Business

Undoubtedly, Apple has dominated the smartwatch market since the arrival of first-generation Apple Watch in 2015. The close integration of iOS with WatchOS has helped Apple Watches to gain immense popularity.

Meanwhile, Google has also been working on improving its WearOS. That said, watches running on WearOS are not as feature-rich and reliable as Apple Watches. To compete with Apple Watches, Google will be paying Fossil $40 million to buy the company’s smartwatch-related intellectual property.

So here’s everything you need to know about Google’s attempt to compete with Apple Watch.

ALSO READ: Google Chrome’s Dark Mode For macOS To Arrive In Early 2019

Google Pays Fossil $40M To Purchase Smartwatch-Related Intellectual Property

WearOS is a version of Google’s Android operating system designed for smartwatches and other wearables. Google will be paying $40M to fossil and acquire the smartwatch technology of the company.

This purchase will also include a shift of members of Fossil’s research and development team to Google coupled with the Intellectual Property. The deal will be finalized later this month.

Google VP of Project Management of Wear OS Stacey Burr stated that “We saw some technology that they were developing that we thought could be brought out in a more expansive way if Google had that technology, and was not only able to continue to use it with Fossil but bring it to other partners in the ecosystem.”

Google WearOS: What Can We Expect

As mentioned earlier, Google is working hard to improve the performance and stability of WearOS. We can even expect the Pixel watch to launch by late 2019. Well, If Google manages to optimize the software for low-powered hardware then the Pixel watch will prove to be a good Apple Watch alternative.

It is worth noting that, Apple Watch only supports iOS. While almost 80% of smartphones are running on Android. Consequently, If Google produces a pixel branded smartwatch it will witness a good adoption rate.

Do share your thoughts and opinions on WearOS in the comments section below.

Here is what advertisers and publishers should learn from the strategic cooperation created between ad-tech industry veteran and leader Brightcom and online media marketing solution Commfident, which specializes in improved video performance and targeting.

The video ad industry has grown significantly in recent years, thanks to the constant stream of video content that publishers continuously implement on their sites and apps. With publishers embracing video ads as a simple and effective way to increase their revenue, advertisers are increasingly looking for more ways to leverage this inventory to better promote their products and services.

Not all publishers are made the same, and not all of them understand how to create value through this new medium,” says Ofer Shina, CEO of Commfident, which has one of the largest sources of data on publisher performance. The company analyzes data about video publishing KPIs from over 100M views/impressions per day.

Commfident aims to help both publishers and advertisers benefit from the growth of video.  It is leading a new kind of targeting, which is based on the unique characteristics of each publisher and placement. Called “Publisher performance targeting,” Commfident uses this strategy to match and find the best fit among advertisers and ads, simultaneously maximizing advertisers’ exposure to the highest standard of online inventory.

“Brightcom has a history of embracing innovation, says Etai Eitany. “This is a big part of what has enabled us to stay on top for the past 20 years. Adopting Commfident was one of those cases where that strategy has really proven itself. We are extremely satisfied with the results this new and innovative process is achieving. Constantly evolving our media buying and selling helped conclude 2018 in unprecedented numbers, which we are expecting to surpass in 2019, while the market will become even more sophisticated and performance-based,” adds Eitany.  “We have recently strengthened our cooperation with Commfident to offer an even better media selection utilizing more technology to that end.”

Better targeted publishers, better results:

Over the past year, Commfident has collaborated with Brightcom to reach their demand partners’ KPIs by better-targeting of video inventory based on desktop, mobile apps and CTV channels that best serve Brightcom’s goals.

“We are using Commfident to reach the very strict KPIs of our publishers and advertisers,” says Etai Eitany, Brightcom CEO. “This has allowed us not only to increase the value our advertisers are looking for but also to make sure that the publishers that are working with us will get the highest fill rates. Optimizing with the tools that Commfident integrated into our ad servers has not only saved us time and workforce but has also helped us achieve tremendous growth in both performance and business results,” adds Eitany.

According to Commfident’s Ofer Shina, Brightcom’s performance arrow spiked as soon as Commfident solution was put into action. “We recently integrated our system with another video technology that Brightcom is using, and the results doubled in just one month!” says Shina. Commfident’s system selects only those publishers that best matched each of Brightcom’s running campaigns by utilizing big data collected on each publisher and the advanced ML to analyze it,” explains Shina.

About Brightcom:

Throughout its two decades in operation, Brightcom has maintained the same mission: to make it easier for partners to maximize yield. With the award-winning Compass AI platform at its heart, Brightcom’s dedicated team of media experts is committed to creating tangible value for its partners across video, display and mobile channels. Brightcom continuously provides a unique variety of proprietary multi-channel advertising products, programmatic advertising solutions, and capabilities.

About Commfident:

Commfident was established in 2017 to assist advertisers in understanding the value that each ad space can deliver to their ever-increasing needs. “Today, presenting your ad to the right user, even in the right content is not enough to compete with ad-tech giants like Google and Facebook.” says Ofer, “Thankfully, the days when pre-roll or basic brand safety was adequate info are gone. Nowadays, you must understand how all those aspects interact to create a valuable real estate to the user, brand, and publisher. Aligning all those different parties’ interests is performance targeting. It requires more from the publishers than ever before, creating quality content that users like and engage with while getting the advertisers to be noticeable without ruining the overall user experience.

Poor iPhone XS, XS Max sales force Apple to restart production of iPhone X

Apple had halted the production of its 10th-anniversary smartphone, iPhone X to make way for its three new iPhones for 2018 – the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR.

However, Apple has restarted the production of iPhone X in ‘certain markets’ due to poor sales of iPhone XS and XS Max, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Apple has also decided to cut production on all new iPhones.

According to WSJ, Apple had agreed to purchase a certain number of OLED display panels from Samsung. However, weak sales of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max has forced Apple to resume production of the iPhone X so that the company can fulfill the terms of its agreement with Samsung.

In other words, Apple will use iPhone X to compensate for the OLED panel demand gap caused by the decrease in sales of iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Also, as iPhone X’s components and manufacturing equipment are older, production costs will be lower and cheaper than the iPhone XS series.

Apple’s iPhone XS and XS Max that were launched in September this year haven’t seen a good sale due to its hefty price tag. Also, the affordable iPhone XR has not fared well, which prompted Apple to cut production orders for iPhone XR.

This could be attributed to the low price and popularity of iPhone 8 even after a year of its release. In order to boost sales of iPhone XR in Japan, the Cupertino giant has already provided sales subsidies to Japanese telecom operators, which in turn should reduce the price of the smartphone.

With Apple looking to restart production of iPhone X, it remains to be seen if this move will help the company recover from the setback caused by poor sales of iPhone XS and XS Max.

WhatsApp’s ‘Status’ Feature Will Soon Display Ads

WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned company, will start displaying ads alongside its ‘Status’ section, confirmed WhatsApp’s Vice President Chris Daniels on Wednesday.

The move is seen as part of Facebook’s monetization efforts for WhatsApp.

“Around monetization plans for WhatsApp, we already announced that we are going to be putting ads in ‘Status’. So that is going to be a primary monetization mode for the company as well as an opportunity for businesses to reach people on WhatsApp,” WhatsApp Vice President Chris Daniels said,” Daniels said.

For those unaware, the Status feature is WhatsApp version of Snapchat, Facebook or Instagram stories that allows users to share photos, text, videos, and animated GIFs that disappear after 24 hours. These are only visible to people in the user’s contacts.

WhatsApp, which now has over 1.5 billion users, was acquired by Facebook for $19 billion in 2014. Ever since it dropped the annual subscription fee of $0.99 in 2016, the service has been free for users after their first year of using the app resulting in zero revenue. At the time, WhatsApp also said it would remain ad-free.

Facebook has been planning to monetize the popular messaging service for a long time. According to Daniels, the move to monetize the messaging app will allow businesses to reach WhatsApp users around the globe. It will also help users understand and participate in businesses using the messaging app.

Although Daniels did not give any timeline when the ads on the app will roll-out, it is reported to arrive early next year. Also, there is no clarity on how the ads will function on WhatsApp.

IBM purchases software company Red Hat in a $34 billion deal

IBM has agreed to purchase U.S. open-source software company, Red Hat in a blockbuster deal of $33.4 billion in its largest deal ever, and the third-biggest in the history of U.S. tech. This deal is aimed to expand the company’s subscription-based software offerings in the fast-growing and profitable cloud market.

In an agreement expected to be finalized in the second half of 2019, IBM will purchase all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Red Hat for $190 per share in cash, which is a 63% premium over the company’s Friday’s closing share price.

“The acquisition of Red Hat is a game-changer. It changes everything about the cloud market,” said Ginni Rometty, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IBM, said in a press release announcing the deal.

“IBM will become the world’s number one hybrid cloud provider, offering companies the only open cloud solution that will unlock the full value of the cloud for their businesses.

“Most companies today are only 20 percent along their cloud journey, renting compute power to cut costs. The next 80 percent is about unlocking real business value and driving growth. This is the next chapter of the cloud. It requires shifting business applications to the hybrid cloud, extracting more data and optimizing every part of the business, from supply chains to sales.”

Paul Cormier, Red Hat’s vice president and president of products and technologies said, “Today is a banner day for open source. The largest software transaction in history and it’s an open source company. Let that sink in for a minute. We just made history.”

IBM said Red Hat will continue to build and improve Red Hat’s current partnerships, including those with major cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Alibaba and more, in addition to the IBM Cloud. Simultaneously, Red Hat will benefit from IBM’s hybrid cloud and enterprise IT scale in helping expand their open-source technology portfolio to businesses globally.

“IBM is committed to being an authentic multi-cloud provider, and we will prioritize the use of Red Hat technology across multiple clouds,” said Arvind Krishna, Senior Vice President, IBM Hybrid Cloud. “In doing so, IBM will support open source technology wherever it runs, allowing it to scale significantly within commercial settings around the world.”

The combination of IBM and Red Hat should quicken cloud adoption by large customers who still must connect old technology with new, added Arvind.

Once the acquisition deal is closed, Red Hat will become a unit of IBM’s Hybrid Cloud division, with the goal of maintaining the “independence and neutrality” of Red Hat’s open-source development heritage.

Jim Whitehurst, President and CEO of Red Hat along with its current management team will continue to lead the company. Whitehurst also will join IBM’s senior management team and report to Rometty.

“Open source is the default choice for modern IT solutions, and I’m incredibly proud of the role Red Hat has played in making that a reality in the enterprise,” said Whitehurst. “Joining forces with IBM will provide us with a greater level of scale, resources, and capabilities to accelerate the impact of open source as the basis for digital transformation and bring Red Hat to an even wider audience – all while preserving our unique culture and unwavering commitment to open source innovation.”

IBM has plans to maintain Red Hat’s headquarters, facilities, brands, and practices.

“IBM’s commitment to keeping the things that have made Red Hat successful – always thinking about the customer and the open source community first – make this a tremendous opportunity for not only Red Hat but also open source more broadly,” said Cormier.

“Since the day we decided to bring open source to the enterprise, our mission has remained unchanged. And now, one of the biggest enterprise technology companies on the planet has agreed to partner with us to scale and accelerate our efforts, bringing open source innovation to an even greater swath of the enterprise.”

Texting.  It’s literally the most used form of communication on earth.  Over 20 billion texts are sent per day.  It’s the most used “app” on any smartphone and a staple service of any digital phone or device. Whether it be SMS, Messenger, WhatsApp or any other direct communication tool, texting is part of the human fabric.

Despite this, it is an incredibly underutilized marketing medium.  Marketers sense the almost limitless potential of messaging but, to date, few capitalize on it.  That will soon change. Why? Three factors will drive the change – Facebook, Rich Communication Services (RCS), and the rediscovering of SMS as a marketing platform.  Let’s start with Facebook.

Facebook

Zuck and company are coming under increased pressure to mine revenue from their $19 billion WhatsApp acquisition as well as from their native messaging app, Messenger. WhatsApp boasts a 1.5 billion user audience while Messenger is a close second at 1.3 billion, yet neither are producing any serious revenue.  During their Q2 earnings call, Facebook was again challenged with how they will monetize their Messenger and WhatsApp audiences. Facebook COO, Sherly Sandberg, responded that “we are furthest ahead in Messenger, but it’s still very early days.” Further, she added that Facebook is building out a “business ecosystem” for WhatsApp that would enable businesses to communicate privately with customers.  Facebook is also developing Facebook ads that click to WhatsApp. A user who clicks on the ad will be driven to a pre-filled WhatsApp chat within the app. And this is just the beginning. When the dam finally breaks on these two services, the messaging marketing landscape will be greatly redefined.

Rich Communication Services (RCS)

RCS is a protocol started in 2007 designed to supplant SMS.  SMS is currently only text-based and limited to 160 characters.  RCS seeks to add group chats, audio and video sending capabilities, high-resolution image sending, and the ability to receive read receipts as well as additional interactive features.  To get a flavor, see this video.  As the video suggests, RCS could be a true one-to-one marketing tool that leverages the high interaction metrics of SMS with the power of richer applications like WhatsApp and Messenger without the need to download those said apps or even own a smartphone.  The applications are nearly limitless – better customer interactions, higher retention, and increased ability to up-sell/cross-sell current customers as well as effectively retain new ones.

Apple’s iMessage already has many of the RCS features but Google is looking to leapfrog the smartphone pioneer, working with nearly every mobile provider and Android device manufacturer to roll out their RCS offering, Chat (see chart below).  Chat will incorporate the features mentioned above along with, as Google promises, a few “surprises.” Chat is set to roll out within the next 12 – 18 months.

Once Chat is live the pressure will be on to monetize these features. Brands should start planning now for the best way to incorporate these RCS advancements.

SMS is Back and Improving

While the obvious storm being brewed by Facebook and Google is game-changing, SMS is already making its own comeback.

As mentioned above, the texting platform itself is limited (160 characters, plain text, etc). However, the software around SMS marketing is considerably more advanced.

Remarkably, SMS marketing boasts incredibly gaudy performance numbers –

98% open rate

90% of messages are read within three minutes

45% interaction rate

Compare these to email at a 20% open rate and 6% interaction rate.  It’s no wonder performance marketers are rediscovering the medium (read what Neil Patel says about SMS here).  Further, more and more major brands are incorporating SMS for loyalty, important updates, and unique offers and exclusives for customers.

Also, SMS marketing is easier to do than ever.  Several marketing service platforms such as Twilio, Active Campaign, and Infobip, incorporate bulk SMS sending abilities, streamlining SMS capabilities as part of a greater marketing mix.  Stand-alone, next-generation platforms, like SMSEdge, are also available using AI to deliver better performing campaigns.

The combination of effectiveness and ease-of-use makes the SMS of today a highly viable marketing vehicle.

In sum, the sheer potential reach along with the current and inevitable technological advances being brought to market by power players like Facebook and Google means a blue ocean of opportunities with message marketing.

Elon Musk steps down as Tesla chairman in SEC settlement, to pay $20 million fine

Elon Musk, Tesla co-founder and CEO on Saturday agreed to step down as chairman of Tesla for at least three years and pay $20 million fine as part of the settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“Musk and Tesla have agreed to settle the charges against them without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations,” the commission said in a statement. However, the billionaire tech entrepreneur will continue to stay on as CEO at the company, CNBC reported.

For those unaware, the entire episode started in early August when Musk announced via Twitter that he had secured funding in order to take Tesla private at $420 per share.

According to the SEC, Musk did not have funding, and his tweet intentionally misled his 22 million followers and the company’s shareholders.

On Thursday, SEC filed a lawsuit with a federal court in Manhattan, wherein they alleged that Musk had made “false and misleading public statements and omissions” that “caused significant confusion and disruption in the market for Tesla’s stock” that resulted in harm to investors. Additionally, Musk failed to properly inform regulators of material company events. Further, Musk’s tweet pushed Tesla’s stock price up by more than 6% and disrupted the market, stated the complaint.

“This matter reaffirms an important principle embodied in our disclosure-based federal securities laws,” SEC chairman Jay Clayton said in a statement.

“Specifically, when companies and corporate insiders make statements, they must act responsibly, including endeavoring to ensure the statements are not false or misleading and do not omit information a reasonable investor would consider important in making an investment decision,” Clayton added.

Besides Musk, Tesla will also pay $20 million as fine to the SEC. “The $40 million in penalties will be distributed to harmed investors under a court-approved process,” according to the SEC.

However, the proposed settlement agreement, which includes other stipulations, is subject to court approval. Under the settlement, the company is expected to appoint two new independent directors to the board, and institute sweeping governance changes. The company will also put in place additional controls and procedures to supervise Musk’s communications, the SEC said.

“The total package of remedies and relief announced today are specifically designed to address the misconduct at issue by strengthening Tesla’s corporate governance and oversight in order to protect investors,” Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC’s enforcement division, said in a statement.

“As a result of the settlement, Elon Musk will no longer be Chairman of Tesla, Tesla’s board will adopt important reforms—including an obligation to oversee Musk’s communications with investors—and both will pay financial penalties,” Steven Peikin, co-director of the SEC’s enforcement division, said in a statement. “The resolution is intended to prevent further market disruption and harm to Tesla’s shareholders.”

Under the deal’s terms, Musk and Tesla neither acknowledged or denied wrongdoing alleged by regulators.

Source: CNBC

Google could reportedly pay Apple $9 billion to stay Safari’s default search engine

Google is reportedly willing to pay Apple a whopping $9 billion in 2018 to keep its largest search engine running as default on iPhone and iPad’s Safari browser, according to Goldman Sachs analyst Rod Hall (via Business Insider).

“We believe this revenue is charged ratably based on the number of searches that users on Apple’s platform originate from Siri or within the Safari browser. We believe Apple is one of the biggest channels of traffic acquisition for Google,” Hall was quoted as saying by Business Insider. However, this number could increase to $12 billion in 2019, according to the Goldman analyst.

The payment of $9 billion is a huge figure considering that Google paid Apple around $1 billion in 2013 and 2014. In 2017, this figure was estimated to have swollen to $3 billion, according to analysts.

Even though neither Google nor Apple has ever shared the exact terms of their agreement, most analysts believe that the payments are billions of dollars per year.

While Apple uses Google as the default search engine in Safari on iOS devices such as iPhones and iPads, the Cupertino giant also uses Bing for other purposes such as searching the web through Siri.

Currently, the browser industry is dominated by Google Chrome dominates with 59.7 percent, while Safari comes in at second place with 14.5 percent in the browser category.

Since 93% of online experiences begin with the search engine, it’s essential that small business owners understand the fundamentals of SEO and methods for increasing traffic to their websites.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of tactics for improving the ranking of a website in the organic search engine results. Many factors account for how well a page ranks, but smart methods used by top SEO agencies can influence some of them. Here’s everything you need to know about SEO if you’re running a small business.

Why it’s worth to invest in SEO?

The majority of consumers use search engines to navigate the internet and find product or services they need. SEO helps your website to appear on top of the search results, allowing potential customers to find your business. Moreover, if your business pops up all over the place for selected keywords, consumers will also begin to recognize and trust it. Search engines bring respect and authority to your brand if it’s dominant in the search results.

What to expect from SEO?

SEO is a long-term process for building your website’s credibility and relevance in search engines. Don’t forget that the results of an SEO campaign are not often immediate. That’s why you should perceive SEO as the long-term marketing strategy that should last at least 6 to 12 months.

However, SEO is a very valuable channel because once you achieve these results, it’s cost-effective to keep it up as a sustainable source of quality traffic to your website. Moreover, inbound marketing is now made easier thanks to services like Marketin9  – Content Marketing Platform, that connect publishers with advertisers, allowing small businesses to find cost-effective methods for publishing quality content.

By investing in content, you’ll not only gain links to boost your SEO profile but also build a reputation for yourself as an expert willing to share your knowledge with consumers.

Here’s how you should choose the right SEO agency

Just because you land on the first page of search results for a single keyword, it doesn’t mean that you will see an immediate increase in the revenue. It all depends on factors such as the keyword itself, the number of people searching for it, and whether you’re the fifth or first result on the page.

However, it is critical that your business appears on the first page because very few people will venture onto the second page of search results.

When picking an SEO agency to partner with, ask them whether they have experience working for companies in your industry, review their case studies to see what kind of results they were able to generate, and pay close attention to the pricing model they offer you.

SEO is critical for attracting traffic and qualified leads to your website. If consumers can’t find your business online, how else are they going to buy your product or service? That’s why investing in an SEO strategy is a smart move for every small business owner today.

Today, it’s all about technology. Entrepreneurs clamor to become the next Google or Facebook. The famous Jerry Maguire line, “Show me the money!” applies to technology rather than sports in this day and age. You’re an aspiring entrepreneur, and you want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg. With everyone jumping on the technology bandwagon, however, how do you know what type of tech business to get into? You may have grandiose dreams of taking down Google, Inc., but lots of luck with that. Entrepreneur magazine has a few suggestions for your startup business. Here are four of them.

1. Smartphone and Tablet Repair

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last decade, and you haven’t, you’ve noticed that no matter where you look, everyone has their noses stuck to their devices. People even pay more attention to their smartphones or tablets than their walking and driving, which really isn’t a good idea. You may be tempted to shout, “Look up! Enjoy the beautiful day!” but what if you could others’ obsessions into your pot of gold? Learn how to repair these crutches. You can open up a shop or online business and replace dead batteries, cracked screens, or phones that have been dropped in – well – the toilet for your ever-growing customer base. The beauty of this idea is you can help people from all over the world.

2. Flip Houses

Online houses, that is. Unbelievably there is such as thing as website flipping, according to Entrepreneur, and the concept is the same as flipping houses. You purchase a website, spruce it up, and sell it to someone else. You have the choice of buying and selling domain names, which could be rather lucrative if you can get your hands on the right ones, or entire sites. If the website already looks great, you don’t have to do anything to it; just purchase it and sell it for a profit. Some web design experience might suit you well in this business opportunity, but it isn’t necessary. It depends on how much you want to get involved in the actual structure of the sites you sell. This idea has quick-and-easy cash potential.

3. Teach People

What about creating online content and courses that teach people? There is a huge surge in online education and more and more people love to spend their free time learning something new. What are you an expert at, and would other people want to learn that? If so, sit down and create an online curriculum designed to teach people what they need to know, or, better yet, work with an educator or educational company and propose a website to host their content. Not exactly your cup of tea? What about reaching out to your local schools, colleges, and universities, and offering to build and host their websites, including SEO optimization? Your business will grow as more schools solicit your services.

4. Manage Social Media

Speaking of SEO, social media is a huge portion of this and many businesses do not have the time to worry about managing their platforms. Smaller businesses don’t have the operating capital to staff a social media department, either, and this is where you come in. Open a social media management company and sell your services to local businesses around you. You must understand SEO and social media marketing to do this, as it will be your responsibility to boost your customers’ online presence and drive sales leads and/or actual sales to their websites. If you love to waste away the day on social media platforms, why not turn this into a money-making venture? You already know the platforms.

Finance Your Venture

One of these ideas has struck a chord with you, so how do you finance your venture? Chris Sacca, an entrepreneur in his own right and former Guest Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank, was a venture capitalist until he retired in 2017. Sacca helped finance the growth of Instagram and Twitter, among other multi-billion companies. He did this through a venture capital company he founded called Lowercase Capital. Sacca and his team went into businesses and used their expertise to design and manage a growth plan, and then Sacca’s company financed that growth. This earned Sacca the number two position on Forbes magazine’s Midas List: Top Tech Investors for 2017. It’s surprising Sacca decided to retire the same year.

Perhaps you aren’t ready for a venture capital investment just yet, which is what Sacca specialized in, but you could reach out to angel investors, your family, and friends, or use other forms of alternative financing to start your new tech company. Before you see dollar signs, however, put yourself on the road to success with a comprehensive and well-thought business and marketing plan sure to draw attention to your new business right away. If you have all your ducks in a row from the get-go, you stand a better chance of taking Google, Inc. down after all.