Thursday, April 4, 2019

Cannabis banking reform is smart, necessary and politically viable

Aaron Smith Contributor

Aaron Smith is co-founder and executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA).

Pressure is steadily mounting on U.S. lawmakers to implement comprehensive cannabis banking reform at the federal level, and that pressure is coming from all directions.

Rapid shifts in public opinion and a rising number of states with legal medical and adult-use cannabis sales have laid bare an obvious need to update our banking laws to meet the age of regulated cannabis markets. And earlier this month, Congress tackled the issue head on in a widely anticipated hearing that had huge implications for the future of banking for America’s legal cannabis industry.

The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act was among the most notable topics discussed during the House Financial Services Committee hearing February 13, which was titled “Challenges and Solutions: Access to Banking Services for Cannabis-Related Businesses.”

The legislation, which would provide safe harbor to banks working with state-legal cannabis businesses, counts a large and diverse group of lawmakers, regulators, law enforcement professionals, financial institutions, businesses interests and trade organizations among its supporters.

House Financial Services Committee member Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), along with Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA), introduced the SAFE Banking Act in the last Congress, with 95 co-sponsors — including 13 Republicans — signing on. Twenty bipartisan co-sponsors signed onto the companion bill, introduced in the Senate by Jeff Merkley (D-OR). The two bills drew some heavyweight co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and in the House, Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), Rep. David Joyce (R-OH), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).

And a bipartisan group of 19 state attorneys general came together last year to urge Congress to advance legislation that would allow state-legal cannabis businesses to utilize traditional banking services available to every other legal industry in the United States.

Groups like the Credit Union National Association, the Independent Community of Bankers of America, American Bankers Association and the National Cannabis Industry Association are also vocal advocates for the measure.

As the U.S. cannabis industry continues along its steady growth trajectory, access to banking services is perhaps the most critical challenge facing operators.

And that wasn’t the first attempt in the House to address the cannabis banking problem. In 2014, House lawmakers passed an amendment to an appropriations bill (228-195) that, much like the SAFE Banking Act, would have extended legal protections to financial institutions working with state-regulated cannabis businesses. The measure failed to move through the Senate, however.

But much has changed since 2014. Ten states and Washington, DC, have now legalized cannabis for adult use; 33 states have legalized comprehensive medical cannabis programs; two in three Americans now support legalizing cannabis nationwide for recreational use, according to Gallup polling data; and a majority of older Americans — a formidable voting bloc — now supports legalization. Momentum around cannabis reform is spreading across the globe as well, with cannabis now legally available to adults for recreational use in both Canada and Uruguay, and numerous countries mulling similar reforms.

A brand new multi-billion-dollar industry has risen up in a few short years, and yet, most financial institutions in the U.S. remain reluctant to work with cannabis businesses due to fears of violating federal money laundering laws. That fear has forced the majority of cannabis businesses to operate on a cash-only basis — creating massive security risks, logistical nightmares and regulatory headaches for all parties involved.

As the U.S. cannabis industry continues along its steady growth trajectory, access to banking services is perhaps the most critical challenge facing operators. The recent House Financial Services Subcommittee hearing represents the committee’s first-ever hearing on this issue — a promising first step toward passing the SAFE Banking Act.

Sixty-seven percent of Americans across the political spectrum want Congress to enact legislation allowing financial institutions to do business with legal cannabis operators, according to polling data from think tank Third Way.

With this new Congress, there may finally be progress. Rep. Perlmutter and Rep. Heck plan to re-introduce the SAFE Banking Act in the House, and Sen. Merkley is expected to re-introduce a similar measure in the Senate. Now we need House lawmakers to prioritize this issue and move these measures through the legislature, so they can become the law of the land.

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Amazon reportedly readying its Alexa-powered answer to Airpods

{rss:content:encoded} Amazon reportedly readying its Alexa-powered answer to Airpods https://ift.tt/2YNXZKO https://ift.tt/2TZocT2 April 04, 2019 at 11:29PM

Amazon is ready to challenge Apple with a cheaper, Alexa-powered set of wireless earbuds. If successful it would carve out a space for the popular digital assistant, and its deep connections to the rest of Amazon’s ecosystem, in the mobile world Amazon has hitherto largely failed to penetrate. But that’s a big if.

A report from Bloomberg details the upcoming hardware, which sounds a lot like Airpods (and the handful of other wireless sets that have appeared): a pair of small wireless in-ear buds, a case that doubles as a charger, and built-in controls and a mic so you can control your music, talk to friends, and ask Alexa things on the go.

Of course, the obvious question is how exactly this will work, given that Airpods have special privileges as first-party Apple hardware that let them perform tasks others can’t yet do. If your phone is locked, non-Airpod headphones (for instance Galaxy Buds) can’t connect through their associated app to look stuff up or provide services. You can of course set up a “Hey Siri, OK Google” situation, but that’s a bit sad.

Google Assistant iOS update lets you say ’Hey Siri, OK Google’

Bloomberg’s report says that the Alexa headphones let you “order goods, access music, weather and other information,” but it isn’t clear under what circumstances. If you have to have the phone unlocked and an app open for it to work, the whole thing is a non-starter. And it seems unlikely that Apple would grant Amazon some kind of clearance to do the kind of things only Airpods can do.

It’s conceivable that the headphones will, when possible, connect instead on detection of a command to a compatible Alexa device nearby with an internet connection — and there’s no shortage of those in many a tech-savvy home. But if you’re walking down the street and need to ask directions, you may have to pull the phone out, which rather negates the already somewhat limited convenience of owning a pair of wireless headphones.

A cheaper price tag and potentially better audio quality may not be enough to make this particular endeavor a winner, but we’ll know more if and when Amazon goes official.

‘This is Your Life in Silicon Valley’: NYT’s Mike Isaac discusses his upcoming Uber book, Leaks from Facebook and More

Welcome to this week’s transcribed edition of This is Your Life in Silicon Valley. We’re running an experiment for Extra Crunch members that puts This is Your Life in Silicon Valley in words – so you can read from wherever you are.

This is your Life in Silicon Valley was originally started by Sunil Rajaraman and Jascha Kaykas-Wolff in 2018. Rajaraman is a serial entrepreneur and writer (Co-Founded Scripted.com, and is currently an EIR at Foundation Capital), Kaykas-Wolff is the current CMO at Mozilla and ran marketing at BitTorrent. Rajaraman and Kaykas-Wolff started the podcast after a series of blog posts that Sunil wrote for The Bold Italic went viral. The goal of the podcast is to cover issues at the intersection of technology and culture – sharing a different perspective of life in the Bay Area. Their guests include entrepreneurs like Sam Lessin, journalists like Kara Swisher and politicians like Mayor Libby Schaaf and local business owners like David White of Flour + Water.

This week’s edition of This is Your Life in Silicon Valley features Mike Isaac, whose upcoming book about Uber – ‘Super Pumped’ – is sure to generate controversy. Isaac conducted hundreds of interviews for the book, and answers some pointed questions about his research during this podcast. Isaac also talks about press leaks, Facebook hacks and more during this interview.

If you want to hear what Mike would ask Travis Kalanick if he had the opportunity for a sitdown, you don’t want to miss this transcript.

For access to the full transcription, become a member of Extra Crunch. Learn more and try it for free.

Sunil Rajaraman:

Welcome to season three of This is your Life in Silicon Valley, a podcast about the Bay Area, technology, and culture. I’m your host Sunil Rajaraman, and I’m joined by my cohost, Jascha Kaykas-Wolff-Wolff. This is your Life in Silicon Valley is brought to you by The Bold Italic.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J ‘This is Your Life in Silicon Valley’: NYT’s Mike Isaac discusses his upcoming Uber book, Leaks from Facebook and More https://ift.tt/2uN3VWU

Twitter reverses stance and allows ad encouraging you to vote in France

Political ads on social networks have become a lot more complicated in France after the French parliament passed the so-called “fake news law” in late 2018. But the French government didn’t expect Twitter to refuse an ad telling you to register to vote for the European election in May.

Among other things, the fake news law says that you can’t run a political ad without complying to a new set of rules. For instance, social networks have to display who is paying for those campaigns. Social networks also have to say how much money they receive for those campaigns.

As Next INpact noted, Twitter updated its terms of service on February 1 to say that all political campaigning ads are forbidden in France.

Maybe Twitter isn’t ready yet to display this information. Maybe Twitter thinks public interest campaigns related to an election are political ads. But there’s one thing for sure — Twitter can refuse any ad on its own website.

But the minister of culture, the minister of digital and the minister of the interior all complained about Twitter’s decision… on Twitter.

Il faut mettre fin à l’irresponsabilité des plateformes : @Twitter fait mine de ne pas comprendre une loi permettant simplement une meilleure information des citoyens en période électorale… alors que @facebook a décidé de l’appliquer, en anticipation, dans tous les pays ! https://t.co/b3PzSZhE6i

— Franck Riester (@franckriester) April 2, 2019

Le vote est sacré. Il est inacceptable qu’une campagne du gouvernement pour l’inscription sur les listes électorales soit bloquée par une plateforme. Je recevrai les dirigeants de @twitter europe dans les heures à venir. https://t.co/JySyN9mGfv via @Le_Figaro

— cedric_o (@cedric_o) April 2, 2019

La priorité de Twitter devrait être de combattre les contenus faisant l'apologie du terrorisme.
Pas les campagnes incitant à s’inscrire sur les listes électorales d'une république démocratique.
Ce sujet sera abordé jeudi avec les GAFA lors du G7 des ministres de l'Intérieur.

— Christophe Castaner (@CCastaner) April 2, 2019

This morning, Cédric O, the newly appointed digital minister, talked with Twitter executives to convince them to change their mind. And it worked — Twitter has updated its terms of service and this decision could have broader consequences in other European countries.

A Twitter spokesperson sent me the following statement:

Promoting and protecting the integrity of #EUelection2019 is a core part of our mission for the next few months. That includes encouraging voter participation. Following enactment of the “Manipulation de l’information” law, we decided to prohibit all issue based advertising targeting France, which included Get Out The Vote type campaigns. Following consideration, we have now decided to allow campaigns aimed at encouraging voter participation. We are please to make this clarification and will continue to promote and protect the integrity of the #EUelection2019 conversation in the coming months.

I interviewed Cédric O yesterday and he thinks terms of service give too much power to social networks. “When Facebook updates its terms of service, it has regulatory effects — it nearly becomes legislation — for 2 billion people,” he said. Maybe it’s time to end the big lie of terms of service.

How France’s new digital minister plans to regulate tech

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Startup Law A to Z: Regulatory Compliance

Startups are but one species in a complex regulatory and public policy ecosystem. This ecosystem is larger and more powerfully dynamic than many founders appreciate, with distinct yet overlapping laws at the federal, state and local/city levels, all set against a vast array of public and private interests. Where startup founders see opportunity for disruption in regulated markets, lawyers counsel prudence: regulations exist to promote certain strongly-held public policy objectives which (unlike your startup’s business model) carry the force of law.

Snapshot of the regulatory and public policy ecosystem. Image via Law Office of Daniel McKenzie

Although the canonical “ask forgiveness and not permission” approach taken by Airbnb and Uber circa 2009 might lead founders to conclude it is strategically acceptable to “move fast and break things” (including the law), don’t lose sight of the resulting lawsuits and enforcement actions. If you look closely at Airbnb and Uber today, each have devoted immense resources to building regulatory and policy teams, lobbying, public relations, defending lawsuits, while increasingly looking to work within the law rather than outside it – not to mention, in the case of Uber, a change in leadership as well.

Indeed, more recently, examples of founders and startups running into serious regulatory issues are commonplace: whether in healthcare, where CEO/Co-founder Conrad Parker was forced to resign from Zenefits and later fined approximately $500K; in the securities registration arena, where cryptocurrency startups Airfox and Paragon have each been fined $250K and further could be required to return to investors the millions raised through their respective ICOs; in the social media and privacy realm, where TikTok was recently fined $5.7 million for violating COPPA, or in the antitrust context, where tech giant Google is facing billions in fines from the EU.

Suffice it to say, regulation is not a low-stakes table game. In 2017 alone, according to Duff and Phelps, US financial regulators levied $24.4 billion in penalties against companies and another $621.3 million against individuals. Particularly in today’s highly competitive business landscape, even if your startup can financially absorb the fines for non-compliance, the additional stress and distraction for your team may still inflict serious injury, if not an outright death-blow.

The best way to avoid regulatory setbacks is to first understand relevant regulations and work to develop compliant policies and business practices from the beginning. This article represents a step in that direction, the fifth and final installment in Extra Crunch’s exclusive “Startup Law A to Z” series, following previous articles on corporate matters, intellectual property (IP), customer contracts and employment law.

Given the breadth of activities subject to regulation, however, and the many corresponding regulations across federal, state, and municipal levels, no analysis of any particular regulatory framework would be sufficiently complete here. Instead, the purpose of this article is to provide founders a 30,000-foot view across several dozen applicable laws in key regulatory areas, providing a “lay of the land” such that with some additional navigation and guidance, an optimal course may be charted.

The regulatory areas highlighted here include: (a) Taxes; (b) Securities; (c) Employment; (d) Privacy; (e) Antitrust; (f) Advertising, Commerce and Telecommunications; (g) Intellectual Property; (h) Financial Services and Insurance; and finally (i) Transportation, Health and Safety.

Of course, some regulations may touch on multiple regulatory areas, for example, the “Fair Credit Reporting Act” is a law ultimately about privacy, but it impacts many financial and employment-related services as well. Certain laws may therefore be cross-listed in more than one regulatory area. Also, since we can’t look at every U.S. state and city, this article will focus primarily on the federal and California state laws.

After you focus on the particular regulatory areas that may implicate your business, next reference the short quotations and links to relevant primary and secondary sources below, then work to identify the specific compliance risks you face. This is where other Extra Crunch resources can help. For example, the Verified Experts of Extra Crunch include some of the most experienced and skilled startup lawyers in practice today. Use these profiles to identify attorneys who are focused on serving companies at your particular stage and then seek out any further guidance you need to address the regulatory matters pertinent to your startup.

With that as context, the Startup Law A to Z – Regulatory Compliance checklist is below:

Securities

Federal
California
- Corporate Securities Law of 1968

Employment

Federal
California

Privacy

Federal
California:
International:
- GDPR

Antitrust

Federal
California
- Cartwright Act

Advertising, Commerce and Telecommunications

Federal
California

Intellectual Property

Federal
California
- Uniform Trade Secrets Act

Financial Services and Insurance

Federal
California
- Financial Information Privacy Act
- Song-Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971

Transportation, Health & Safety

Federal
- Department of Transportation Act
- Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
California
- Confidentiality of Medical Information Act
- Public Utilities Act

Before diving into further detail, it may be helpful for some readers to note the distinction between a law and a regulation. Simply put, regulations provide more detailed direction on how certain laws should be followed. So regulations are not technically laws, but they carry the force of law (including penalties for violation), since they are adopted by governmental agencies under authority granted by statute. Beyond that, understanding how laws and regulations are actually enacted is helpful to illustrate the extent to which the process is politically driven.

In the U.S., a bill must first pass both legislative branches of government, then, if signed by the executive branch, it will be codified in statute as law (Schoolhouse Rock anyone?). Once codified, the legislative branch will authorize the relevant executive department or agency to determine whether specific regulations are necessary to give the law effect. If so, those executive departments or agencies will determine what further rules are needed, and in turn, work to enforce them.

At the federal level, for example, proposed regulations are developed first through a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,” listed in the Federal Register and filed in the corresponding executive agency’s official docket (available at Regulations.gov). This affords the public an opportunity to comment on the regulations. After receiving comments, the filing agency may revise the proposed regulation before final rules are issued, which again will be published in the Federal Register and then filed in the agency’s official docket at Regulations.gov, before they are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

At nearly every step in this process then, institutions, government, and interest groups are working – sometimes at cross purposes – to shape what the law will be and how it will impact your startup.

The Startup Law A to Z – Regulatory Compliance reference guide is below:

A. TAXES

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Snapchat launches Mario Party-style multiplayer games platform

Snap is unlocking a new revenue stream while giving you something to do in between chats and Stories. Today Snapchat debuts its Snap Games platform that lets you play real-time, multiplayer games while texting and talking with your friends. The platform is based off Snap’s secret late-2017 acquisition of PrettyGreat, an Australian game studio with talent from HalfBrick which built Fruit Ninja. That team built Bitmoji Party, a Mario Party-style mini-game fest, to show off the platform that includes five games from developers like Zynga and ZeptoLab. The games are rolling out worldwide on iOS and Android starting today.

To monetize the platform, Snapchat will let users opt in to watching six-second unskippable commercials that reward them with a power up or bonus in-game currency. Snapchat will share revenue from the ads with developers, though it refused to specify the split. It could be a little weird watching ads to more easily beat your friends. But down the line it’s easy to imagine Snapchat selling cosmetic upgrades via in-app purchases akin to Fortnite.

Snap announced the new Snap Games platform at its first-ever press event, the Snap Partner Summit in Los Angeles where it also announced an augmented reality utility platform called Scan, an ads network, and a way to put its Stories in other apps. “We wanted to build something that makes us feel like we’re playing a board game with a family of over a long holiday weekend. Something that makes us feel like we’re sitting with friends, controllers in hand, looking at the same screen” says Snap’s head of gaming Will Wu. The Information’s Tom Dotan and Amir Efrati first reported Snap was building a gaming platform and Cheddar’s Alex Heath reported it would end up launching today.

Snap Games could be considered a real-time spin on Facebook Messenger’s Instant Games platform, which has focused on porting well-known asynchronous games like Pac-Man and other arcade titles to HTML5. Similarly, Snap Games don’t have to be downloaded separately as they’re piped in from the web. Users can browse available games by tapping a new rocket ship button in the chat bar.

You’re invited to Bitmoji Party #SnapPartnerSummit pic.twitter.com/WBTntkqZil

— Snapchat (@Snapchat) April 4, 2019

With Bitmoji Party, your avatar competes with up to 7 friends simultaneously in a series of mini games where you have to stay balanced on a giant record as a DJ scratches it, or avoid getting knocked in the pool. You can also have another 24 friends spectate and rotate in. Winners earn coins they can use to buy dances to stunt on their competition. And with an ever-present chat bar, users can use text or voice to talk trash.

Rather than port in known IP, Snap recruited developers to build games exclusively for its vertical, real-time multiplayer format. Those include:

Alphabear Hustle from SpryFox – a fast-paced word puzzler
C.A.T.S. (Crash Arena Turbo Stars) Drift Race from ZeptoLab – a cutesy racing game
Snake Squad from Game Closure – a reimagining of the classic Snake game set in outer space
Tiny Royale from Zynga – a top-down battle royale shooter game that feels like a Game Boy version of Fortnite top-down battle royale game
Zombie Rescue Squad from PikPok – A zombie shooter

Snapchat’s partner games (from left): Tiny Royale, Snake Squad, C.A.T.S. Drift Race

Snap’s game platform has huge potential to boost time spent in the app and the ads views that generates because gaming is perfect for its demographic. “In the United States, Snapchat now reaches nearly 75 percent of all 13-34 year-olds, and we reach 90 percent of 13-24 year-olds. In fact, we reach more 13-24 year-olds than Facebook or Instagram in the United States, the UK, France, Canada, and Australia” Snap CEO Evan Spiegel revealed today. This is the age group with the free time and dense social graphs to make use of multiplayer real-time games.

The big question is whether Snap’s reward-incentivized video ad views will generate enough cash to keep developers coming to the platform. If not, a limited line of titles could get old quick. Snap has entirely avoided in-app purchases since shutting down its Lens Store in early 2016. There’s understandable concerns that kids could rack up huge bills on their parents’ credit cards. But given how Fortnite has normalized paying for no-utility cosmetic upgrades for this same demographic, with the right controls Snapchat could do the same to make itself and its partners a lot more money. And given you’re always playing with your friends, not strangers, there’s an even deeper urge to buy funny costumes and dances to impress them.

Snapchat’s overarching strategy right now is to build an orbit of time-wasters surrounding chat. What began with Stories now includes Discover publications, premium Shows, augmented reality toys, and now games. It may never become a favorite with the 35+ age group. But since messaging is the top mobile behavior, Snap can use it to keep people coming back and then distract them while they’re waiting for a reply or need a social alternative to small talk.

Snapchat will power Stories & ads in other apps

Snapchat launches Scan, its AR utility platform

from Social – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2uKFbhV Snapchat launches Mario Party-style multiplayer games platform Josh Constine https://ift.tt/2FQuEH0
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Snapchat launches Mario Party-style multiplayer games platform

{rss:content:encoded} Snapchat launches Mario Party-style multiplayer games platform https://ift.tt/2FQuEH0 https://ift.tt/2uKFbhV April 04, 2019 at 08:20PM

Snap is unlocking a new revenue stream while giving you something to do in between chats and Stories. Today Snapchat debuts its Snap Games platform that lets you play real-time, multiplayer games while texting and talking with your friends. The platform is based off Snap’s secret late-2017 acquisition of PrettyGreat, an Australian game studio with talent from Halfbrick which built Fruit Ninja. That team built Bitmoji Party, a Mario Party-style mini-game fest, to show off the platform that includes five games from developers like Zynga and ZeptoLab. The games are rolling out worldwide on iOS and Android starting today.

Snap announced the new Snap Games platform at its first-ever press event, the Snap Partner Summit in Los Angeles where it also announced an augmented reality utility platform called Scan, an ads network, and a way to put its Stories in other apps. The Information’s Tom Dotan and Amir Efrati first reported Snap was building a gaming platform and Cheddar’s Alex Heath reported it would end up launching today.

Snap Games could be considered a real-time spin on Facebook Messenger’s Instant Games platform, which has focused on porting well-known games like Pac-Man and other arcade titles to HTML5. Similarly, Snap Games don’t have to be downloaded separately as they’re piped in from the web. Users can browse available games by tapping a new rocket ship button in the chat bar.

You’re invited to Bitmoji Party #SnapPartnerSummit pic.twitter.com/WBTntkqZil

— Snapchat (@Snapchat) April 4, 2019

Rather than port in known IP, Snap recruited developers to build games exclusively for its vertical, real-time multiplayer format. Those include:

Alphabear Hustle from SpryFox – a fast-paced word puzzler
C.A.T.S. (Crash Arena Turbo Stars) Drift Race from ZeptoLab – a cutesy racing game
Snake Squad from Game Closure – a reimagining of the classic Snake game set in outer space
Tiny Royale from Zynga – a top-down battle royale shooter game that feels like a Game Boy version of Fortnite top-down battle royale game
Zombie Rescue Squad from PikPok – A zombie shooter

Snapchat’s partner games (from left): Tiny Royale, Snake Squad, C.A.T.S. Drift Race

Bumble goes to print with its new lifestyle magazine, Bumble Mag

{rss:content:encoded} Bumble goes to print with its new lifestyle magazine, Bumble Mag https://ift.tt/2WKbmdi https://ift.tt/2uKyZ9F April 04, 2019 at 08:22PM

Bumble is the latest digital brand to try to extend its reach through a print publication. The dating app maker today announced the launch of Bumble Mag, a lifestyle publication it produced in partnership with Hearst that offers stories and advice about dating, careers, friendship and more to Bumble’s over 50 million users.

On the cover of the 100-page premiere issue is Lauren Chan, a fashion entrepreneur behind the plus-size workwear line called Henning.

Inside, the magazine is organized into four sections that align with the Bumble app’s different modes: “You First,” “You + BFFs,” “You + Dating” and “You + Bizz.” Here, readers will find celebrity interviews, features, advice, product guides, “daily mantras,” and more.

Contributors in this month’s debut issue include Bumble advisor and the star of the brand’s first Super Bowl campaign, Serena Williams; writers, actresses and Bumble Creative Directors Erin and Sara Foster; Man Repeller founder Leandra Medine; jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer; and Away luggage co-founder Jen Rubio.

A digital brand taking to print is no longer a unique occurence.

Airbnb has Airbnb Magazine, which arrives in the mail; Unilever’s Dollar Shave Club runs Mel Magazine; mattress brand Casper created Woolly Magazine in partnership with McSweeney’s; luggage brand Away has Here Magazine; Uber has rolled out several print magazines, including Vehicle, Arriving Now, and Momentum; and even Facebook launched a print magazine, Grow, aimed at business leaders.

For Bumble, the magazine offers the company a way to introduce its brand to new customers as well as extend its relationship with existing users out in the real world. This is part of Bumble’s larger efforts in developing an offline component to its business. The company also runs pop-ups, hosts events, and has spoken of plans to launch more physical locations – “Hives,” in Bumble lingo – sometime this year.

These moves also speak to Bumble’s aspiration to be more than just another dating app and Tinder rival.

The company instead wants to be known more broadly as a women-centric lifestyle brand where its users can network online and off, in all aspects of their lives – not just dating. For example, its Bumble BFF service helps women make new friends, while Bumble Bizz is focused on business networking.

The company says the new magazine will be distributed by its 3,000+ brand ambassadors – marketers and event hosts who work with Bumble to promote its brand. Users can also request a free copy of the first issue within the app.

For Hearst, print efforts from online brands like Bumble represent a new line of business at a time when print is being challenged by digital solutions, like Kindle Unlimited or Apple News+, which are trying to transition print magazine subscribers to go digital-only.

“Bumble is at the forefront of inspiring women to make connections and take initiative in all aspects of their lives with its positive message of empowerment,” said HearstMade Editorial Director, Brett Hill, in a statement. “The magazine is a perfect example of how HearstMade is changing the face of custom publishing with hyper-targeted content that reflects the brand’s ethos in the most authentic way.”

Bumble Mag becomes available nationwide on Friday, April 5, says Bumble.

Bumble goes to print with its new lifestyle magazine, Bumble Mag

On the cover of the 100-page premiere issue is Lauren Chan, a fashion entrepreneur behind the plus-size workwear line called Henning.

A digital brand taking to print is no longer a unique occurence.

These moves also speak to Bumble’s aspiration to be more than just another dating app and Tinder rival.

Bumble Mag becomes available nationwide on Friday, April 5, says Bumble.

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Snapchat will power Stories & ads in other apps

{rss:content:encoded} Snapchat will power Stories & ads in other apps https://ift.tt/2FUko0j https://ift.tt/2YPwl03 April 04, 2019 at 08:00PM

Snapchat’s found an answer to the revenue problem stemming from its halted growth: it will show its ads in other apps with the launch of Snapchat Ad Kit and the Snapchat Audience Network. And rather than watching as other apps spin up their own knock-off versions of its camera and Stories, it will let apps like Tinder and Houseparty host Stories inside their own products that users can share to from the Snapchat camera with Stories Kit. They’ll both be launching later this year, and developers interested in monetization and engagement help can apply for access.

Snapchat debuted the big new additions to its Snap Kit at its first-ever press event in Los Angeles, the Snap Partner Summit where it also announced a new augmented reality utility platform called Scan. Over 200 apps have already integrated the privacy-safe Snap Kit that lets users login to other apps with Snapchat, bring their Bitmoji, view Our Stories content, and share stickers back to Snapchat.

But later this year, developers will be able to earn money off of Snap Kit with Ad Kit. Developers will integrate Snapchat’s SDK, and then Snap’s advertisers will be able to extend their ad buys to reach both Snapchat users and non-users in other apps. Snapchat will split the ad revenue with developers, but refused to hint at what the divide will be, as it’s still gauging developer interest. The move is straight out of Facebook’s playbook, essentially copying the functionality and name of Facebook’s Audience Network.

There are still big questions about exactly how Snapchat will reach and track ad views of non-users, and how it will be able to provide brands with the analytics they need while maintaining user privacy. But simply by making Snapchat’s somewhat proprietary vertical vdieo ad units reusable elsewhere, it could prove it has a scale to be worth advertisers’ time. The lack of scale has often scared buyers away from Snapchat. But now Snap CEO Evan Spiegel says that “In the United States, Snapchat now reaches nearly 75 percent of all 13-34 year-olds, and we reach 90 percent of 13-24 year-olds. In fact, we reach more 13-24 year-olds than Facebook or Instagram in the United States, the UK, France, Canada, and Australia.”

To keep those users engaged even outside of Snapchat, it’s adding App Stories through Story Kit. Snapchat users will see an option to share to integrated apps after they create a photo or video. Those Stories will then appear in custom places in other apps. You’ll see Snaps injected alongside people’s photos when you’re browsing potential matches in Tinder. You can see what friends on group chat social network Houseparty are doing when they not on the app. And you can see video recommendations from explorers on AdventureAide.

Snap also has some other fun new integrations and big name partnerships. Bitmoji Kit will bring your personalized avatar off your phone and onto FitBit’s smart watches and Venmo transactions. Netflix will let you share preview images (but not trailers) from its shows to your Snapchat Story. A new publisher sharing button for the web will let you share articles from the Washington Post and others to your Story.

By colonizing other apps with its experience, Snapchat decreases the need for them to copy it. Instead they get the original, and a lot less development work. And the platform makes your Snapchat account more valuable around the web. These integrations might not grow Snapchat too much, but it could help it keep its existing users happy and squeeze more cash out of them.

Snapchat will power Stories & ads in other apps

from Social – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2YPwl03 Snapchat will power Stories & ads in other apps Josh Constine https://ift.tt/2FUko0j
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Snapchat launches Scan, its AR utility platform

Point and shoot? No, point and interact. Snapchat can now help with your homework. The app’s camera is becoming the foundation of an augmented reality developer platform known as “Scan”. Snap today announced partnerships with Photomath to add the ability to solve math problems, and Giphy for detecting objects which then spawn related GIFs on screen. Scan will roll out to all Snapchat users soon, and developers interested in joining the platform can contact Snap.

Snapchat Scan spawns Giphy GIFs based on what’s around you

Previously, Snapchat’s camera could identify songs with Shazam and recognize objects so you could buy them on Amazon. But now instead of just offering a few scattered tools, Snapchat is crystallizing its plan to let you reveal hidden information about the world around you.

“Our camera lets the natural light from our world penetrate the darkness of the Internet . . . as we use the Internet more and more in our daily lives, we need a way to make it a bit more human” said Snap CEO Evan Spiegel at the company’s first ever press event, the Snap Partner Summit. There it also announced it would launch an ad network and power Stories in other apps.

Scan with Photomath solves math problems

Others like Blippar have tried to build AR utility platforms, but they lacked the community and daily use necessary to already be top of mind when people want to scan something. But Snap CEO Evan Spiegel today revealed that “In the United States, Snapchat now reaches nearly 75 percent of all 13-34 year-olds, and we reach 90 percent of 13-24 year-olds. In fact, we reach more 13-24 year-olds than Facebook or Instagram in the United States, the UK, France, Canada, and Australia.”

The comparison data comes Facebook’s ad manager estimates which aren’t always totally accurate. Still, the stats demonstrate that amongst the audience likely to explore the world via augmented reality, Snapchat is huge.

When users tap and hold on the Snapchat camera, they’ll start to Scan their surroundings. Answers to math equations will magically appear. If you view a $10 bill, Hamilton will come alive and sing a song from the musical. Scan a slice of pizza and a dancing Giphy pizza slice appears. Users will also see the new Snapchat AR Bar with dedicated buttons to Scan, create a lens, or explore the 400,000 AR Lenses created by Snapchat’s community. 75 percent of Snap’s 186 million daily users play with Lenses each day, combining into 15 billion total plays to date. Scan was built off the acquisition of a startup called Scan.me, which until now has powered Snap’s QR Snapcodes that let people add friends or unlock Lenses.

Snap’s new AR Bar

Outside of utility, Snapchat is also adding a slew of new creative AR features to keep that audience entertained and loyal that are launching today. For example, it’s launching Landmarkers, which uses point cloud data from user submitted Our Stories of major landmarks to power animated AR transformations of famous places. Now the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, LA’s Chinese Theater, DC’s Capitol Building, and NYC’s Flatiron Building can spew rainbows, shoot lightning, and more.

Snapchat’s new Landmarkers

For developers and Lens creators using Snap’s Lens Studio tools, Snap is launching new Creator Profiles where they can show off all the Lenses they’ve contributed. They’ll all have access to new AR templates for hand, body, and pet effects that take care of all the hardcore computer science. Creators just add in their graphical assets like a mustache for dogs, fireballs that shoot out of people’s hands, or rainbows that appear over someone when they hold their arms out.

Snapchat’s new Lens Creator profiles

Snap will even surface relevant community Lenses in the Lens Carousel based on what its Scans pick up. One place it falls short though is there’s no direct monetization opportunities for independent Lens creators, beyond Snap occasionally connecting the best AR artists to brands for paid Lens development deals. Snapchat admits it will need to create better incentives long-term.

At a big press briefing yesterday, the company’s top execs explained that growth isn’t Snapchat’s success metric any more. That’s convenient considering the launch of Instagram Stories cut Snap’s growth from 17 percent per quarter to it actually losing users and only stabilizing this quarter. Instead he says deepening user engagement, and thereby the ad revenue users generate, is Snap’s path forward.

The more Snap gets users playing with augmented reality filters and the better development tools it provides, the more brands and devs will pay to promote their Lenses in the Lens Carousel or through video ads where users swipe up to try a Lens.

But that engagement is also critical to beating Facebook and Instagram to the next phase of AR. Instagram Stories might have 500 million daily users, but they’re mostly applying AR to their face, not to interact with the world. Snapchat needs as many fun AR entertainment experiences like Landmarkers as possible to normalize AR exploration, which will unlock the potential of the Scan platform. That could one day fuel affiliate fees from AR commerce sales and other revenue streams.

Plus, Snapchat says Lenses are coded to be compatible with not just iOS and Android, but future AR hardware platforms. To build the biggest repository of AR experiences, Snapchat needs help, as I wrote two years ago that Snap’s anti-developer attitude was an augmented liability. Now it’s finally building the tools and platform to harness a legion of developers to fill the physical world with imaginary wonder. “If we can show the right Lens in the right moment, we can inspire a whole new world of creativity” concludes Snap co-founder Bobby Murphy

from Social – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2HZcgzq Snapchat launches Scan, its AR utility platform Josh Constine https://ift.tt/2FVWuBE
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