Google will now dictate the business model of News apps?
Plus, Zoom usage has increased the demand for plastic surgery..
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Some of the important pieces for today:
Google Goes After News Apps: Prohibits Ad based and Affiliate model from Android Based News Apps
Google has updated its news apps policy and this pretty much kills the news apps’ business model, i.e. ads and affiliate marketing.
This what Google has to say:
News apps MUST NOT:
contain significant spelling & or grammatical errors,
contain only static content (e.g., content that is several months old), and
have affiliate marketing or ad revenue as its primary purpose.
How else will news apps make money, then?
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You can now embed Apple Podcasts on the web
Apple is making it easier to discover and listen to podcasts via the web.
The company announced today an Apple Podcasts embed web player is now available, allowing anyone — including creators, listeners or marketers — to generate embed codes for the more than 1.5 million shows available across the Apple Podcasts service.
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Zoom meetings may be affecting self-image; Demand for plastic surgery growing
This Covid induced pandemic has given cause for virtual meetings and this in turn has led to a rise in the number of people wanting plastic surgery. A new study has revealed that demand of plastic surgery has grown significantly due to something called “Zoom Dysmorphia”.
Maruti Suzuki India sells over 2 lakh cars online
India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki claimed to have sold over 2 lakh cars online and said their digital channel now covers nearly 1,000 dealerships across the country. The digital inquiry and sales contributions are exceeding 33% since the last 5 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Interestingly, customers who enquire through our digital channel end up purchasing a car within 10 days. This reaffirms that with a robust online to offline platform executed by a digitally enabled salesforce, converting digital inquiries into sales becomes easier.”
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Post US sanctions, Huawei sells its Honor smartphone brand
After reports of Huawei finalizing a buyer for the Honor smartphone unit, It is now official that Huawei will sell the brand to a consortium of over 30 agents and dealers.
The buyers will be setting up a new company called Shenzen Zhixin New Information Technology (SZNIT) to complete the deal.
Huawei was finding it tough to keep the brand going as it was facing sanctions from the US, which has placed them on the entity list and has barred many chipmakers from supplying chips to them.
With an eye on immersive shopping, Flipkart Group acquires augmented reality startup Scapic
Bengaluru based Scapic, is a cloud-based platform and will help Flipkart accelerate its efforts towards “deeper camera experiences, virtual storefronts, and new opportunities for brand advertising on its platform
Zoom launches ‘At-Risk Meeting Notifier’ feature to battle ‘zoombombing’
Video conferencing platform Zoom’s new feature, At-Risk Meeting Notifier will alert conference organizers whenever it finds a Zoom meeting URL online. This, as Zoom says is to prevent increasing instances of Zoombombing or unwarranted interruptions to online meetings.
The At Risk Meeting Notifier will scan public posts on social media sites and other public online resources for Zoom meeting links to help identify which meetings could potentially get Zoombombed.
Winning the climate change argument: A Story from Kutch
No one is really out to save the environment yet almost everyone uses a solar product.
A thread from Bhuj, Kutch
China suffers great losses in India as local traders cross Rs 72,000 crores in Diwali sales
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has said the Diwali sales in major markets across the festive season has jumped to as high as Rs. 72,000 crores and this has happened despite there being a total ban on all Chinese products.
It is expected that the Chinese traders have suffered losses up to Rs. 40,000 crores. CAIT had earlier issued a call to boycott all Chinese products following the skirmishes seen between these two neighbors.