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Steam parent company Valve announced a new revenue split for its online video game marketplace late Friday evening, with the change in its distribution agreement giving developers more money as the number of unit sales increases. Normally, Valve takes around 30 percent of all game sales on Steam, with some exceptions for games for smaller developers in its Steam Direct program. That will remain the case for the first $10 million in sales a game maker or publisher earns. For all sales between $10 million and $50 million, the split goes to 25 percent. And for every sale after the initial $50 million, Steam will take just a 20 percent cut. “The value of a large network like Steam has many benefits that are contributed to and shared by all... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18120577/valve-steam-game-marketplace-revenue-split-new-rules-competition

The days of Google Hangouts for consumers may be coming to an end in 2020, according to a report from 9to5Google today. Hangouts has been suffering from an identity crisis since Google launched it as a replacement for Gchat in 2013 , and it’s actually been losing features in recent years as the company stopped updating the app and took away SMS messaging . That change was part of Google’s new focus for Hangouts, which will stay safe for now as a workplace communication tool in the form of G Suite’s Hangouts Chat, as well as video conferencing platform Hangouts Meet. Google hinted at “giving up on having its own consumer messaging app” back in April, when it announced a new RCS Chat feature within Android Messages . Chat hasn’t officially... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18120199/google-hangouts-consumers-2020-chat-app-shut-down

Music videos haven’t felt like a communal event since the heydays of MTV and TRL Live , but with the advent of live-streaming, the shared experience may be making a comeback. Today, Ariana Grande debuted the video for her relationship-themed single, “ thank u, next, ” and a lot of people got together on YouTube to watch it at the same time. With services like Twitch, this phenomenon has become fairly standard when it comes to video games, commentary, and certain types of announcements, but Grande’s video may be the first time the live streaming format has been used for a high-profile music video. The hype was helped by Grande’s teases on social media, which hinted that the video would be a homage to Mean Girls , a movie that has become a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18120115/ariana-grande-thank-u-next-music-video-youtube-livestream

By now, anybody who lives a social media life has probably heard that Laura Loomer — the 25-year-old far-right provocateur and self-styled Patreon-supported “investigative journalist” — handcuffed herself to Twitter’s headquarters in New York City on Thursday evening, and, in her words, “threw away the key.” She was protesting Twitter, she said, because she believed the permanent ban she earned from the service for hate speech was unfair. She wanted her account reinstated. She was also there to take action over what she sees as the company’s discrimination against conservatives. (“The account holder was suspended for violating our policies. We apply the Twitter Rules impartially and not based on ideology,” a Twitter spokesperson told The... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119993/social-media-platform-perma-ban-twitter-facebook-laura-loomer

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Tech Summit in Maui starts Tuesday, and here’s what’s going on Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119818/verizon-5g-network-demo-att-qualcomm-summit-snapdragon-hawaii

The spec for app-ads.txt brings ad inventory verification to apps. The post IAB Tech Lab issues revised ads.txt for apps appeared first on Marketing Land. Please visit Marketing Land for the full article. Via Marketing Land - Internet Marketing News, Strategies & Tips https://ift.tt/2uxGgu1

Here's our recap of what happened in online marketing today, as reported on Marketing Land and other places across the web. The post Marketing Day: Facebook search, Claritas buys Barometric, new LinkedIn privacy setting appeared first on Marketing Land. Please visit Marketing Land for the full article. Via Marketing Land - Internet Marketing News, Strategies & Tips https://ift.tt/2uxGgu1

The company issued an explainer on how Facebook search works. The post Facebook confirms searches performed off the platform do not influence Facebook search results appeared first on Marketing Land. Please visit Marketing Land for the full article. Via Marketing Land - Internet Marketing News, Strategies & Tips https://ift.tt/2uxGgu1

What you should know about the dismantling 3ve and Methbot botnets. The post Feds take down international hacker ring that cost advertisers millions appeared first on Marketing Land. Please visit Marketing Land for the full article. Via Marketing Land - Internet Marketing News, Strategies & Tips https://ift.tt/2uxGgu1

Those of us who grew up online each have our internet albatross. For some, it’s goatse . For others, it’s those viral pre-YouTube jumpscare videos with a screaming face that flashes across the screen for a split second. Mine, regretfully, was Salad Fingers, the animated web series created by David Firth in 2004, about a disgusting, childlike, inexplicably vibrating zombie creature with piquerism and a penchant for rusty spoons. Thus with even more regret I must relay the news that the heinous abomination of my nightmares is getting a new episode sometime in December. Per The Daily Dot , Firth apparently confirmed back in 2017 that he would be resurrecting his green hellspawn. “Without giving too much away, I will say that Salad Fingers is... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119749/salad-fingers-new-episode-december

Fallout is a franchise defined by its lawlessness: in the wasteland, nothing can stop denizens from succumbing to their worst tendencies. Fallout 76 leans into the chaos by allowing fans to interact with one another, but recently, one group of players took things too far. Fallout 76 supports up to 24 players per server, and these participants can talk, trade, and group-up with one another. While the game does allow player-versus-player combat, the feature is opt-in. However, there’s nothing stopping players from following you around and bothering you even if you don’t actually want to engage with them, especially given that Fallout 76 tells you where everyone is at any given time. You can, however, turn off voice-chat for your team. As... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119925/fallout-76-ban-homophobia-anti-gay-bethesda

Who in marketing, advertising or search deserves a candy cane – or a lump of coal – for what they’ve done in 2018? The post Wanted: Nominations for this year’s ‘Naughty & Nice’ list appeared first on Marketing Land. Please visit Marketing Land for the full article. Via Marketing Land - Internet Marketing News, Strategies & Tips https://ift.tt/2uxGgu1

Together, the companies say they will be able to offer targeting and optimization for ads. The post Claritas buys Barometric, marrying user segmentation with attribution appeared first on Marketing Land. Please visit Marketing Land for the full article. Via Marketing Land - Internet Marketing News, Strategies & Tips https://ift.tt/2uxGgu1

While a brand like Chevron may not seem an obvious choice for immersive experiences, they found success using AR and VR to explain key Chevron narratives. The post Chevron storytelling uses purposeful immersive experiences to engage stakeholders appeared first on Marketing Land. Please visit Marketing Land for the full article. Via Marketing Land - Internet Marketing News, Strategies & Tips https://ift.tt/2uxGgu1

After seven years of sharing essays, art, advice, and writing for (and often by) teenagers, the online magazine Rookie Mag is shutting down. Launched by fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson in 2011 — when she was only 15 years old — Rookie attracted a million views in six days and went on to become an intimate, authentic, and feminist lens for its primarily young female audience to look at and speak to the world. In a six-page editor’s letter that will be the last post on the site, Gevinson explains that “ Rookie in its current form is no longer financially sustainable.” Although she considered alternatives — including selling the site to a larger media company, bringing on investors, or charging readers for subscriptions — she ultimately... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119866/rookie-mag-teen-magazine-tavi-gevinson-closes-down

Over two dozen current and former black Tesla employees are describing racial discrimination in a New York Times investigation today that looks into the company’s Fremont factory. The complaints range from being barred from promotions, forced to scrub the factory floors, and allege that supervisors have directed racial slurs at employees. The allegations come from a variety of interviews, internal communications, and legal statements acquired by The New York Times . Tesla disagrees that the factory is a harbor for racial discrimination, and says that there isn’t “a pattern of discrimination and harassment,” at the Fremont factory. “Tesla opposes all forms of discrimination, harassment, and unfair treatment, and we strive to provide a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119832/tesla-elon-musk-discrimination-harassment-racism

Congress just reached an agreement on proposed legislation that could make hemp legal to grow in the United States for the first time in nearly a century. Hemp may be derived from the same plant as marijuana, but it doesn’t make anyone high and is commonly used in food, fuel, and bracelets . The new legislation officially acknowledges the difference between the two. Technically speaking, hemp is a variety of the cannabis plant that contains less than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Though its derivatives have been used for everything from textiles to medicine , hemp is currently everywhere in the form of a trendy ingredient called cannabidiol (CBD). Manufacturers promise that CBD will... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119536/hemp-cannabis-farm-bill-politics-regulation-marijuana-industry-business

There are so many streaming options available these days, and so many conflicting recommendations, that it’s hard to see through all the crap you could be watching. Each Friday, The Verge ’s Cut the Crap column simplifies the choice by sorting through the overwhelming multitude of movies and TV shows on subscription services and recommending a single perfect thing to watch this weekend. What to watch “Sandkings,” the two-part premiere episode of Showtime’s mid-1990s The Outer Limits revival. The second iteration of the 1960s science fiction / fantasy / horror anthology was generally more adult than the original (sort of a hard PG-13), but it told the same kinds of creepy cautionary tales, often adapted from the work of some of the era’s... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119778/george-r-r-martin-sandkings-outer-limits-hulu-streaming-recommendation-game-of-thrones-nightflyers

Welcome to Fav’d For Later, a Friday roundup of our favorite memes, trends, and all-around good internet content. This week we’re back, baby. Welcome back from the holiday! Sometimes it’s great to take a break from the internet. I didn’t do that, but people always tell me how satisfying it feels to look into the eyes of their loved ones. Anyway! This has been the week of the big cow (it’s actually a steer) and Mark Ruffalo begging the internet to help him find his lost bag (he did), but the joke that truly proves we’ve all lost our damn minds is surgery on a grape . The 2017 line has, like so many online jokes, returned to be fruitful (lol) and multiply across the internet. they did surgery on a grape #Splatoon2 #NintendoSwitch p... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18116840/internet-memes-big-cow-ariana-grande-youtube-grape-surgery

Nilay, Dieter, and Paul are back from Thanksgiving and ready to spill the beans on the tech news you may or may not have been paying attention to this week. Dieter’s got a review of the Pixel Slate, Nilay guest hosted the Interface newsletter, and Paul found a new gadget on the website to talk about. And, of course, we’ve got my favorite segment “ This week in Elon Musk ” with Liz Lopatto. There’s a whole lot more in between that, so listen here. 03:02 - Google Pixel Slate review 25:05 - “ This week in Elon Musk” with Liz Lopatto 29:34 - Project Fi is now Google Fi, and it will work with iPhones and most Android devices 36:54 - Republicans keep misunderstanding the law that protects internet platforms 55:04 - Paul’s weekly segment “ S... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18075994/vergecast-podcast-332-pixel-slate-vs-ipad-pro

Over the past few days, sex-work Twitter has been abuzz about a somewhat unexpected topic: taxes. A tweet from amateur clip producer and webcam model Mocha Puff that declared, 11 times and in all caps, that, contrary to some people’s assertions, “sex workers do pay taxes,” was retweeted over 1300 times; in follow-up tweets, Puff shared links to some sex-work-friendly tax professionals, as did other members of the sex-work community. Why the sudden obsession with sex workers’ financial responsibility to the government? It all started with #ThotAudit, a harassment campaign that encouraged people to report sex workers — and, more specifically, sex workers who sell access to private Snapchat accounts — to the IRS for failure to pay their... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119688/thotaudit-sex-work-irs-online-harassment

The fight over who gets to have the most-subscribed channel on YouTube spilled into the real world months ago when Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg fans started campaigning to raise awareness of the Swedish star. The grassroots effort has, for the most part, been in good fun — but recently, people on social media have reported being hacked by someone who is urging them to subscribe to PewDiePie. Kjellberg has maintained his status as the top channel on YouTube for years now, but recently, his claim to the throne has been increasingly threatened by T-Series , a channel owned by an Indian music production company. T-Series’ growth rate in 2018 has been explosive: it currently has over 72 million subscribers, placing it behind Kjellberg by around... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119576/pewdiepie-printer-hack-t-series-youtube

Creative toys and a dash of silly fun Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/17933298/claude-vonstroke-dirtybird-green-velvet-tour-whats-in-your-bag

There are few bad options in 2018, but these are the standouts Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/this-is-my-next/2018/11/30/18118550/best-streaming-video-player-4k-tv-roku-apple-amazon

It looks like one of the most anticipated Pokémon Go features is finally on its way. In a series of tweets , developer Niantic teased player-versus-player battles. It’s a feature the developer has promised for some time, and it’s an integral part of the traditional Pokémon experience. In fact, battles were part of the initial pitch when Pokémon Go was first announced back in 2015 . But, much like trading , battles took longer than anticipated to actually implement in the game. Unfortunately, right now, we don’t know anything about how the feature will work, but Niantic does say that trainer battles will be coming “soon.” Get prepared... Trainer Battles are coming soon to Pokémon GO❗ #GOBattle pic.twitter.com/AUWyhNGlT7 — Pokémon GO... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119658/pokemon-go-pvp-battles-tease-niantic

Inside the massive factory where Tesla will soon make 60 percent of the world’s lithium-ion batteries Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/transportation/2018/11/30/18118451/tesla-gigafactory-nevada-video-elon-musk-jobs-model-3

A new privacy setting allows users to keep their email address from being downloaded. The post LinkedIn’s new privacy setting prohibits marketers from exporting emails appeared first on Marketing Land. Please visit Marketing Land for the full article. Via Marketing Land - Internet Marketing News, Strategies & Tips https://ift.tt/2uxGgu1

Exceptional sound wrapped in a series of small annoyances Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18118436/sennheiser-momentum-true-wireless-review-specs-features-price-earphones

Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is branching out into other business ventures, partnering with some of the world’s biggest EDM artists for a standalone album called Ninjawerks , which is based on Epic’s popular game. Although the album was first announced a month ago at TwitchCon , Blevins premiered the first three tracks last night during a stream. Alesso, a popular European DJ, is contributing a song called “Tilted Towers,” which is based on the popular zone within the Battle Royale map. American DJ 3LAU collaborated with Blevins for his track “Game Time,” while Tycho, an artist known for his synth and downtempo work, contributed his own track, “Jetty.” All three tracks are available at the bottom of the page. Blevins’... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119450/fortnite-ninja-tycho-alesso-3lau-ninjawerks-edm-album

On gaming Tumblr, Overwatch rules. Blizzard has built a deep and compelling backstory for its team-based multiplayer shooter through animated shorts, comics, and character bios; even if you’ve never played a single match, you can still immerse yourself in a world teeming with fan art and fan fiction. Every year, Tumblr analyzes tens of thousands of lines of data — posts, tags, searches, reblogs — to rank and reveal its top trends of the year. In 2018’s gaming category, that ranking looks slightly different than usual: in addition to the larger list for video games, this year’s roundup also includes one for mobile, to better account for fandoms around titles like Overwatch , Undertale , or Life Is Strange , vs. mobile hits like Harry Potter:... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18116858/overwatch-gaming-tumblr-fandom

This week, Google’s messy fight over Chinese censorship spilled out into the open. More than 600 Googlers have now publicly signed an open letter opposing Google’s Dragonfly project , a search engine that would make controversial concessions to China’s internet censorship regime. Other Googlers have signed a counter-letter defending the project , although that letter has not been made public. Nearly 1,000 employees have signed one of the two letters, including their name and job title with no gesture toward anonymity. Labor laws offer some level of protection for this kind of public stand, but there’s still a real risk of retaliation, which is one of the reasons why it’s so rare for employees to air their concerns publicly. But for those... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18118691/google-dragonfly-employee-activism-listserv-union-strike

TikTok is inescapable right now, and it’s not just teens paying attention — it’s rocked the business world as well. Bytedance, the owner of the wildly popular short-form video app , is now valued at more than $75 billion following a new round of investment. This means Uber has unexpectedly lost its long-held title of the world’s most valuable tech startup to a low-profile challenger from China. You could be forgiven for not having heard the name Bytedance before the recent news. The founder, 35-year-old Zhang Yiming, rarely gives interviews, and the company’s Western-facing media presence is close to nonexistent. But the company’s global ambitions are real and so are its chances. Bytedance is the first Chinese internet company with a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18107732/bytedance-valuation-tiktok-china-startup

Amazon’s Echo smart speakers already support a variety of music services, including Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn. And starting on December 17th , Apple Music will join this little cohort. Apple Music users will be able to ask Alexa to play their favorite songs, artists, and albums, as well as any of the streaming service’s curated playlists and radio stations. Echo owners will simply need to enable the Apple Music skill in the Alexa app, link their account, and they’ll be good to go. Making Apple Music available on Echo devices might seem like it’s running counter to Apple’s usual strategy of using services as a lure for hardware (and vice versa), but the company can apparently see the sense of making its streaming service... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119429/apple-music-echo-streaming-amazon-alexa-devices-available-december

Arlo, the security camera company launched by Netgear, has announced its debut 4K security camera: the Arlo Ultra. As well as upping the resolution and offering HDR recording, the wireless camera also includes a built-in spotlight that you previously had to buy separately , allowing it to record in color at night with an improved 180-degree field of view over last year’s Arlo 2 Pro . 4K security cameras are still something of a rarity in 2018. The Nest Cam IQ , which is also available as an outdoor variant like the Arlo Ultra, features a 4K sensor, but its streams top out at 1080p. The higher resolution of the Arlo Ultra should make it easier to see finer details like the license plates of unwanted visitors, although Arlo’s announcement... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/11/30/18119433/netgear-security-camera-arlo-ultra-4k-hdr-smart-person-detection

If you’re looking to add a dash more color to your iPhone or Apple Watch then you now have a few more options to choose from. Apple is now selling three additional colors of silicone cases and watch straps on the Apple Store in yellow, green and pink (via MacRumors ). In addition to these new colors, the teal, olive and mauve Watch straps that were previously exclusively available through Nike’s iPhone app are now also available for purchase directly from Apple. Unfortunately, there’s still no sign of any official first-party cases for the iPhone XR. Previously we’ve speculated that the reason for the lack of cases has to do with the handset’s bright color schemes, which you wouldn’t want to cover up with an opaque shield. Mysteriously a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/11/30/18119405/apple-iphone-xs-cases-mellow-yellow-pacific-green-hibiscus-apple-watch-strap

Marriott is revealing a massive database breach today, affecting up to 500 million guests of its Starwood hotels the company first acquired in 2016 . A security investigation has concluded that there was “unauthorized access” to a database holding hotel guest records. “Marriott learned during the investigation that there had been unauthorized access to the Starwood network since 2014,” says a statement from the company. The Starwood security breach affects a number of branded hotels owned by Marriott, including W Hotels, Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin, and more. The breach includes 327 million records of “some combination” of name, mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest (“SPG”) account... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119403/marriott-database-breach-starwood-hotels