WhatsApp debuts paid-for business tools (and plans ads)
WhatsApp has launched a pay-to-use tools for businesses to communicate with their customers, as the chat app also plans to run ads on the platform later this year.
Brexit: Facebook finally reveals targeted ‘Vote Leave’ ads
The targeted campaign adverts used by the Leave campaign in the Brexit referendum have been revealed by Facebook.
Facebook shares dive 24% as user growth slows
Facebook shares have plunged 24% as the social network saw its user base and second-quarter revenue grow slower than expected. A decline of 24% in Facebook’s value in regular trading would represent the biggest one-day loss in value for a US company. It was the...Facebook investigates Crimson Hexagon over data policy concerns
Facebook has suspended analytics firm Crimson Hexagon amid apparent concerns it may have carried out wide-spread surveillance of users.
Facebook sees ad spend boom despite data scandal
Disproving sceptics predicting a doomsday scenario for Facebook has seen a 19% increase in ad spend on its core platform and Instagram quarter-over-quarter and a 48% increase year-over-year, according to new research.
Facebook gets maximum fine for Cambridge Analytica scandal (but it would be much higher under GDPR)
Facebook is to be fined with the maximum £500,000 ($663,000) fine over data protection breaches related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Facebook shuts down three apps after ‘low interest’
Facebook is shutting down three apps, tbh, Hello and Moves, blaming low user numbers.
Instagram launches long-form video hub IGTV
Instagram has unveiled its long-form video hub under the name IGTV, offering a YouTube-like experience for vertical videos suited for mobile viewing.
Data scandal: Trust in Facebook drops by half
Facebook users’ faith in the social media site has fallen dramatically in the last twelve months with more than half (52%) of Brits saying they now trust the company less than this time last year, according to research by Virtual Private Network (VPN) comparison service Top10VPN.com.
Mary Meeker’s Internet trends: the 2018 ‘privacy paradox’
There’s a “privacy paradox” surrounding data collection for profit, where data needs to be used to enrich people’s experiences without betraying their trust, according to the annual report from digital guru Mary Meeker.
Reddit overtakes Facebook as third most popular site in US
Social forum site Reddit has overtaken Facebook to become the third most visited platform in the US, according to rankings on Alexa, the Amazon-owned Web traffic analysing platform.
Cambridge Analytica shuts down over data scandal (but enquiry continues)
Cambridge Analytica, the firm at the centre of the Facebook data breach is shutting down, but has been told it “cannot be allowed to delete their data history by closing”.
Facebook takes on Tinder with dating service
Facebook is to get its own dating service designed to build “meaningful, long-term relationships” rather than “just for hook-ups”.
The big 6 trends from Facebook’s F8 event: VR sale, Watch Party and a clear history tool
Facebook unveiled a raft of new features during its annual F8 conference this week, including a dating service and its standalone VR device going on sale, but the conference was overshadowed by continuing controversies at the company.
Facebook finally testing dislike button? New trial for ‘Downvotes’
Facebook is testing Reddit-style feature called “downvote” that lets users register a negative reaction to comments on the social networking, but it’s not quite the long-anticipated ‘dislike’ button that many have hoped for.
Facebook on trial: “we made mistakes” on Brexit and Trump campaigns
Mark Zuckerberg refused to face British lawmakers this week, nominating his CTO as the company tries to distance its founder from the toxicity of fresh political scandals. Here’s what we now know…
Facebook profit hits all-time high despite data scandal
Facebook has announced that its Q1 revenue grew by 49% to $12bn with profit up 65%, but analysts will have to wait to see whether the recent data scandal and #DeleteFacebook campaign will dent second quarter profits.
Facebook denies running personality tests to better target ads
Facebook has come under fresh criticism over people’s privacy, after a BBC report looks into claims that the social network considered profiling user personalities in order to better target adverts.
Facebook excludes billions of non-EU users from GDPR (but adds opt-in feature)
Facebook users will have to opt in to tracking to keep using all of the social network’s features, and will not have an option to opt out of tracking all together, ahead of the new GDPR European privacy laws.
WhatsApp gets first update since Facebook privacy scandal
WhatsApp has got a new tool that lets users recover media that they had previously deleted, including pictures, GIFs, documents or voice messages, but only for Android users.
