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Twitter introduces language targeting for promoted tweets and accounts across 20 languages

May07
by on May 7, 2014 at 5:46 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Social Media

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Twitter today launched language targeting for promoted tweets and promoted accounts. As a result, advertisers can now target both in 20 different languages while users will be able to see “highly relevant ads” in their language. Twitter says it uses “a number of different signals” to determine a user’s language, not just the language selected in their profile settings. The company also looks at the languages that correspond to their activity on Twitter, meaning a user can be targeted by multiple languages if Twitter decides that a user is multilingual. For advertisers, using the feature is a very straightforward two-step…

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Andy Baio crowdfunds $30,000 in 90 minutes to relaunch community event site Upcoming

May07
by on May 7, 2014 at 5:11 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

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Serial co-founder Andy Baio re-introduced Upcoming, the collaborative events site. Purchased by Yahoo in 2005 and shutdown last year, Baio is relaunching the site via Kickstarter. The site was a collaborative calendar of art and tech events. Curated by the community, Upcoming surfaced what was happening in your area and what your friends were doing. The original site launched in 2003. After the Yahoo purchase in 2005, Baio became disappointed in Yahoo’s lack of commitment to maintaining the community site. He left Yahoo in 2007. A month ago Baio was contacted by Yahoo. The company offered to sell him back…

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Amazon adds interstitial format to Mobile Ads API, expands support to the UK today, Germany in ‘coming months’

May07
by on May 7, 2014 at 4:34 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Design & Dev, Insider

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Amazon today announced its Mobile Ads API has gained a new way for Android developers to monetize their apps and games: full-screen interstitial ads. Furthermore, the company is starting to show ads to customers in Europe, starting with the UK today and then Germany “in the coming months.” Amazon argues that interstitial ads, which are typically displayed before expected content, use the entire screen “to fully engage users” and thus “generate greater revenue than traditional banner ads.” While that’s certainly true, it’s also equally true that users detest them for the very reasons they are successful. Here is how Amazon’s…

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Google acquires restaurant site builder Appetas, shuts it down so staff can work on ‘new endeavors’

May07
by on May 7, 2014 at 4:30 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Google

Google has acquired Appetas, a service that helps restaurants to build slick-looking websites that integrate with GrubHub, OpenTable, Foursquare and other services focused on the food industry. In a blog post, Appetas said it would be shutting down its service to focus on “new endeavors” with Google. It will also be helping its customers to move their sites to alternative platforms. “We’ll be reaching out to each customer individually to ensure a smooth transition,” the company added. As TechCrunch notes, the acquisition points to Google’s renewed interest in courting local businesses and tackling apps such as Yelp and Foursquare. I’ve argued…

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Pandora is trialling new ‘Promoted Stations’ with 10% of its 76m monthly active users

May07
by on May 7, 2014 at 3:44 pm
Posted In: Around the Web

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Pandora is testing a new native ad unit called ‘Promoted Stations‘ with 10 percent of the people who tune in to its Internet radio service. Currently in beta, these branded stations are auto-populated and then listed within the ‘Stations You Might Like’ section of the app. Initial partners for the new solution include Kleenex, Skechers, StubHub, Taco Bell and Toyota. It’s difficult to predict what each station will look like though. The company said Promoted Stations will “drive Pandora listeners to custom content”, before suggesting they’ll all offer a slightly different blend of brand-related tunes. “Pandora consults with advertisers to produce content in a variety of…

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