Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
It was Halloween in Orlando, and we had piled into a car to make a short trip from the Hilton to an after-party down the road, to wind up the first night of the latest edition of a gathering called the National Conservatism Conference. For at least many of the young people, the actual business…
Former UM privacy chief Arielle Garcia knows the $700bn global digital ad industry is founded on trading “useless, garbage data” because a) she spent a decade in media ops and compliance and b) she’s accessed her own profile from adtech vendors. The result? 500 laughably contradictory audience segments where she is simultaneously woman and man,…
It’s probably not the one I wrote. It would be weird if my book were your favorite book. It’s a geeky book about music-streaming and music and algorithms and technology and curiosity and morality and where we are right now, and your favorite book should probably be an immortal novel about how we always are,…
Many people dream of becoming social-media stars like YouTube’s MrBeast or TikTok’s Charli D’Amelio. But for most who pursue careers as content creators, just making ends meet is a lofty goal. Clint Brantley has been a full-time creator for three years, posting videos on TikTok, YouTube and Twitch where he comments on news and trends related to…
“Uncovering Earth’s Secrets: A Journey Into Its Deepest Hole” That’s the title of a made-for-arbitrage (MFA) article about a failed Soviet-era scientific expedition to drill a hole tens of thousands of feet into the Earth’s crust. But it could easily double as a headline for the latest ad tech exposé. The story referenced above appears…
Nine digital publishing execs that spoke with Digiday said they are investing in other social platforms like Instagram and TikTok to grow their reach. But the question remains if alternative platforms can actually make up the social referral deficit. As Digiday reported last year, those platforms do more for publishers trying to build up their…
Google Is Killing Retro Dodo & Other Independent Sites It honestly breaks my heart to write this article, but I want to be as transparent as possible with our readers because you are the ones that have quite literally kept our lights on over the past five years, and you deserve to know the truth…
Forbes for years ran an alternate version of its website where it packed ads that were intended to run on Forbes.com, another sign that brands don’t always get what they pay for in the opaque digital-advertising market. The alternate site, which Forbes shut down Tuesday following inquiries from The Wall Street Journal, featured stories from…
Kotaku’s future is hanging in the balance. It hinges on whether the decades-popular online publication’s owner G/O Media succeeds in transforming it from a gaming news outlet to a hub for game guides — tips and walkthroughs to help gamers overcome tricky challenges. This strategic shift is a gamble for G/O Media, spurred by the…
Shane Smith built Vice into a cultural behemoth by bluffing his way into round after round of funding — until he reached a dizzying $5.7 billion valuation from which only a precipitous fall was possible. That fall has been happening in slow motion for years, but things finally crashed to the ground in February of…