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Tag: UK

  • Netflix’s Queen Elizabeth Series ‘The Crown’ Is Its Most Expensive Yet

    Netflix’s Queen Elizabeth Series ‘The Crown’ Is Its Most Expensive Yet

    The Crown, Netflix’s upcoming series about the life of Queen Elizabeth II, is going to be huge – in terms of scope and cost.

    The Telegraph reports that the show is Netflix’s most expensive to date – £100 million, or about $157 million.

    The streaming company ordered a 10-episode season of The Crown last November.

    According to the Telegraph, the show will span six seasons – 60 total episodes.

    The show will follow the Queen from her wedding in 1947 to present day. It will focus on not just her, but her interactions with Britain’s heads of state over the years.

    “The Crown is storytelling that lives somewhere between television and cinema from Britain’s foremost chroniclers of modern politics, class and society,” says Cindy Holland, vp original content at Netflix.

    “The Crown is not only about the royal family but about an empire in decline, a world in disarray and the dawn of a new era,” says writer Peter Morgan, who penned the Oscar-winning film The Queen.

    The series stars Wolf Hall‘s Claire Foy as the Queen, Doctor Who‘s Matt Smith as Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, and John Lithgow as Winston Churchill. It is billed as “the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century.”

    It will hit Netflix next year.

    Image via Cecil Beaton, Library and Archive Canada, Wikimedia Commons

  • E-Cigarettes Are 95% Less Harmful Than Smoking, Says UK Report

    E-Cigarettes Are 95% Less Harmful Than Smoking, Says UK Report

    According to a UK health agency, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are about 95% less harmful than smoking, according to its best estimate.

    “I want to see these products coming to the market as licensed medicines. This would provide assurance on the safety, quality and efficacy to consumers who want to use these products as quitting aids, especially in relation to the flavorings used, which is where we know least about any inhalation risks,” says the government’s chief medical officer, Sally Davies.

    The report, from Public Health England, is the first of its kind in the UK.

    “Many people think the risks of e-cigarettes are the same as smoking tobacco and this report clarifies the truth of this. In a nutshell, best estimates show e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful to your health than normal cigarettes, and when supported by a smoking cessation service, help most smokers to quit tobacco altogether,” says the report.

    The report suggests that smoking cessation services should recommend e-cigarettes as a tool to quit smoking, and that there is no evidence that e-cigarettes undermine the current decline in real cigarette smoking.

    “Smokers who have tried other methods of quitting without success could be encouraged to try e-cigarettes (EC) to stop smoking and stop smoking services should support smokers using EC to quit by offering them behavioral support. Encouraging smokers who cannot or do not want to stop smoking to switch to EC could help reduce smoking related disease, death and health inequalities. There is no evidence that EC are undermining the long-term decline in cigarette smoking among adults and youth, and may in fact be contributing to it. Despite some experimentation with EC among never smokers, EC are attracting very few people who have never smoked into regular EC use,” it says.

    According to The Guardian, those responsible for the report still feel that “there continues to be a lack of evidence on the long-term use of e-cigarettes” and “they should only be used as a means to help smokers quit.”

    Image via Vaping360, Flickr Creative Commons

  • YouTube Music Videos In the UK Are Getting Slapped with Age Ratings

    YouTube Music Videos In the UK Are Getting Slapped with Age Ratings

    Some in the UK feel that YouTube videos, like movies and other forms of art/media, need age ratings.

    According to The Guardian, YouTube and Vevo have collaborated with two organizations – the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) – to make sure new music videos made in the UK come with age ratings.

    “Keeping children safe as they experience and enjoy all the benefits the internet has to offer is a key priority for this government’s one-nation approach to help families across Britain,” said minister for internet safety and security Joanna Shields. “We will continue to work with industry to develop ways to help parents to better protect children online from inappropriate music videos with explicit adult or violent content.”

    All new videos from major record labels will be submitted to the BBFC to be rated. Soon, the ratings pilot will be tried with independent labels as well.

    The YouTube video ratings system has been tested in the UK since last fall, and 132 new videos have been rated in all. 56 have been given a 12+ rating, 53 a 15+ rating, and just one has been hit with an 18+ rating.

    This one:

    Image via Dizzie Rascal, YouTube

  • Uber Sued Again Over Employee / Contractor Issue

    Uber’s stance has always been that it’s a software company. Uber connects people wanting a ride to those offering a ride. It’s a logistics company. Uber simply connects third-party contractors with customers. Its drivers are independent contractors, not employees.

    That notion is being challenged quite a bit as of late, and it looks like Uber is facing another lawsuit over the question of employee or contractor.

    UK union GMB, which represents professional drivers, has engaged a law firm to file suit against Uber “on the grounds that Uber is in breach of a legal duty to provide them with basic rights on pay, holidays, health and safety and on discipline and grievances.”

    According to GMB, Uber drivers are employees and the company should conform to all applicable employment laws.

    “The Uber assertion that drivers are ‘partners’ who are not entitled to rights at work normally afforded to workers is being contested,” says Nigel Mackay,a lawyer involved in the suit. “Uber not only pays the drivers but it also effectively controls how much passengers are charged and requires drivers to follow particular routes. As well as this, it uses a ratings system to assess drivers’ performance. We believe that it’s clear from the way Uber operates that it owes the same responsibilities towards its drivers as any other employer does to its workers.”

    GMB demands that Uber adopt the national minimum wage, give paid holidays, ensure that drivers take rest breaks and have a maximum work week, and “adhere to legal standards on discipline and grievances.”

    “A successful legal action against Uber could see substantial pay outs for drivers, including compensation for past failures by the company to make appropriate payments to who we argue are their workers.” Mackay adds.

    Last month, the California Labor Commission ruled that an Uber driver was an actual employee – as Uber is “involved in every aspect of the operation.”

    But Uber’s argument is that its setup lets drivers choose everything.

    “One of the main reasons drivers use Uber is because they love being their own boss,” a spokesperson for Uber told Engadget. “As employees, drivers would drive set shifts, earn a fixed hourly wage, and lose the ability to drive elsewhere. The reality is that drivers use Uber on their own terms: they control their use of the app.”

    That lawsuit only applied to one woman, however, and didn’t result in any sort of mandate. GMB thinks that this new lawsuit could have farther reaching consequences.

    In other Uber news, the company is likely populating its in-app maps with ghost cars.

  • Amazon Prime Music Launches in the UK

    More than a year after Amazon debuted its music streaming service in the US, the company has opened it up across the pond.

    Amazon Prime Music is now live in the UK.

    Prime Music isn’t a monthly subscription service, like Spotify or Apple Music. Instead, Prime Music is just another perk offered to Amazon Prime members alongside expedited shipping, Amazon Prime Instant Video, and Kindle perks. In the US, that’s $99 a year and in the UK it’s £79.

    Amazon boasts that “with Prime Music, you can listen ad-free to over a million songs from top artists like Daft Punk, P!nk, Bruno Mars, Blake Shelton, The Lumineers, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna.
    And we’ll be adding more music all the time.”

    And that sounds ok – Amazon Prime Music does have some good selections.

    But when compared to services like Spotify or Apple Music, it just pales. Spotify, for instance, boasts of 30 million songs compared to Amazon’s “over a million.”

    And as we’ve highlighted before, Amazon Prime Music launched without a deal with the largest record label in the world – Universal Music Group.

    Still, it is a pretty nice dangling carrot for people deciding on whether or not to sign up for Prime. With Amazon Prime, it’s never been about each individual perk being the best thing in the world (other than the shipping, which is pretty nice) – it’s always been about the totality of the service.

  • Amazon Is About to Start Delivering Groceries in the UK: Report

    Amazon Is About to Start Delivering Groceries in the UK: Report

    It looks like Amazon is gearing up to take its grocery delivery service across the pond.

    Amazon is readying its Amazon Fresh service for the U.K., according to sources familiar with the plans.

    From the Times of London:

    Plans for Amazon Fresh are at an advanced stage and it could begin operating in London in September, a development that will have the UK’s already punch-drunk supermarkets reaching for the smelling salts.

     

    The service will pit Amazon against online delivery businesses such as Ocado, as well as Tesco and Sainsbury’s, and pile the pressure on a sector that is already battling with falling prices and the rise of discount chains.

    As Re/code points out, Amazon will face stiffer competition in the U.K than it does in the States. Online sales make up an estimated five percent of all grocery sales in the U.K, and only one percent in the U.S.

    Amazon Fresh is only available in a handful of U.S. markets including Seattle, New York, Philadelphia, and parts of New Jersey and California.

  • Google Names Another Country Where Mobile Searches Have Overtaken Desktop

    Google Names Another Country Where Mobile Searches Have Overtaken Desktop

    Last month, Google casually noted in a blog post that mobile searches have overtaken desktop searches in ten countries including the United States and Japan. It didn’t elaborate on what the other countries were.

    Now, Google has mentioned another country by name. You can add the United Kingdom to that list. Matt Jackson at SocialMediaToday reports:

    During a presentation at London Tech Week, Google’s Eileen Naughton said that not only are more searches conducted on UK mobile devices than on UK desktops, but that more UK YouTube searches were also conducted on mobile devices.

    The YouTube part is interesting as well, as Google hasn’t mentioned that before when talking about this subject, at least to my knowledge.

    The growing mobile search trend obviously illustrates why Google has put so much emphasis on websites being mobile-friendly and begun taking app indexing into account when ranking search results.

    The world is going mobile, and websites that don’t follow are going to be left behind. A recent study found that the mobile-friendly update bumped down about half of pages it threatened to, but it’s still early days. It’s not as if mobile-friendliness is going to become less of a factor going forward.

    Image via Google

  • Amazon Hikes Free Shipping Threshold in the UK

    If you’ve been ordering stuff from Amazon for a while, you probably remember a time when Amazon’s free delivery would kick in no matter what you bought.

    In the UK, the first minimum spend threshold came in 2013, when Amazon forced customers to buy at least £10 worth of product to qualify for Free Super Saver Delivery.

    Now, that’s doubling to £20

    Of course, you could just pay £79 a year for Amazon Prime and avoid this threshold altogether … or at least that’s probably what Amazon wants people to consider.

    Engadget UK first spotted the new rules, which go into effect at 6pm. They say Amazon “may also be moving to to cover the cost of its wide range of delivery options, which now include same-day collection and shipment to your local Post Office.”

    Folks in the States should recognize this sort of move. In October of 2013, Amazon upped the free shipping threshold to $35. Free delivery had previously kicked in at any $25 order – and it was that way for a decade.

    If you have a £7 item lying around in your cart, you better go ahead and buy it now. Super Saver delivery still kicks in at £10.00, according to Amazon UK’s help page.

    Image via Stephen Woods, Flickr Creative Commons

  • Revenge Porn Now a Specific Offense in the UK, Punishable by Up to Two Years in Jail

    Revenge porn has been a hot topic in legislatures and courtrooms both across the US and abroad. Now, the UK is poised to pass a new law that will make the sharing of images without one’s consent a specific criminal offense.

    By changing the Criminal Justice & Courts Bill (currently making its way through Parliament), the UK will make the distribution of revenge porn a crime punishable by up to two years in prison. Previously, people had been brought up on charges relating to revenge porn, but had been prosecuted under various other laws. This is the first time there will be a specific criminal offense dealing with revenge porn.

    Here’s what the Ministry of Justice has to say:

    The change will cover the sharing of images both online and offline. It will mean that images posted to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter will be caught by the offence, as well as those that are shared via text message. Images shared via email, on a website or the distribution of physical copies will also be caught. Those convicted will face a maximum sentence of 2 years in prison.

    “The fact that there are individuals who are cruelly distributing intimate pictures of their former partners without their consent is almost beyond belief. We want those who fall victim to this type of disgusting behaviour to know that we are on their side and will do everything we can to bring offenders to justice. That is why we will change the law and make it absolutely clear to those who act in this way that they could face prison,” said Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.

    In the US, revenge porn laws vary from state to state. There has been talk of a revenge porn barn at the federal level, but it has yet to materialize.

  • March Madness: If UK Plays Duke, Lexington Will Burn, No Matter How It Ends

    March Madness is a bigger deal in Kentucky than Christmas. Many outside the Bluegrass State may think that the running of the Kentucky Derby is a bigger event, but they would be wring. Sure, the Derby is a huge deal. But it’s one day and done. March Madness is more like a holiday season, without the annoying too-early end-cap displays and music.

    March Madness comes around just when it should. And with it, the fevered dreams of how it might all go down. Brackets get filled out, then busted. Bets are lost, hearts are broken, and friendships are made and lost.

    But this year, March Madness has put a smell in the air that Wildcat and Blue Devil fans have not sensed in years.

    The upcoming Final Four games pair Duke against Michigan State and Kentucky against Wisconsin. Seeing those teams listed so close to each other on one page is exciting enough. But every citizen of Big Blue Nation knows what that could mean. With all respect to Wisconsin and Michigan State, the lure of a UK-Duke showdown is too exciting to dismiss.

    But what if it happened? What if this March Madness season sees a battle royale of these two teams?

    If you don’t live in Kentucky, you may not understand the depth of this. While many think that the rivalry between the Wildcats of UK and the Cardinals of U of L is the biggest thing going, that pales in comparison to the animosity that UK fans hold for the Duke Blue Devils.

    We won’t review here the sordid tale of the Laettner Stomp. But the passions the mere mention of Duke elicit run deep. The old cliché of having two favorite teams — UK and whoever plays Duke — is true in Wildcat country.

    This is a genuine concern for Lexington residents. When the Cats win, there is much revelry and partying. Couch-burning has become the go-to activity when celebrating wins. The Lexington authorities have already taken the preemptive step of banning all “indoor furniture” from being outside in certain areas of Lexington during the entirety of the NCAA tournament.

    If UK plays Duke for the championship, one of two things could happen:

    UK could win. In which case, there will be fires and mayhem.

    UK could lose to Duke. In which case, there could be days of fires and mayhem.

    While the thought of a UK-Duke matchup is tempting, for the safety of everyone in the Lexington area, I gotta hope Michigan State meets us on April 6.

  • ‘Black Mirror’ Is Likely Getting a U.S. Version

    ‘Black Mirror’ Is Likely Getting a U.S. Version

    Black Mirror, the British sci-fi anthology that you should have already blown through on Netflix, could be hopping across the pond for an American spin.

    Speaking at a conference, prodcers Cris Abrego and Charlie Corwin of Endemol Shine North America told the audience that a U.S. version of the breakout series in in the works.

    Well, what he actually said was “there is a plan”, but wouldn’t elaborate further.

    From Variety:

    “We’re going to take every advantage of that to bring amazing shows from around the world to American audiences,” said Corwin. Examples include Shine’s crime drama for FX, “The Bridge,” and Fox’s “Gracepoint,” a rendition of U.K. series “Broadchurch.”

    Neither of those Yank adaptations were commercially successful, but that hasn’t deterred Endemol Shine from pursuing other formats. With the heat that “Black Mirror” generated simply from word of mouth on Netflix, a U.S. version was all but inevitable.

    Black Mirror hit Netflix last month and almost instantly took over water cooler conversation. Of course that water cooler conversation was probably done in whispers, as the first episode of the series involves the British PM being forced to screw a pig on live television. It would be interesting to see how the show morphs when translated for an American audience. Hopefully not a lot, as Black Mirror‘s original creator Charlie Booker has said in the past that he would be involved in any American spin-off.

    Black Mirror is kind of hard to explain, but the best way to do it is to call it a sci-fi anthology – like a modern-day Twilight Zone. Every episode is different – completely untethered from the previous one – except they all seem to explore common themes: technology, media, voyeurism, the future, to name a handful.

    As with most great things from other countries that receive the inevitable red, white, and blue makeover, the sentiment is the same: Don’t fuck it up.

  • Google Rolls Local Update Out To More Countries

    Back in July, Google launched an algorithm update that shook up local search results in the U.S. While Google never gave it an official name like Panda or Penguin that we’re aware of, Search Engine Land started calling it the “Pigeon” update, and that’s what people in the industry have, for the most part, adopted for it.

    That update has now reportedly started rolling out to other countries including the UK, Canada, and Australia.

    Back in July when the update launched, people noticed missing 7 packs in some types of local results, and Google confirmed the update, saying that it “ties deeper into their web search capabilities, including the hundreds of ranking signals they use in web search, along with search reatures such as Knowledge Graph, spelling correction, synonyms, and more.”

    The update was also said to improve distance and location parameters.

    Search Engine Land is now reporting that the update has significantly affected local businesses in the new regions, and points out that Google is, once again, making major algorithm changes around the holidays, which it had pretty much stopped doing until recently.

    As we’ve talked about in the past, Google updates around the holidays can deliver major blows to businesses at the most important sales time of the year. Now, not only are they rolling this update out, they’ve been slowly rolling out a new version of Penguin.

    Image via Google

  • Google Agrees To Remove Defaming Links In UK

    Google has settled a defamation suit in the UK, which was filed in response to content Google simply indexed in its search results. The settlement is noteworthy as historically Google has not claimed responsibility for the content in its results. It is, after all, just pointing to websites.

    Things have gotten trickier on that front in Europe, however, since the recent “right to be forgotten” ruling, which has forced Google to yank results based on requests and other criteria it has set, and is still trying to map out.

    This particular case actually isn’t directly related to that, but it’s certainly in the same ballpark, and further highlights how Google is treating this issue differently in Europe, even if it has no choice in some cases.

    The settlement (via Search Engine Land/BBC) was with Daniel Hegglin, a UK businessman, who had been called a murderer, a pedophile, and a KKK sympathizer by an alleged troll. He didn’t specifically target Google in the suit, but the company was brought into the case.

    Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Google said in a statement that it reached a “mutually acceptable agreement.”

    In all likelihood, this specific example of result removal is probably more tolerable by the search giant compared to the burden of the whole right to be forgotten mess. That is, by the way, getting even messier, as there’s talk that Google may have to get rid of these results throughout its global network of search engines. What once may have only had to be removed from one country’s version of Google may have to be removed from all of Google.

    Image via Google

  • The Queen Sends Her Very First Tweet

    The Queen Sends Her Very First Tweet

    Her Majesty The Queen has just sent out her very first tweet.

    Queen Elizabeth II tweeted that it’s a pleasure to open the Science Museum’s new Information Age Gallery. She sure hopes everyone will enjoy it.

    Who’s Elizabeth R? The “R” stands for “regina”, latin for Queen. It’s how the Queen signs things in an official capacity.

    And if you were skeptical about it really being her…

    The popular Queen has racked up over 19,000 retweets and 17,000 favorites in just over five hours after posting her first tweet. While not quite Pope-like numbers, it’s a pretty good entrance to the Twitterverse.

    Image via Science Museum, Twitter

  • Instagram Ads Are Jumping Across the Pond Very Soon

    As promised, Instagram is on the verge of taking its ad product global.

    In June, the company said that later in 2014 it would begin to introduce ads in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Now, it appears they’re about to make the jump across the pond:

    No word on when ads will hit Canada and Australia, but it appears that the UK launch is imminent.

    “The results for advertisers have been positive – and in some cases, well above the ad industry’s average for performance. We’re excited to build on this momentum, and in the coming months we will extend the same level of care and consideration as we introduce ads on Instagram to our global community,” said Instagram in June.

    “In the future we’ll also look to introduce ads on Instagram to additional countries across the world.”

    Instagram is getting serious about ads. The company made a big personnel move by appointing Facebook Regional Director James Quarles to the newly-created position of Global Head of Business and Brand Development at Instagram, and just recently debuted a new ad analytics suite for brands.

    Charlotte Williams (Twitter) via The Next Web
    Image via Instagram

  • Westboro Baptist Calls Hornet Killing God’s Wrath on Entire UK for Banning Them

    When the Compassionate Outreach Department of the Westboro Baptist Church decided to hop a plane and go protest yet another showing of “The Laramie Project” in England a few years back, they were met with a different kind of resistance than they face here in the good old U.S. of A.

    They were banned from entering the country, entirely.

    Usually, when the Westboro folks find themselves barred from protesting somewhere, they rub their hands together in glee. They’re about to make some more money!

    The “church” has made a cottage industry out of enraging people to the point that they violate the group’s civil rights by enacting restrictive picketing and protest laws to prevent them from coming. Westboro then sues the city that has enacted such an ordinance, scooping up money that gets funneled back into the church.

    So it must’ve stung to find out that they were banned from an entire country that they could not file suit in.

    Speaking of “stung” … the Intelligentsia of Westboro have issued a blog post, the group cites a Daily Mail story about a mother and daughter from the UK who were vacationing in Malaysia when they were killed by hornets.

    With no legitimate cause, that nation and their colonies BANNED WBCSAYS from any/all borders for WORDS they hate! We told them to #lifttheban but they refuse.

    God likes to use hornets to punish or afflict bad guys.

    They then cite Deuteronomy 7:20, “Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.”

    We realize that the blood of your vicious, tyrannical forefathers runs through your veins, giving you the predisposition to lash out at words that you don’t like and impotently try to ban them from the land (or, if you had even the hint of an opportunity, to lop off the heads of those speaking the words that trouble your tummies). But – too bad! No excuses will suffice when you stand before that God who formed you and commanded you to touch not his anointed and do his prophets no harm. You will have to account.

    Stand by for more true, righteous and effective judgments of the King of Eternity, if you refuse to lift that satanic ban of God’s word in that land!

  • Driverless Cars Will Hit UK Roads in January 2015

    Driverless Cars Will Hit UK Roads in January 2015

    Business Secretary Vince Cable and the UK Department for Transport have just announced a “fast track” initiative for driverless cars, saying that the autonomous vehicles will hit public roads in about six months.

    As the BBC reports, The Department for Transport is a little late on its own projections. The technology was supposed to hit roads in 2013, but up until now the cars have just been legal for tests on private roads.

    “The excellence of our scientists and engineers has established the UK as a pioneer in the development of driverless vehicles through pilot projects. Today’s announcement will see driverless cars take to our streets in less than 6 months, putting us at the forefront of this transformational technology and opening up new opportunities for our economy and society, said Cable.

    The Department is allowing this through a pilot program, in which cities in the UK can bid for a piece of a £10 million pool to host the driverless cars. In January of 2015, the Department will select up to three cities for the trials. Each trials will go for a year and a half to three years.

    “Driverless cars have huge potential to transform the UK’s transport network – they could improve safety, reduce congestion and lower emissions, particularly CO2. We are determined to ensure driverless cars can fulfil this potential which is why we are actively reviewing regulatory obstacles to create the right framework for trialling these vehicles on British roads,” said Transport Minister Claire Perry.

    Another part of this “fast track” initiative is the launch of a new review “to look at current road regulations to establish how the UK can remain at the forefront of driverless car technology and ensure there is an appropriate regime for testing driverless cars in the UK.”

    Despite some reservations from law enforcement officials, lawmakers, and the general population, driverless cars are pushing forward in the States as well. The most notable push is from Google, whose cars have logged over 700,000 total miles. Some states have already put the wheels in motion on updating current regulations to facilitate autonomous vehicles.

    Image via Google

  • AOL Offers Up Ad Inventory Programmatically In UK

    AOL Offers Up Ad Inventory Programmatically In UK

    AOL UK announced on Tuesday that it is making all of its reserved advertising inventory available programatically. That’s 100% of if inventory from its owned and operated sites, which will be in its proprietary Demand Side Platform (DSP).

    Advertisers can buy on AOL, The Huffington Post, Engadget, TechCrunch, Parentdish, and MyDaily in an automated, self-serve fashion. Formats including Project Devil/IAB Portrait, Billboard and Monster MPU will be available exlucisvely through its DSP. The company says additional formats will eventually be made available.

    “Automating the sale of reserved inventory, that is currently done manually, will free up a vast amount of time that is lost in the standard IO process, in addition to driving efficiencies and effectiveness with digital campaigns,” the company said in a blog post. “A number of agencies and advertisers are partners of AOL’s DSP including eBay, Amnet, Cadreon and Vivaki, and they will now have access to AOL’s complete reserved inventory.”

    “According to a recent IAB UK study the share of ads bought through programmatic technologies is estimated to grow from (47%) in 2014 to up to (60-75%) of total UK digital display advertising by 2017,” it said. “AOL has invested organically in programmatic technologies over the past few years, building both a proprietary Demand Side Platform (DSP) and Supply Side Platform (SSP). In the past 12 months, AOL acquired Adap.tv, a leading video trading platform and Convertro, an attribution modeling technology among others, as well as announcing AOL ONE by AOL in March this year: a cross screen programmatic platform that will include linear TV once rolled out in 2015.”

    Advertisers will also be able to utilize numerous formats through AOL’s network of third-party publishers.

    Image via AOL

  • Apple Announces This Year’s iTunes Festival

    Apple just announced its eighth annual iTunes Festival in London, which will take place throughout the month of September. Robert Plant, Maroon 5, Pharrell Williams, Beck, Sam Smith, Blondie, Kylie, David Guetta, 5 Seconds of Summer, Calvin Harris, and Chrissie Hynde are among this year’s headliners.

    Performances can be watched live or on-demand on iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch devices, as well as with Apple TV. Local media partners are running competitions, where fans can win tickets.

    Earlier this year, Apple held its first iTunes Festival in the U.S. at SXSW. Acts included Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, Pitbull, Keith Urban, and ZEDD.

    The festivals are typically held in London though. The first one was in 2007 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. The second was at KOKO in 2008.Since then, it’s been held in The Roundhouse, which is where this year’s will take place as well.

    “The iTunes Festival in London is back with another stunning line-up of world class performers and tremendous new acts,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “These live shows capture the heart and soul of iTunes and we love bringing them to our customers in the Roundhouse, as well as to the millions of people watching all over the world for free.”

    Since the first iTunes Festival, over 430 artists have performed for over 430,000 fans, with tens of millions of others watching performances online.

    Adele, Elton John, Foo Fighters, Justin Timberlake, Kings of Leon, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Muse, and Paul McCartney are among other artists who have performed over the years.

    Image via Apple

  • Netflix Is Looking To Employ Someone To Watch Netflix

    Netflix Is Looking To Employ Someone To Watch Netflix

    Netflix has a new job listing up for a “Netflix Tagger,” which is someone who will basically get paid to watch Netflix.

    Netflix describes the position in the above video:

    …A very special discerning viewer whose love for film and TV is so great that they’re ready to join our team of Netflix Taggers. Taggers are the bright sparks who help us make your Netflix personal. Their analytical minds pick up on the most subtle details. That’s why your Netflix profile doesn’t look like your gran’s (unless of course you have similar tastes). Sounds like a great job, doesn’t it?

    More from the job listing:

    Successful applicants will be responsible for watching and analyzing films and TV programmes that will be streaming on Netflix in the future. The tagger will deconstruct the films and programmes and describe them using objective tags.

    This “tagging process” is the first stage of the Netflix recommendation system and works in concert with advanced algorithms that generate highly personalized suggestions for every one of Netflix’s nearly 50 million members, offering them an individualized set of titles matching their tastes.

    Other responsibilities may also include acting as a UK/IE cultural consultant, highlighting UK/IE cultural specificities and taste preferences.

    The position is for someone from the UK/Ireland. Sorry, fellow Americans.

    Image via YouTube

  • Regulators Probe Facebook’s Emotion Experiment

    An experiment Facebook conducted with some of its users two years ago has been getting a lot of negative attention in recent days after a paper about it was published. The company basically took about 700,000 users, and tested the effects of showing them more positive or more negative posts in their News Feeds. The goal was to see how it affected users’ emotions (or at least the emotions conveyed in their own posts).

    Facebook has language in its terms of service, which indicate that it can use info for its own internal research, but it has come to light that this language was actually added after the test was conducted. Some people are outraged, and are calling Facebook’s practices unethical.

    Consumer Watchdog has publicly attacked the company (though this is pretty standard), and now regulators are taking a look at the situation.

    The Financial Times reports (registration required) that the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK is now investigating the company, and that it said it’s too early to tell what part of the law the company may have broken (if any). According to the report, the ICO has the power to force a company to change its policies and levy fines of up to £500,000.

    Additionally, as Bloomberg reports, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner’s office has been in contact with the company, which is important to note as Facebook’s European headquarters are located in Ireland. That report includes a statement from a Facebook UK spokesperson:

    “It’s clear that people were upset by this study and we take responsibility for it. We want to do better in the future and are improving our process based on this feedback. The study was done with appropriate protections for people’s information and we are happy to answer any questions regulators may have.”

    Facebook’s Adam Kramer, who co-authored the study, previously offered an explanation in a Facebook post. COO Sheryl Sandberg also reportedly said that the company did a poor job of communicating about it.

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