Facebook’s crack down on non-consensual ad targeting last year will finally produce results. In March, TechCrunch discovered Facebook planned to require advertisers to pledge that they had permission to upload someone’s phone number or email address for ad targeting. That tool debuted in June, though there was no verification process and Facebook just took businesses…
Mike McNamara retired from the electronics manufacturing giant and services business Flex last December after 12 years as CEO of the company — and another 12 working his way up to the corner office — but he didn’t say at the time where he was headed. As it turns out, McNamara had decided to join…
Podcasting revenues hit $314 million in 2017, according to a third-party survey released last summer. It’s a large number for what’s been historically regarded as a niche and difficult to monetize medium, but still pales in comparison to the additional $400-$500 million Spotify says it’s willing to spend on the space this year alone. Two…
Tink, the European open banking platform headquartered in Sweden, has deposited €56 million in new funding. Leading the round is U.S.-based Insight Venture Partners. Existing backers Sunstone, SEB, Nordea Ventures and ABN AMRO Digital Impact Fund also participated. A number of other investors have been added to Tink’s cap table, too. They include Christian Clausen,…
It was the Lehman Brothers of blockchain. 850,000 Bitcoin disappeared when cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox imploded in 2014 after a series of hacks. The incident cemented the industry’s reputation as frighteningly insecure. Now a controversial crypto celebrity named Brock Pierce is trying to get the Mt. Gox flameout’s 24,000 victims their money back and build a…
Apple’s retail boss is leaving the company in April after five years in the job. Angela Ahrendts, who joined Apple from Burberry, will be replaced by Deirdre O’Brien, who’s been at the tech company for 30 years. The post Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts is leaving after five years in the job appeared first on…
Weather and climate-related disasters cost the U.S. economy $80 billion last year — and have hit the nation’s bottom line to the tune of roughly $100 billion per year over the last five years, according to a new survey from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That tally comes as NASA reported that 2018 was…
Many major companies, like Air Canada, Hollister and Expedia, are recording every tap and swipe you make on their iPhone apps. In most cases you won’t even realize it. And they don’t need to ask for permission. You can assume that most apps are collecting data on you. Some even monetize your data without your knowledge.…
At the tail end of its shareholder letter for Q1 2019, Sonos disclosed that the company’s chief financial officer, Mike Giannetto, will be retiring “later this year.” Giannetto has been with Sonos for seven years, helping to guide the company through its IPO back in August of 2018. As for who will take over the…
Facebook head of communications Caryn Marooney is leaving for greener pastures, she announced today, on Facebook of course. She joins the growing number of executives and high-level employees departing the company during and after what may be its toughest year. “I spent a lot of time over the winter holiday reflecting, and with the New…
