Serial fintech entrepreneur Marta Krupinska focused on diversity as she relaunches Google for Startups UK February 28, 2019 Fintech entrepreneur Marta Krupinska has vowed to make diversity a priority as she takes over the reins at the relaunched Google for Startups UK. Read more: Revolut pushes ministers for fast-track tech visas Krupinska, who shot to fame after founding Azimo, the digital money transfer app, has been tasked with overseeing the Google project as [...]
Fedex creates Segway-inspired delivery robot with Pizza Hut and Walmart February 28, 2019 Fedex has unveiled a pizza delivery robot that will hit the streets this summer. Read more: What’s on your tech radar for 2019? Pizza Hut and Walmart are both on board, with trials set to begin soon in cities across the US, including in Fedex’s hometown of Memphis. The autonomous bot, which is powered by an [...]
Facebook, social media and ads – when will marketers abandon the network? February 25, 2019 The Facebook-Google duopoly has a stranglehold over internet advertising. While the search engine dominates the pairing, Mark Zuckerberg’s creation is no slouch – last year, more than a fifth (21.8 per cent) of all US digital ad spending went to the social media network, equivalent to $28.2bn (£21.7bn). But the company is in hot water, [...]
Brands pull adverts from Youtube following allegations of child abuse content February 22, 2019 Nestle, Disney, AT&T, Hasbro and the creator of Fortnite have all reportedly pulled advertisements from Youtube following allegations of child abuse content being on the platform. A spokesperson for Nestle said that the food and drink conglomerate has decided to “pause advertising on Youtube globally” following the discovery that “an extremely low volume” of their [...]
Former Google finance boss to head a venture capital office in London with $600m fund February 19, 2019 Former Google chief financial officer Patrick Pichette will lead a venture capital (VC) office in London with Canadian firm Inovia Capital. Inovia, which is also today announcing a $600m (£464.7m) fund for technology startups and entrepreneurs, said the office will back UK companies as well as create opportunities for North American firms to expand across the Atlantic. [...]
It’s search and rescue time for the future of marketing February 18, 2019 Search marketing is all about making your brand easy to find on the internet. It accounts for half of all UK digital ad spend, and is worth over £3.1bn. Given all that, you’d expect that marketing degrees would devote some course time to this subject. However, it’s pretty shocking that none of the UK’s top [...]
Forget social networks – the future is community media, says the boss of Disciple Media February 18, 2019 In February last year, Matt Hancock (then culture secretary, now health secretary) launched his own smartphone app, imaginatively titled… “Matt Hancock”. Many scoffed at the idea of an MP thinking themselves so important that they needed an app. And there were jokes about how the app asked for user consent: “Matt Hancock would like to access [...]
Google and Salesforce inject $75m into London’s Gocardless February 18, 2019 City fintech firm Gocardless has raised $75m (£58.1m) in a series E funding round, led by new investors Adam Street Partners and the venture capital arms of Google and Salesforce. The company aims to fix the way businesses collect invoices and make recurring payments by building debit technology on top of the world’s existing banking systems. Chief [...]
Tech giants should be held to compulsory ‘code of ethics’, MPs say February 18, 2019 Facebook and other tech giants should face stricter regulation to tackle the spread of fake news and misuse of personal data, MPs said today. Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was harshly criticised in the final report on disinformation by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Select Committee, having declined several invitations to attend [...]
Facebook faces paying billions of dollars in data breach penalty February 15, 2019 Facebook faces a record multi-billion dollar fine from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for privacy violations, according to reports. The penalty would surpass the $22.5m (£17.5m) fine the FTC issued to Google for failing to protect user data as the largest ever financial punishment imposed by the US government's privacy and security watchdog. Read more: [...]