarding the 500 million accounts involved in a data breach at Yahoo, insiders say that security took a back seat to CEO Marissa Mayer's other priorities, as she denied additional funding and didn't want a massive password reset or a warning message sent out to users.
• After this news, Yahoo's suitor Verizon asked for a $1 billion discount on the sale price. Rightfully so.
• And late last week came the news that Mayer discriminated against male employees based on their gender. 
• Don't miss the poem dedicated to Yahoo in this week's podcast:

Collaborative / Autonomous Economy

• Jeremiah Owyang says Facebook has officially entered the collaborative economy with its Marketplace product. And with its scale, it might have a significant impact.

TRANSPORTATION

• The story behind how China's Didi beat ride-hailing superpower Uber. There's great admiration between the two CEOs, and they clearly think differently than most of the market.
• Uber is getting into the long-haul trucking business as it integrates its purchase of Otto. Couple this with its autonomous efforts and we'll see the face of freight transporation undergo a major change.
• Google's ride-sharing platform, Waze Rider, is now live in San Francisco. 

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

• Uber has to be the first to have autonomous vehicles. Such a move will secure its dominance over the other players.
• The auto industry at large is heading into a massive software race that will determine the winners and losers of a generation. 
• Case in point: Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz are using mapping systems that will help drivers find parking spaces.

AI / BOTS / BLOCKCHAIN

• Facebook, Google, Amazon, IBM and Microsoft are joining forces to develop an AI partnership to “advance public understanding” of artificial intelligence and to formulate “best practices on the challenges and opportunities within the field.”
• Marc Andreessen talks to Sir Timothy Berners-Lee about how AI will change the world.

Virtual Reality / Audio

AUDIO

• Spotify is reportedly in talks to buy SoundCloud. It's not yet a certainty, as both operate at a loss. However, from a mix of music, talk and professional vs. creator content, it's a perfect match.
• Is an advertising model sustainable for podcasting? Or should we be pushing toward a subscription model? Gimlet's "paranoid moment" is a wake-up call to the industry.
• You must watch my friend and colleague Tom Webster, VP of Marketing for Edison Research, talk about the future of podcasting over the next 10 years.

• Program of the Week. This week, our recommendation is PNR with This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi (the 'P') and Robert Rose (the 'R'). Who's the N? Each week, it's content marketing in the news, rants and raves, and an example of the week. Do you have a program to recommend? Add yours to our Google Sheet: smonty.co/yourpodcasts
• And don't forget to subscribe to ours via email or on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spreaker or SoundCloud.

Content / Customer Experience / Influencer Marketing

• Hubspot's The State of Inbound 2016 is here, and we've got five interesting takeaways for you, including sales and marketing alignment, educating your audience and the right measurement tools.
• If you have a newsletter, you'll want to read these four ways to keep your newsletter from dying. Know you you can keep this one from dying? Share it with a colleague or support it on Patreon.
• Robert Rose and Joe Pulizzi discuss why audience, not content is the real asset on PNR.

Privacy / Security / Legal

• The FBI arrested another NSA contractor and accused him of stealing documents and code. Another Booz Allen Hamilton employee, just like Edward Snowden. Fool me once...
• If you've had a free Spotify account on your desktop, the company was serving malware to you through its ads.
• In the future, we'll get our malware served to us through artificial intelligence.
• A certain celebrity was attacked and robbed in Paris recently. With celebrities broadcasting their whereabouts and possessions on Instagram, Twitter and other public-facing apps, how can they remain safe? Hmm...maybe stop being such attention-seekers all the time?

Measurement / Metrics / Data

• Christopher Penn takes a look at the core problem with analytics today. It comes down to asking the right questions.
• If Facebook is in the digital advertising business, it needs to get serious, says ANA. The follow up from the Facebook video metrics issue may be cause for celebration among marketers.
• Salesforce is adding to its marketing cloud with the purchase of Krux, bolstering its marketing-data and analytics segment with AI.

Essential Watching / Listening / Reading

• One entrepreneur wonders, if Silicon Valley is so smart, why isn't it solving real problems?
• In 1959, Isaac Asimov defined the creative process as he looked at how people get new ideas. One takeaway: collaboration is overrated.
• In our digital world, pen and paper are still relevant. To prove it, here are six stories about notebooks and note-taking.

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This post originally appeared on The Full Monty.