Social Media Story of the Week
Paying Twitter subscribers will be getting more characters per tweet. In the latest decision in a string of divisive changes to Twitter under Elon Musk’s reign, the platform will be rolling out 4,000-character tweets for users subscribed to Twitter Blue. Twitter Blue is the opt-in tier that grants any account a coveted blue verification checkmark at $8 or $11 a month. The service promises not only ‘verified’ status but also perks like an editing feature and algorithmic preference in user feeds.
Digital Story of the Week
Google has announced it is releasing its experimental conversational AI service called Bard. According to Google, Bard seeks to bring together the world’s knowledge and the intelligence of Google’s large language models. Google is playing catch-up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which has been a game-changer in the AI industry. Tim Lindley, managing director for Asia-Pacific at VaynerMedia told Campaign, ‘this feels like an exciting moment for search. He explains algorithms have improved, but search has essentially been the same since Google was invested, which is indexing text and surfacing the bits that best match a person’s query.’
Industry Story of the Week
The French have strict laws regarding Greenwashing, which marketers are keeping a close eye on amidst speculation this could be rolled out elsewhere in Europe. The French government have always taken a leading stance against greenwashing. In 2022, it became the first country to ban fossil fuel advertising altogether. All advertisers in France are also required by law to prove their green claims publicly or face a financial penalty. Stricter regulations are expected to be rolled out in 2023.
VOD Story of the Week
Disney have announced that streaming platform Disney+ will be shifting its focus from purely chasing a growth in subscriber numbers to trying to grow ‘quality’ subs that are less sensitive to pricing adjustments. The strategy comes as Disney+ reported its first-ever loss of subscribers in Q1 2023. The top-line loss of 2.4 million subscribers was led entirely by a 6% decline in their India division. The company has apparently taken lessons from the fact that Disney+ recent increase has not resulted in a loss of subscribers outside of India.