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Apple has a big decision to make
Apple’s upcoming IDFA privacy update has marketers scrambling to figure out solutions. And it’s got some of China’s tech giants working on a potential loophole – one that might force Apple to make an important decision.
Here’s what’s happening: Most businesses have accepted that, starting this year, there will be major changes to tracking on iOS. But, some major Chinese companies aren’t so quick to give up.
The Chinese Advertising Association has developed a system called CAID, a device fingerprinting technology that could track users without their permission. This would circumvent the entire design of Apple’s privacy update, rendering it useless.
This advertising association isn’t small, either: It counts ByteDance and Tencent among its members.
This all leaves Apple with a burning question: Does China get an exception?
What this means for marketers worldwide: If Apple blocks popular Chinese apps from the App Store (which is unlikely), it risks getting hit with massive financial consequences. If Apple gives China an exception, though, then device fingerprinting is fair game worldwide and the privacy update doesn’t mean much.
Eric Seufert summarizes it all well in his Twitter thread, if you want more context – and hints that another delay to the privacy update might be on the way.
The details on Facebook’s new platform
Facebook’s building a new platform.
It might be a while before the platform launches. But right now, it sounds like a Substack-meets-Patreon concept, where creators can offer various types of paid content. Here are some details:
- The platform is being tested with a small group of writers. This is a good indication that, at least to start, the platform will be catered towards writers. Paid newsletters are all the rage now (see: Substack and Revue) and Facebook’s looking to jump on board.
- It’ll be integrated with Facebook. This probably comes as no surprise, but the platform will allow creators to create Groups for interacting with their audiences and advertising their products.
- It’s got website-building tools. Now, this is unique – Axios reports that the platform will have tools that help creators build their own websites. What exactly these tools look like, though, is anyone’s guess.
The Crew’s take: The internet has become a gold rush for creators, and Facebook seems to be hopping on the trend. And for marketers, more creators with audiences means more sponsorship potential!
SPONSORED BY GOTZHA
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March has been quite a month for Gotzha.
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So why not give it a try?
To find out exactly what Gotzha can do for your business, visit www.gotzha.com or sign up today.
FROM THE CREW
Noah Kagan talks growth strategies and discovering what you love
If you were reading yesterday, you will have seen Part 1 of our interview with Noah Kagan. It was all about YouTube and content creation tips. You can check it out here, if you want to get caught up.
But we’re back today with Part 2, where we’re diving into Noah’s growth mindset behind AppSumo, how to find what you love, and more. The full interview is here.
Here are some highlights:
+ On the secret to AppSumo’s success
“I think the way I started it was… It’s what I learned from everything I’ve done that I can make better today. I worked at Intel in a cubicle. Then I did product management at Facebook. Then I worked in Facebook Games… And getting customers for people is never going to go out of business. That was where I started.
I also think we treated it like professionals. I see a lot of people out there and companies treating it like a hobby. And that’s great. But that’s a hobby. If you were trying to treat it like a professional, there’s a difference, like a professional approach is much more different.”
+ On never retiring, and doing what you love
“Retiring doesn’t make any sense to me. Why don’t you find things that you’ll never want to stop doing? When my parents retired, they were in the older generation that had jobs that sucked. They complained about it all the time. And then the first moment that they could get the 4% rule, which is, you know, taking your money out of your retirement accounts and living off that, they did. And that to me seems like hell.
So, I think it is hard for all of us, including myself, to find and accept the thing that we just enjoy doing and making that our careers.”
+ On the craziest thing he’s ever done
“Having an intercourse without condoms. I think that’s kind of crazy. People do it without condoms. I think it’s very risky. That’s some very expensive sex. That could be literally like, $100,000 lovemaking. I’m not a very risky entrepreneur. I think I’m more risky, non-professionally. But professionally, most of the stuff we do is pretty calculated.”
There’s plenty more in the full version of the interview, which is available for free on our site. And that wraps it up for Noah’s interview!
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
TWITTER: Kyle Byers just posted a nice trick for seeing when the majority of your audience is active. Check it out to figure out when you should be tweeting!
GOOGLE: There’s a new tool on Google My Business that’ll let you manage reviews. You can see the status of reviews you’ve flagged, and submit appeals to Google.
TWITTER: Russia is threatening to ban Twitter within the next month, if the platform doesn’t comply with the country’s demands to remove some content.
TIKTOK: To keep improving their ad business, TikTok expanded its brand safety tools to Australia, Canada and the UK, in addition to the US.
CLUBHOUSE: The social media kid turned 1 year and keeps gaining momentum. They’ll celebrate with 13 million downloads gained this year.
BRAIN TEASER
What’s the coolest letter in the alphabet?
You can find the solution here.
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
Let the meat wars begin
We don’t get into politics in this newsletter – but there’s nothing better than some ridiculous politician-versus-politician drama.
We got a good dose of that this week, when the governor of Nebraska declared that this Saturday, March 20th, will be called “Meat On The Menu Day”, to encourage Nebraskans to eat meat.
Why it’s making headlines: Well… Choosing Saturday as the “Meat On The Menu Day” certainly wasn’t a coincidence.
About a month ago, the governor of Colorado (a neighboring state) declared March 20th as “MeatOut Day”, urging Coloradans to consider eating less meat.
There are no real laws being passed here – people can eat what they want – but this beef between neighboring governors was wild enough to catch our attention.