Meghan Markle loses first claim in Mail on Sunday legal battle May 1, 2020 Meghan Markle has lost the first stage of her legal battle against the Mail on Sunday over alleged breach of privacy. A High Court judge today sided with publisher Associated Newspapers and ruled that three aspects of Markle’s case should be ruled out. The lawsuit relates to the publication of a private letter sent by [...]
Treasury fast tracks VAT cut for e-books and digital newspapers April 30, 2020 Plans to scrap VAT on e-books and digital newspapers have been fast tracked in an effort to support the publishing industry during the Covid-19 crisis, the chancellor said today. In his Budget speech in March Rishi Sunak said all digital publications, including books, newspapers, magazines and academic journals, would be exempt from the tax from [...]
Twitter posts rise in revenue despite Covid-19 advertising hit April 30, 2020 Twitter today posted a rise in revenue for the first quarter despite the lingering threat of a slowdown in advertising caused by the coronavirus crisis. The social media platform reported revenue of $808m (£646m) in the first three months of the year, up three per cent on the same period in 2019 and ahead of [...]
Comcast profit drops as Covid-19 shutdown offsets broadband boost April 30, 2020 Comcast today reported a sharp drop in profit for the first quarter as the shutdown of cinemas and theme parks due to the coronavirus outbreak offset a rise in broadband usage. The US media giant posted net income of $2.1bn (£1.7bn) in the first three months of the year, down almost 40 per cent year [...]
Google removes 2.7bn bad ads as it launches Covid-19 taskforce April 30, 2020 Google removed roughly 2.7bn so-called bad ads last year as the tech giant ramps up its efforts to block misleading and malicious campaigns actors on its platform. The search engine’s crackdown, which equates to 5,000 ads per minute, is an increase on the 2.3bn adverts removed in 2018. In addition, Google suspended nearly 1m advertiser [...]
Facebook earnings: Shares leap despite lowest growth since 2012 April 30, 2020 Facebook’s shares jumped almost 10 per cent in after hours trading following a surprisingly upbeat set of first quarter results from the tech giant. Following Alphabet’s figures earlier this week, all eyes were on Facebook to see how the Covid-19 crisis has hit social media. Here are three key takeaways from the numbers: 1. The [...]
Facebook poaches top social media regulator from Ofcom April 29, 2020 Facebook has ramped up its defence against upcoming social media regulation by poaching a top executive from media watchdog Ofcom. Tony Close, Ofcom’s director of content standards, has been closely involved in drawing up rules to regulate tech giants such as Google and Facebook amid rising concern about online harms. The government is set to [...]
Spotify grows user numbers as Covid-19 hits advertising revenue April 29, 2020 Spotify today reported a sharp rise in user numbers for the first quarter as coronavirus lockdown measures sparked a huge shift in listening habits around the globe. The streaming service posted a 31 per cent year on year growth in monthly active users to 286m. The figures, which were in line with expectations, marked the [...]
Disney sparks backlash over #MayThe4th hashtag rights claim April 28, 2020 Disney has sparked a backlash on social media after the entertainment giant appeared to claim ownership of the rights to tweets containing the #MayThe4th hashtag. In a tweet posted yesterday by Disney Plus, the streaming service encouraged fans to share their favourite Star Wars memory using the hashtag. But in a follow-up tweet full of [...]
Gambling firms pull TV and radio advertising during Covid-19 lockdown April 27, 2020 The UK’s major gambling and betting firms today said they will remove all TV and radio advertising for the remainder of the Covid-19 lockdown. Existing ad slots will be replaced by safer gambling messages, donated to charities or removed from broadcast for at least six weeks. The decision is aimed at protecting customers during the [...]