Streaming Takes Over Cable And Broadcasts To Hold Highest Share For Total Daily Viewing

The month of July saw a few records being broken and it’s needless to say that users really adored streaming last month.

Streaming surpassed statistics for both cable as well as broadcasts. In this way, it held the biggest share as far as total daily viewing is concerned.

The share reached a grand total of 34.8%, which is a record in itself as this is the first time it went so high. Also, it’s the first time we’re seeing such records come into play, after Nielson’s launch for Total TV and Streaming that was unveiled last year.

Cable took the second position as far as the combined daily viewing of people above the age of two was concerned. The share was about 34.4%, while in third place, we had broadcasts arrive with a share of just 21.6%.

When looking at the statistics from 2021 and comparing the two, it’s clear to see how streaming is in the lead, being almost 23% higher this year. Meanwhile, the cable went down by 9% during the same time frame. Broadcasts also lost out 10% with their share dropping from 24%.

Nielsen was seen speaking in detail about how months like July do tend to witness such dips as it’s the holiday or summer season. Hence, television platforms aren’t usually performing in the same manner.

Then when we compared data trends from June of this year to that of July, we saw broadcasts fall short by 3.7% and cable losing out by nearly 2%. To be more specific, broadcasts related to playoffs in the sports world like NBA and NHL even dropped by a staggering 40% in the month of July. In the previous month, it happened to be up by 3%.

We must take this time out to note how things were definitely going in favor of Netflix in July as compared to previous months. And a huge chunk of the credit goes to the ever-so-popular Stranger Things Series. This certainly added to its success.

There were 18 billion more minutes of viewing for this new season. As of now, Netflix stands at an 8% share, as compared to the previous month. YouTube came second and that was closely followed by Hulu in third place.

Amazon Prime, Disney+, and HBO Max seemingly followed in that order.

Both broadcasts and cable showed declines of 10% and 9% while streaming went up by a whopping 23% from 2021.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Excessive Cloud Spending is Proving to be a Problem for Half of Businesses

Data storage methods have advanced to the point where cloud technology is rapidly turning into the global standard, but in spite of the fact that this is the case it appears that many businesses are struggling with the expenses that cloud migration can incur. Rising volatility in the economy is making things worse because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making cloud data storage requirements hard to predict with any degree of certainty.

According to this report that was just put out by Anodot, just under half of businesses, or 49% to be precise, are having a hard time managing their cloud spending. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that cloud waste is cited as a major factor in excessive spending by 54% of businesses that participated in this survey. Additionally, 44% of top level executives opined that their companies waste about a third of their cloud budgets for the year.

53% of survey participants highlighted that obtaining a clear overview of cloud storage requirements was a huge challenge on this front. Cloud pricing is also a bit too complex for them at this stage, and that can make them spend more than they need to which they would only realize when it is too late. 49% also stated that multi-cloud environments can be hard to keep track of, and this can result in cloud waste which is already a serious issue as has been mentioned above.

Cloud architecture that uses a multitude of tools to manage the environment are also causing wastage according to 59% of respondents. Furthermore, 73% stated that their organizations are increasing cloud capacity which can make decisions harder in the long run.

Cloud computing can be revolutionary, but low levels of clarity are impeding this tech’s ability to improve data storage for organizations. Ad hoc implementation is a huge source of concern, and more work needs to be done to streamline the industry and create a consensus regarding the best practices.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Twitter Is Testing A Tweet View Counter And Tags For Accounts Verified Via Phone Numbers

Twitter is busy experimenting with some new features and they already sound exciting to us.

For starters, the popular social networking app will showcase view counts on Tweets, as spotted by Jane Manchun Wong. But as of now, we’re still not sure if it's going to be visible to all or just solely to the tweet’s owner.

But many are a little baffled at the decision because quite a few users can already see the stats related to Twitter views by clicking on the analytics section.

Therefore, the feedback on the news was mixed as some did appreciate the move while others felt it was no different from tweet impressions.

Then there were some who spoke about the mystery surrounding fake likes and if fake views would also be displayed. Now, we’re not quite sure about that but what do know is that it’s being tested for now so we’ll just need to keep an eye out for the feature.

On the other hand, we’ve got news about Twitter testing another feature in the form of a special label. This will be used to highlight those accounts that have been verified using phone numbers.

After all the Elon Musk drama related to bot and spam accounts, there have been growing fears about how many accounts were actually real on the platform. And that’s why people were calling the app out to figure out ways that would help distinguish real ones from those that are fake via verifications.

Thanks to an avid tech engineer named Jane Manchun Wong, we’ve got some more news on how Twitter is experimenting with labels that literally mark accounts that are more likely to be trusted than others.

In case you didn’t know, this is one technique where users get to know which accounts are more legit than others. After all, the user went through so much more effort than the simple or basic requirements.

Also, the technique helps in filtering out the most prominent tweets or those that pass different quality levels. But did you know that the app even gives users the chance to link up to 10 different accounts using one single phone number too?

There’s another feature that allows developers to attach labels for those accounts that are automated. This way, users realize or are aware of accounts where there isn’t any human controlling its posts.

As it is, those accounts with blue checks are already verified and that means they’re already forced into having their numbers of email ids added as a prerequisite.

This is from the time when former CEO Jack Dorsey was in charge. He felt such distinguishing features really made a difference and he hoped the app would enable this technique for all of its accounts.

Motivating users to attach phone numbers to accounts and making them visible like a particular status can have some consequences like security and keeping that data restricted from others with malicious intent.

As it is, the app did shed light on a case where one hacker easily managed to find millions of Twitter accounts with their respective phone numbers attached and email ids too.

This was a flaw that the firm introduced itself to last year through an update. But it was not until this year in January that the news got reported to the platform.

The company had zero clue of what was going on until recently, allowing millions of sensitive data to be stolen. Thanks to reports on social media, the issue was highlighted and that’s when the firm started to take action.

This just goes to show how data like this can end up being so leaky.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

40% of Business Executives Are Worried About Getting Hacked, But Will They Do Anything About It?

Cybercrime has increased to the point where it has become a major threat for corporations in America. Ransomware attacks, phishing attempts and numerous other attacks conducted by malicious actors are risky because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up compromising the security of these corporations with all things having been considered and taken into account. It turns out that a lot of major corporate executives are aware of this according to PriceWaterhouseCooper (PWC).

This auditing firm conducted a survey, and with all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that 40% of the corporate executives that participated in this survey cited potential hacking as their primary cause for concern. According to a top level executive at PwC, this is the first time ever that cybercrime has been the biggest source of concern for corporations up until this point.

84% of corporations are keeping a close eye on cybersecurity updates, as well as new information surrounding data protection and privacy. 79% were reassessing their current risk management strategies, and 49% also stated that they plan to increase their budgets for cybersecurity this year or the next.

The cybersecurity leader at PwC who commented on the report, Sean Joyce, highlighted the need for increased transparency among corporations when it comes to cybersecurity and potential hacking attempts. In spite of the fact that this is the case, most corporations are hesitant to do so because they might not want competitors getting such a close look at their affairs.

It is high time that corporations put the needs of the many before the needs of the few. Being more transparent about what is going on might be the only way to fight against malicious actors, especially when so many unethical hackers are organizing into groups themselves. Corporations won’t be able to develop effective hacking mitigation techniques if they keep their cards close to the vest, and it will be interesting to see if any of them are willing to change their ways so that progress can be made.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

72% of Retailers Are Planning Price Hikes Due to Inflation

Inflation is impacting the entire global economy, but none are feeling the pressure more than retailers. GetResponse recently released Impact of Inflation report, and it gives a clear overview about sentiments among researchers during the current period of inflation. Perhaps the most eyebrow raising statistic in this report is that 72% of retailers are planning to increase their prices due to rising costs spurred by inflation with all things having been considered and taken into account.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that 89% of retailers have been facing ever rising supply chain costs themselves. Hence, they might not have any choice but to increase prices because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up helping them continue to turn a profit. 45% of retailers cited higher freight prices, 33% highlighted a scarcity of raw materials, 22% are concerned by unpredictable sentiments among buyers, and 19% are having trouble predicting how much demand they might see.

23% of retailers said that they are not facing issues with their supply chain, but in spite of the fact that this is the case the vast majority of them are still feeling the burn. Much of this damage is being seen in the shape of decreased sales, with 46% of retailers reporting that sales have dropped in the first half of 2022. 32% have seen the same number of sales, and interestingly 22% reported that their sales have gone up.

60% of retailers plan to cut costs by switching to an entirely ecommerce oriented system by selling online. 28% said that they will keep the ratio the same, and only 9% will continue to sell purely through brick and mortar stores.

One thing to note here is that 51% of retailers are also planning to offer discounts, and this might help to ease the burden on consumers by leveling out the prices at the end of the day. We are headed for a long, dark winter, and many retailers might not make it on the other side. Take a look at below charts for more insights:

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

70% of SEO Experts Aren’t Perfectionists, New Survey Shows

Search engine optimization has turned into a massive industry because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up allowing brands to push their websites to the top of search engine rankings with all things having been considered and taken into account. Search engines are known to be finicky, and often the goalposts move whenever the company behind the search index makes changes to the algorithm. SEO experts need to be on their toes to keep up with this ever shifting landscape.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, a recent survey conducted on Twitter by Marie Amelie White showed that the vast majority of SEO professionals don’t think of themselves as being perfectionists. Around 69.8% of the nearly 500 SEO professionals who responded to this survey responded “No” to the question of whether or not they were perfectionists, and with all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that this is essential due to how many changes occur.

SEO professionals can’t afford to be perfectionists since there are simply too many things that they need to take heed of. Additionally, there are a variety of ways in which SEO can be implemented, and there are numerous justifications for each technique including their adequate performance for the most part. In spite of the fact that this is the case, it appears that over 30% of people working in the field of SEO, or 30.2% to be precise, are still perfectionists although they might suffer burnout if they keep sweating the little things.

It must be acknowledged that this is an ad hoc survey that only represents the opinions of a small subset of SEO experts who came across this survey, either because they follow the person that posted it or because someone they are connected with responded to it. Still, it shows that SEO professionals are more focused on results, and that they leave perfection at the door due to how difficult it can be to achieve and how much of a distraction its pursuit can be.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

New Report Shares The Bitter Reality Of Being A Video Creator On Facebook

What comes to your mind when you hear the name Facebook? Well, as a user, you’ll just think of it as an app. But for so many others, it’s a platform to create content, establish audience connections, and hopefully generate revenue.

But we’re not quite sure if many have been successful at achieving all of those aspects. Just ask one video creator on the app named Mike Stallone.

He first began putting up Reels in March of this year because that’s what Facebook wanted. In case you aren’t aware, Meta is promoting short-form content like Reels so as to achieve the same success and revenue as fellow archrival TikTok.

So after just one month of Mike posting, he was invited to join Facebook’s Reels monetization program. The offer seemed great, after all, he would be paid for his hard work.

But bitter reality struck when Mike accepted the offer, only to learn that the button for Reels that he had was no longer present. Instead, the app went as far as slapping his page with the tag ‘limited originality’.

This label is commonly employed by the app to creators that it feels lack creativity or original thoughts behind the content produced. They think you had zero roles in making the content. But that really struck out as shocking to Mike.

He said that everything on his page was his and he had personally gone to great extremes to shoot them too. So what was going on here?

Taking up the issue to the admins of the app using his LOC tag, which is exclusive to those who monetize via YouTube and Instagram, he appealed against the decision. Interestingly, he failed to get any form of a reply.

This issue isn’t new. We’re talking a good five months have passed and until now, zero response from the Facebook team has come. But let’s just say that the video creator here has lost out big time. He has made zero money but Facebook has managed to grab a hold of 7 million views from his video content.

Many think that Facebook’s tool has really gone wrong here. The company announced in 2018 that it was launching its Rights Manager. This was designed to ensure all videos uploaded onto the platform would enter the database and be scrutinized to prevent plagiarism.

If you’re the content creator, you get to select what happens to the person copying your content. And those options entail taking a share, taking the whole revenue, or simply requesting the user to take down the copied content.

Another notable case worth a case belongs to one of the biggest content makers of the app, Hashem Al-Ghaili who has nearly 33 million fans on the app. He has been suffering from similar issues thanks to the same Facebook tool.

And according to Hashem, the matter is definitely concerning as Facebook is yet to fix the issue and as a result, thousands of creators are suffering.

Sometimes, videos are even flagged for similar reasons like using stock images, and once flagged, creators’ revenue is halted.

Yes, you get the chance to appeal the decision but as you can see here, it’s actually in vain. Mike Stallone is yet to get any response.

Matters really get foggy with time. Yes, you get the chance to raise disputes but you could never end up having them solved or perhaps solved at a very very late time.

Data proves how so many smaller firms and creators get affected the most. Big publication houses do have teams to solve issues faster but not everyone is entitled to such privileges.

Facebook even has a lawsuit in this regard as some feel they’ve been penalized unlawfully. Clearly, the matter is major and very unfair we believe.

H/T: Fossbytes

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World