1. WhatsApp Bans 100K Brazilian Accounts
The federal elections in Brazil are just around the corner and WhatsApp has been busy banning accounts (over 100K) to curve propaganda messages. Facebook (owner of WhatsApp) has previously bragged about its “war room,” an office in its Cali headquarters filled with employees specifically monitoring for hate speech, misinformation and other damaging content. With 44% of Brazilian voters using WhatsApp to attain electoral and political information and Facebook attempting to repair their reputation after previous scandals, effective content management is paramount. Despite Facebook’s efforts, The New York Times found about 120M WhatsApp accounts flooded with spam. The accounts not only posted misinformation on how to vote but also shared thousands of videos and images disseminating lies and propaganda. All eyes are on Facebook as they scramble to get a handle on WhatsApp-propriate.
2. Shop the Look Pins
Ever find yourself going down a rabbit hole on Pinterest, repinning outfits but unable to find the exact look to buy online? Pinterest has found a cure for our first-world problems. The feature, Shop the Look Pins, was previously only available to larger companies through third-party Pinterest Marketing Partners. They discovered that users clicked on the Look Pins twice as much as traditional pins. These specific pins places white dots on different pieces of an outfit in order to shop the look. “This expanded functionality levels the playing field for all consumer brands, not just the biggest advertisers,” said Eric Lam, CEO of AspireIQ. “Businesses of all sizes can use Shop the Look Pins to drive traffic directly to products through authentic content, which is especially powerful since Pinterest is a highly sought-after medium for customer education.” Some of us may get a reality price check on our pre-planned wedding boards.
(Source: AdWeek)
3. Amazon Battles Walmart for Indian Online Market
Amazon is going to war with other large-scale global retailers for the domination of market share. The current battle is over India who, according to Bloomberg Business, is “one of the last frontiers of e-commerce.” India has such an extensive and valuable market with over 1.3B citizens. Since Amazon was unable to take over the market in China, capturing India’s large demographic is critical. So what is Amazon’s plan? They are working to enlist local shop owners to serve as envoys for online buying. To quote their mission statement, Amazon’s goal is to: “transform the way India buys and sells.” While Amazon opened their Indian version of the website in 2013 and has over 50 fulfillment centers across the country, members of the Walmart executive team are scheming to compete for the market. This involves the acquisition of “Flipkart”, the largest grocery delivery business in India. Currently, Walmart is still at the top of the pyramid when it comes to being the largest grocer in the world, and this partnership in India might just have solidified its future.
(Source: Bloomberg)
