1. Google Helps Retailers Battle Amazon
Search giant Google will allow retailers to list their products across Google Search, in its Google Express shopping service, and in the Google Assistant app for smartphones and smart speakers. The program being introduced today offers online shoppers a universal cart and allows retailers to increase shopper loyalty by supporting things like 1-click re-ordering, personalized recommendations, and basket-building. Google says it will use a pay-per-sale model, which means it’s only taking a cut of the sale when a shopper makes a purchase. According to Google, retail partners saw the average size of a customer’s shopping basket increase by 30 percent after joining the program.
(Source: TechCrunch)
2. Facebook Under Fire for Trump-Linked Data Firm
U.K. political data firm Cambridge Analytica has been suspended by Facebook for using 50 million users’ personal data without their knowledge. The data firm used the data for “psychographic profiling,” to predict voting behavior AKA the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. “This is a big deal when you have that amount of data,” Republican Senator Jeff Flake said. “And the privacy violations are significant. So, the question is, who knew about it? When did they know? How long did this go on? And what happens to the data now?” Facebook has noted that the firm extracted data from personality quizzes, where people were prompted to give out their personal information in a few simple taps.
(Source: Mashable)
3. Try on L’Oreal Products Online
(Image Source: ModiFace)
L’Oreal is buying ModiFace, a custom virtual makeup app. ModiFace has been teaming up with big cosmetics brands for over a decade to create augmented reality apps for mobile and desktop. This will allow customers to virtually ‘try’ on products. The tech works similarly to Snapchat’s filters, applying a layer of makeup directly over your face’s image on your screen, and tracking your head movements in real-time so you can see your digital makeover from multiple angles. All in a day’s work to look fabulous.
