Happy's marketing news - 16.03.18
Every week we present our bite-size chunk of all the global marketing news!
Facebook has been prevented from making use of UK citizens’ WhatsApp data for purposes beyond the chat app itself. The firm had announced in 2016 that it intended to tap into its subsidiary’s records to give better friend suggestions and show more relevant ads. However, the UK’s information commissioner said this would have breached existing data protection laws. The US firm has now promised not to access the information until it becomes compliant with a new set of rules. This is a reference to the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on 25 May.
Twitter users could soon see the biggest news events first when opening the timeline — the social media platform recently confirmed a test of a news highlight reel at the top of user feeds. The tested feature would push news as platforms like Facebook put a smaller priority on news items in an ongoing fight against fake news. According to BuzzFeed, the staff at Twitter select news items to appear in boxes at the top of the timeline. Tapping on those news items will take users to a list of related tweets, also human curated. The test was first spotted on Wednesday, March 14 with a news spot featuring Stephen Hawking’s death along with other news items, including an election in Pennsylvania.
Google is teaming up with LinkedIn to offer specialized training courses for wannabe Android developers. The program offers 19 different courses on LinkedIn Learning that aim to prepare new developers for the Google Android Developer Certification exam, a common standard for candidates applying to developer job openings.
YouTube is to counter fake news with articles sourced from internet encyclopedia Wikipedia in the latest move to stem the flow of disinformation on the video-sharing website. Google-owned YouTube will add snippets of information from Wikipedia beneath videos which push conspiracy theories to provide alternative points of view, what the company is calling “information cues”. But the move has provoked concern from Wikipedia contributors and the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit which helps maintain the site.
Facebook Lite, a version of Facebook made for developing countries that is designed to run on 2G networks, is rolling out to more countries, including developed ones, according to Reuters. Like Messenger Lite, the thought is that people with older Android devices or slower internet connections would benefit from the stripped-down app. Launched in 2015, Facebook Lite was first tested in Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe, but is now available in over 100 countries. It’s lightweight at only 252 kilobytes, and it’s based on the Snaptu version of Facebook that runs on feature phones, but with functionality like push notifications and camera integration. In the forthcoming rollout, the app available in countries including the US, Canada, Australia, UK, France, Germany, Ireland, and New Zealand.
