Study’s findings: Ads with a male voice tend to attract viewers more

Ads have become an integral part of our lives, as we see them between every video we watch, whether be it on TV or YouTube. Despite some people finding them irritating, they remain an important tool for marketing strategies. Advertisements not only increase product reach but also drive traffic to company websites. However, this is only possible if the ads capture people's interest. According to a study conducted by Extreme Reach, male voices used in ads play an important role in capturing people's attention.

The study surveyed nine regions across sixteen different countries to understand the male voice concept more clearly. The study’s main objective was to raise awareness of the diversity of the marketing field and help people set goals around diversity and creativity.

Starting off with North America, male audios comprised 74.9% of all ads, with 77% of these ads made up by the age segment of 20 to 39-year-olds, 11.9% making up the 40 to 59 year old bracket, 1.8% of 60 and above, under-19 were about 9.6%. This trend was noted in every region surveyed, indicating that the newly adult age bracket (20 to 39) is the top one in terms of male voice usage in ads.

The study also noted that while male populations in these regions were relatively low, their male voice usage was quite high when we compare both of them. For instance, North America's total male population percentages were lower than their male voice usage percentages in ads. It is interesting to note that East and Southeast Asia is the only region where male and female voice usages match their populations.

Moreover, the study found that male population worldwide(50.42%) is a bit higher than the female population (48.58%). This could be the reason why many regions, including North America were gaining a lot of attention through ads due to male audios. Other regions surveyed, such as LATAM and New Zealand along with Australia also had a high percentage of total male voices in ads with 75.7% and 67.4%, respectively.

To crown it all up, the study perfectly sheds light on the importance of male voice usage in ads and how it captures people's attention. Another observation was that East and Southeast Asia is the only region where male and female voice usages match their populations, surprisingly despite all the trends following these other regions.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Pornography is having a negative impact on children's behavior

Dame Rachel De Souza, who serves as the children's commissioner for England, has expressed worry over the impact of pornography on children starting from merely eight years of age. A report published by the commissioner highlights the negative impact of porn on the behavior of children and its influence causing harmful explicit behavior. The report calls for technology companies to take more responsibility and remove harmful images from their platforms. The commissioner emphasized that most children are exposed to pornography by the age of 13, while some as young as eight or nine have seen it.

Dame Rachel De Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England, has pointed out that social media platforms are the main channel for children to access pornographic content. She has further suggested that schools must enhance their education system, and parents must set effective boundaries to prevent children from exposure to salacious content. The report also highlights that the language of violent pornography is being adopted by some children, and this has a concerning impact on their behavior. Dame Rachel strongly advocates that pornographic content should be inaccessible to young children, and tech companies must implement better measures to keep children safe from such inappropriate images.

Despite the 13-plus age limit on both Twitter and Snapchat, children are still managing to access pornographic content on these platforms. Snapchat officials have stated that their community guidelines strictly prohibit the promotion and distribution of inappropriate pornographic content. They have implemented mechanisms to detect and immediately remove such content from their platform. On the other hand, Twitter has yet to respond to concerns regarding the accessibility of salacious behavior and adult nudity on its platform. According to Twitter's guidelines, such content is not allowed in highly visible areas and is restricted to viewers under the age of 18.

The Online Safety Bill, currently under review by the Lords, aims to provide more responsibility for companies to take measures to ensure the safety of the users on their social media platforms. The bill will allow regulator Ofcom to fine companies or block access to social media sites that fail to take the necessary precautions.

Michael Conroy, the founder of Men at Work, has been training numerous professionals in order to initiate safe conversations with boys and young men. According to him, he has worked with approximately 1,000 teachers, youth and social workers over the past year. During these sessions, he has asked whether the young individuals they work with are influenced by pornography, to which the majority of respondents have answered yes. Conroy also emphasized that this is the first generation to have unrestricted access to a vast range of content, and the implications of this warrant serious consideration, as children have been exposed to content that was previously unavailable to them.

In conclusion, the Children's Commissioner for England's report highlights the impact of pornography on children's behavior, particularly when they view it at a young age. The report emphasizes the need for tech companies to take more responsibility and remove harmful images from their platforms. The Online Safety Bill will provide more authority to the regulator to prevent companies from failing to take the necessary precautions. Parents and schools must also take appropriate steps to educate children and set boundaries to prevent them from accessing harmful content.

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by Ayesha Hasnain via Digital Information World

Half an Hour of Weekly Smartphone Usage Can Increase Hypertension by 12%, New Study Finds

It is widely acknowledged that using smartphones too much can cause a wide array of negative physical and mental health symptoms. Most users try to mitigate this harm by reducing their usage to just half an hour a day, but in spite of the fact that this is the case a new study showed that this might be bad enough.

Research conducted at the Southern Medical University in China revealed that 30 minutes of weekly smartphone usage increases hypertension risk by as much as 12%. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this risk does not go much higher in proportion with increased usage. For example, study participants who used their smartphones twelve times more, or for six hours a week to be precise, did not see a twelvefold increase in hypertension risk.

Rather, their risk of hypertension only doubled, which indicates that reduction is not a clear path to preventing an increase in high blood pressure related symptoms with all things having been considered and taken into account. It should be mentioned that this study looked at phone calls rather than overall smartphone usage.

Making over thirty minutes of unnecessary calls a week might be harmful because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up raising hypertension risks to unmanageable levels. More research will need to be done in order to vet the results and findings, and until those studies come out there will be no way to conclusively determine the veracities of these findings.

One thing that becomes clear thanks to this study is that phones in general are having a harmful impact on human health. Even if you only use your phone for basic things like making calls, it can still negatively affect your body in ways that are hard to predict. Studies like this reveal the extent of damage that is occurring due to our overuse of smartphones, and there is no insight as of yet on what might serve as a cure.

Read next: Experts Raise The Alarm Against AI Voice Cloning As Scams Reach An All-Time High
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Tired of Constantly Proving You’re Human to Websites? Google Chrome Might Have a Solution

The rise of bots on the internet necessitated the creation of CAPTCHA systems because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up proving that a user is human rather than a bot. The prevalence of advanced CAPTCHA systems has certainly lowered the number of bots that are able to access a site, but this can often lead to frustration among users since it becomes harder for them to get to a site than might have been the case otherwise.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Google Chrome might be attempting to solve this issue once and for all. The most popular web browser in the world is reportedly working on an automatic verification system that will save the proof in the form of a cookie.

This is not the first time that Chrome has attempted to simplify matters to a certain degree. The simple check mark verification process has done a lot to make things a lot easier for the majority of users, but in spite of the fact that this is the case some improvements are still required. Websites will now be able to communicate with Chrome to obtain proof that you are a human user.

What’s more, they will not have to access your browser history in order to do so. This will help to improve the user experience by leaps and bounds without having to compromise on privacy with all things having been considered and taken into account.

This auto verify feature was already rolled out to certain users back in February, and it is currently predicted that a wider rollout is on the cards in the near future. The testing phase will determine how quickly this feature will be able to make it to regular users. whenever it does, it will likely do a lot to help find a balance between cybersecurity needs and providing a convenient experience to users who are just trying to access their favorite websites on the internet.

Via: Leopeva64
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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Starlink Tops Customer Satisfaction Rankings Despite Its Slow Speed Against Rival Broadband Providers

Customer satisfaction is at an all-time high for broadband service provider Starlink, new rankings prove.

The news is definitely going to be loved by Elon Musk who has really worked hard to bring the product to where it stands today. This happens to be in stark comparison to those offers put out by other top names in the industries that are providing this.

The facts were very obvious in places like non-metro regions or those that are remote as people felt that despite it being so slow, people turn to it for being reliable.

The data arrives based on the Speedtest that was charted by the likes of Ookla. It sent out an NPS for Starlink and other fellow arch rivals of the industry.

It was calculated on a scale between 0 and 100 and that would recommend such services to both loved ones and pals. Moreover, the difference between NPS and Starlink was all said to be fixed as in broadband service providers that arrive as stark.

Then in places like metro regions, Starlink showed an NPS of around 31.9 for the final quarter of 2022 while in Q1 of 2023, it combined to form -23.6. This was for all metro broadband providers. Meanwhile, the satellite internet for SpaceX comes out to be the leader of the race.

Despite the firm having a major download speed of nearly 65.2Mbps when compared to 203.9Mbps, it’s a combination of fixed broadband service providers.

And then when you move to some of the more rural regions, you’ll see how Starlink comes with a score of just 42.2 when compared to -21.2. This is quite notable, provided we consider the median download speed of the company as it’s near to the nonmetro speed of 72.1MBps to 100Mbps.

Starlink is known to provide an option that’s loved for some of those living in rural places and those that are non-metro, that usually don’t have a lot of good options out there.

This is a clear message to the world that users of Starlink are now more than willing to send out service recommendations and they adore the internet service people are providing them with.

Obviously, Starlink is a new name in the internet industry and people that are signing on are super eager to gain access to that. Despite the huge costs involved and the chances for congestion to be at its peak, people across rural regions are simply content to have some sort of reliable internet service.

This would not force them to get into this cellular data streaming zone, gaming, and even the chance to enter calls made by Zoom.

People are not very charmed by such issues or by those providing broadband service in the industry. They’ve been doing that for years and do have a monopoly even if it arises in some of the biggest places out there.

Starlink says it makes use of the best orbiting satellites that beam broadband toward users of the internet that are featured on the ground. This has been designed to enhance seeds and open up to more people by giving rise to more satellites. But just a week later, another 56 satellites were seen that brought the total to just 4023 in orbit.

The huge customer satisfaction attached here is the main reason why Starlink leads the pack. The satellite ISP is causing concern and so many people are raising eyebrows provided the reports of clients not being satisfied are increasing with each passing day.

Read next: Facebook Overtakes Instagram In Creator Popularity For 2023 But TikTok And YouTube Still Reign Supreme
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Chinese Apps Continue to Dominate US Markets Despite Privacy Issues

The rise of TikTok marked the very first time in history that a Chinese social media app was able to achieve global renown. The short form video streaming app changed the fact of the social media industry because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up placing more emphasis on algorithmically driven bite sized content.

Privacy issues have recently started to mar the rise of Chinese apps, but in spite of the fact that this is the case, they continue to see a rise in their overall levels of popularity. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that four out of the top five most downloaded apps of the year so far came from Chinese companies, which lends credence to the notion that American consumers are quite unperturbed by any potential privacy violations that might occur.

The apps in question include TikTok of course, but there are three others that are currently enjoying surprisingly high levels of popularity. These include CapCut, which is also owned by TikTok’s parent company Bytedance, and it serves as a dedicated video editor that TikTok users can edit their content with.

Coming in second is Shein, with the fast fashion ecommerce platform giving Amazon a run for its money as well by offering extremely affordable clothing that can be provided at a fast turnaround time. Temu is yet another ecommerce app that has been making a lot of headway in the American consumer market, and it is providing even more competition for US apps like Amazon and eBay.

One thing that bears mentioning is that just one Chinese app entered the top five rankings in 2021, but this increased to three in 2022 and now four in 2023. Privacy issues might lead to TikTok getting banned, but Chinese apps have clearly managed to capture a huge market in the US and it does not seem like their dominance will go away anytime soon. If anything, Chinese apps will only become more popular by the time 2024 rolls around.

H/T: Apptopia

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

53% of Users Say In-App Ads are Useful

An increase in mobile usage along with the shifting landscape of consumers in the aftermath of the pandemic is creating a huge uptick in ads that are present within apps. A recent study conducted by the B2B ranking platform known as GoodFirms revealed some key insights into the state of the mobile app advertising industry, and it turns out that it can be an effective tool for new apps that are attempting to establish a solid user base.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that these in-app ads are also seen quite favorably by users. As many as 56.5% of users end up downloading apps that they see in ads that are present on apps that they use on a daily basis. 42.6% even made a purchase after clicking on an in-add app which can help developers get higher rates of revenue than might have been the case otherwise.

Overall, just under 53% of users, or 52.8% to be precise, say that in-app ads are useful with all things having been considered and taken into account. 56.7% said that they are informative, even if they don’t necessarily find them useful.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, 65.9% of users said that they would skip an ad if it interrupts their video streaming. What’s more, over 43% of users still felt that these in-app ads were unwanted, although 54% of users also stated that they prefer to use ad powered apps because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up removing subscription fee requirements.

The type of ad that is placed can have a strong impact on whether or not users will be receptive towards it. Banner ads tend to win out in this regard, so it will be essential for app developers to utilize them moving forward. Obstructive ads can be perceived as rather annoying, and they can actually make users less likely to want to click on the ads which can be disastrous for click through and engagement rates.

Read next: Experts Raise The Alarm Against AI Voice Cloning As Scams Reach An All-Time High
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World