A nice idea from Netflix to help readers avoid unwanted spoilers on their Twitter feeds. It highlights the opportunity for further innovation around discovery and social media. There’s a lot more Twitter can do to help users find what they are interested in, and avoid what they don’t want to see. Let’s hope there’s more to come.
Betaworks is pushing the boundaries of the current model by extending crowd-funding into active portfolio companies. Since the program is only open to Angels initially then it’s a pretty small crowd – but let’s hope it’s extended to mere mortals shortly.
Today, the U.S. government quietly lifted the general solicitation ban to make good on a provision of the JOBS Act. Now, it is legal to gain startup money from “crowdfunding” techniques — and Betaworks has announced in a blog post that it will seize the opportunity to make syndicate seed investments available for its Openbeta initiative.
Openbeta initially opened as a transparency platform — enabling users to test out new products, leave feedback, and learn about the companies that Betaworks is building even before launch. Now, Openbeta users will also be able to invest in these companies alongside Betaworks during funding periods. It’s an auspicious new feature for the startups under Betatworks’ wing, as they will be allowed to raise more add-on funding straight from the community they interact with through Openbeta.
Betaworks has confirmed that the new feature will be powered by a well-known crowdfunding process, although it…
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A concise explanation of the continuum between classic banners and native ads. The apparent underpricing of native ads surely can’t last for long.
“Native advertising” is a term you’ve probably heard a lot lately. It’s come to embody a set of advertising approaches that look to integrate advertising more fully into the digital content experience. Sponsored content on Buzzfeed, “brand stories” on Facebook (s FB), promoted trends on Twitter — all of these are commonly cited examples of advertising gone native.
But publishers and brands looking to incorporate native ads into their portfolio often have a poor understanding of the “native continuum” — the gradient that exists between a classic banner ad and a fully native one. While all forms of native advertising What are the key differences? What types of ads exist along the continuum? And, most importantly, what are the benefits and drawbacks of each approach? Here’s a guide.
Far from being a true “native,” the “tourist” subtype is just a step up from a standard banner ad…
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Sometimes the return and rescue of a struggling company by its former CEO makes perfect sense. Apple, Starbucks and (probably) Dell stand out as strong examples. But sometimes you just have to shake your head in disbelief.
Fascinating piece on how motion capture and post-production CGI may all reduce down to real-time character generation. Huge implications for both video games and movies.
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