Writing
Spotify has been in a public battle with Apple over selling subscriptions in their iOS app. Spotify believes Apple is just trying to steal some revenue through their “Apple Tax,” along with a conflict of interest with their competitive product, Apple News. Apple, however, believes Spotify isn’t playing by their App Store rules. I took a look at the whole situation and why this is so messy.
Advertising on mobile has so much potential. It is, after all, big business. But companies are failing to use the medium to reach audiences effectively, which backfires when users enable ad blockers. I wrote about some of the reasons mobile ads are ineffective.
Reading
SnapChat’s success wouldn’t be achievable on mobile web. It’s why they’re not a mobile-first company. They’re “authentically mobile.”
The company is also working with brands on custom filters, a form of native advertising that is generating about $750k per day.
Pokemon Go is taking over the world and helping Nintendo’s stock price, even though they didn’t create the app, a former Googler did. The popularity doesn’t mean some aren’t concerned with their security, going as far to claim the game is a government conspiracy theory.
Social media is one of the largest sources of news content. But, according to a Pew Research study, that doesn’t mean consumers trust it.
The battle over breaking news on social is as hot as it’s ever been. Twitter is raw and unfiltered. Facebook is curated and somewhat filtered, as Buzzfeed wrote last week.
Speaking of Facebook, it’s live product is winning. It’s real and raw, a depiction of life that is life as it is unfolding. But moderation of what appears “live” will be challenging — it has already been under fire. This all reminds me of this 2014 Wired piece on the team in the Philippines in charge of moderating Facebook content.
Do you find yourself addicted to your phone? In a case of irony, a new app can help you break that addiction.
The average mobile app user spends only $0.50 per month, according to AppsFlyer. When you break it out to only the users who do pay, they’re spending an average of $9.60 per month.
My allergy to cats, among other things, would be why I could never serve as Britain’s Prime Minister.
Finally, in honor of Brewery Passport (download for iOS), let’s look at one of the most difficult marketing jobs in the world: craft beer namer.
Rock and Roll.
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter where I’ll share what I’ve written about or read from around the web related to mobile, digital, emerging media and more. The newsletter is sent 8 p.m. ET on Sunday nights and appears on ScottStanchak.com 10 a.m. ET on Monday.