Amazon and Google face UK CMA probe over fake reviews
The UK’s competition watchdog, the CMA, has opened another investigation into Big Tech — this one targeted at Amazon and Google over how well they handle (or, well, don’t) fake reviews.
The Competition and Markets Authority has taken an interest in online reviews for several years
Kayak co-founder Paul English just launched Moonbeam, a podcast discovery app
Podcast downloads have boomed over the last year, and Kayak co-founder and tech entrepreneur Paul English became an avid, daily listener. But anyone who loves podcasts knows that podcast discovery can be challenging. Even the top streaming apps like Apple Podcasts and Spotify lack robust discovery
Snap makes a deal with Universal Music Group, adding its catalog to Sounds
Snap today announced a multi-year deal with Universal Music Group, one of the largest music companies in the world. From Queen to Justin Bieber, users can clip songs from the expansive UMG catalog to use in their Snaps and on Spotlight, the app’s TikTok competitor.
This announcement comes aft
5 takeaways from BuzzFeed’s SPAC deck
Digital media outfit BuzzFeed announced today that it will go public via a SPAC, or blank check company. BuzzFeed also disclosed that it will purchase Complex, another media company, for $300 million in cash and shares in BuzzFeed itself; the SPAC deal will help finance its purchase of Complex.
The
Companies navigate ethical minefield to build proof of vaccination apps
In the U.S, after you get vaccinated against COVID-19 you are given a small paper card issued by the CDC that is essentially the only evidence that you’ve received your shots. It might seem like a flimsy level of proof, one that you could easily lose, but replacing that paper copy with a digi
Android apps are coming to Windows 11 through the Amazon Appstore
Ecosystems make strange bedfellows. Here's one of the stranger in recent memory – and one of the most unexpected bits of news from today's Windows 11 event. Microsoft announced today that it will be making Android apps available on the next major version of its operating system.
Chief Pro
Microsoft Teams will be built directly into Windows 11
Happy Windows 11 day. Microsoft is giving us our best look yet at its upcoming operating system, which is due out over the holidays. Following a year when the vast majority of our interpersonal communications arrived through computer and phone screens, the company is putting its communication softw
Happs raises $4.7 million for a multicast livestream platform creator community
Happs, an app that lets creators stream live video simultaneously across social platforms, has raised $4.7 million in a post-seed round. The product originally began as a platform for independent journalists, but expanded its mission last year to offer tools to all online creators while connecting
You can share tweets directly to Instagram Stories now
It’s a little thing, but one worth savoring.
If you’re tired of your Instagram feed mostly being a chaotic mashup of screencapped tweets and reshared TikToks, well, those things probably aren’t going away but one is about to look a lot better.
Twitter just added th
Snackpass gobbles up $70M at a $400M+ valuation as its social food ordering platform crosses 500K users
While every food delivery company is trying to get an edge on its rivals with discount codes, faster service, and a turn into the realm of spooky with ghost kitchens and dark stores, a startup built on a lighter, social concept — letting people see what their friends are chomping on, making i
Instagram’s newest test mixes ‘Suggested Posts’ into the feed to keep you scrolling
The days of a scrolling to the end of your Instagram feed look to be coming to an end. After adding algorithmic suggestions to the bottom of the app last year, Instagram is running a test that would splice more recommended posts from accounts you don’t follow into the feed with those you do.
Electronic Arts buys mobile game studio Playdemic for $1.4 billion
Video game giant Electronic Arts is continuing to make M&A moves as it looks to bulk up its presence in the mobile gaming world.
Fresh off the $2.4 billion acquisition of Glu Mobile this past April, their biggest purchase to date, Electronic Arts announced Wednesday that they are buying Warner
Facebook adds Shops to WhatsApp, among other e-commerce updates
Facebook is making it even easier to buy stuff while you scroll past photos of your high school lab partner’s dog. Yes, Instagram Shops and Facebook Marketplace are already displayed prominently on the apps’ bottom navigation tabs. But now, you can shop on WhatsApp too, along with other
Apple is opening a store in downtown LA's nearly 100-year-old Tower Theatre
This Thursday, Apple will mark the opening of a new store in downtown Los Angeles. The space occupies the newly renovated Tower Theatre, which opened in DTLA's Broadway Theater District in 1927. Among other milestones, the 900-seat theater was the first in LA to be wired for the talkies, hostin