A recent update to the Instagram app suggests the company is going all-in on Reels, much to the dismay of loyal users. Those who have logged in to Instagram over the past couple of days will have noticed a small but meaningful change to the user interface. On the bottom navigation bar, users will now…

Michael Lewittes, a veteran entertainment journalist who worked at numerous large media outlets, started his entertainment news site Gossip Cop and later sold it to a private equity firm at the top of the site’s performance. We discussed how he did it and how he managed to work through numerous Google search algorithm updates —…

The problem of hijacked Google My Business listings (GMB) – where someone other than the business gains control of the local profile – appears to be growing. SterlingSky’s Joy Hawkins has reported on the trend and some of the methods used by spammers and scammers. GMB phishing. Unethical local marketers are effectively phishing, using the…

It’s the 2020 holiday shopping season and it’s different than previous shopping seasons, and retailers everywhere are going to need to manage things carefully. Let’s take a closer look. Shoppers will lean on digital A Google-commissioned Ipsos survey says that 74 percent of U.S. Shoppers are going to do more online shopping than they did previously this…

The American’s with Disabilities act has influenced the way businesses need to operate online. Now more than ever, providing the proper website accessibility is becoming undeniably more important, not only because it’s the right thing to do, to give all visitors an opportunity to get to your services or products, but also because costly lawsuits…

Last week California voters passed Proposition 24, the California Privacy Rights and Enforcement Act (CPRA). It builds upon the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which only went into effect this year. CPRA is slated to replace it in 2023. Among other things, CPRA expands the types of data covered (any data “shared” with third parties);…

Spotify is acquiring Megaphone, a leading podcast advertising and publishing platform, in an effort to expand advertising options for podcasters. Megaphone is used by over 20,000 podcast publishers and advertisers including The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Vox Media, ESPN, How Stuff Works, and more. In an announcement, Spotify says this acquisition represents the next step…

Coming at the end of a roughly two-year investigation, the European Commission (EC) has accused Amazon of violating EU competition law by unfairly using access to non-public data on its platform to undermine competition. Amazon’s behavior as a retailer and as a marketplace are in conflict, according to the antitrust enforcer.   Predatory data and…