Sunday, January 14, 2024

The App Market is Set for a Massive 2024 Rebound

The mobile app market experienced a significant downturn during the early 2020s, but in spite of the fact that this is the case, it made a resounding comeback in 2023. It turns out that this market is set to break a number of records in 2024 if the current trend persists, which might help the industry get back on its feet once again after a period of unrest.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that consumer spending on mobile apps fell by 2% in 2022. However, in 2023, it rose by 3% year over year, which brought the industry’s total earnings to $171 billion. This happens to be the highest consumer spend ever recorded, and according to DataAI, it spells the beginning of a new age for the mobile app market that will see it reach even greater heights in the near future.

If we were to combine consumer spending with ad spends, the mobile market was worth an estimated to $533 billion in 2023. This is the first time that the market has crossed the half trillion dollar mark, and it comes up to around $1.5 billion being spent each and every day in 2023 with all things having been considered and taken into account.

The biggest growth of all was seen in mobile ad spends, which experienced an 8% uptick year over year. This brought the total to a staggering $362 billion. Total hours spent on apps also increased by 6%, which is important because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up boosting revenues across the board.

App revenue has increased six times over since 2016, and grew by 11% when games were excluded. TikTok’s introduction of the creator tipping feature has created new avenues for earning money that go well beyond the selling of ads. This seems to suggest that the market is evolving, and direct monetization is expected to grow by a whopping 150% in 2024. Increased competition will bring total direct monetization revenues up to $1.3 billion this year.




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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Is There an Ideal Formula for SERP Rankings? Google Search Liaison Weighs In

The process by which certain webpages can receive a higher ranking on Google’s SERP is certainly something that has interested website owners for quite some time now. Figuring out the ideal formula that can crack the code is essential because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up driving a great deal more traffic to the page. However, is there really such a thing as a webpage formula?

According to Google Search Liaison Danny Sullivan, the concept of a perfect page formula is largely a myth. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that there actually isn’t a specific blueprint that website owners should follow. The search for the perfect webpage for SERPs has been ongoing since before the age of Google, but in spite of the fact that this is the case, Danny Sullivan’s comments seem to refute their existence entirely.

Instead, the Google Search Liaison repeated the company line about creating content that is geared towards a website’s specific reader base. Being informative is the only way to go, and each website will have a different approach that will cater to their own unique set of users with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Some might argue that third party tools can lend a helping hand, but Sullivan countered by saying they won’t guarantee a higher ranking than might have been the case otherwise. These tools rely on averaging out data points, which once again goes against the notion that each page is unique and requires its own approach in order to get ahead.

Focusing on one’s readers is apparently a sure fire way to intuitively get to a point where your page will line up with Google’s requirements. The search engine juggernaut has long been wary of providing actual tips, preferring instead to encourage site owners to be honest and informative to the best of their abilities. It will be interesting to see if this advice actually pans out for those that implement it.

Third-party SEO tools may suggest page structures, but Google emphasizes unique, informative content for success.
Photo: Digital Information World - AIgen

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Despite A Rise in Cyber Attacks, Many Users Still Do Not Use Cyber Security Tools

Cyber crimes have also become a part of this world due to technology. Every day many cyber crimes happen but only a few users have started using cyber security tools to keep their privacy and data safe. Even though many users care about their privacy, they are not taking any measures to keep their data safe. According to data from Malwarebytes, 79% of the people in North America say that they feel concerned about their online privacy while only 35% of them use anti-virus software.

27% of the users in US consumers use VPN to safeguard their data from cyber-attacks. Most online platforms and cyber security experts recommend people to use two-factor or multi-factor authentication for their data but only 24% do so. 22% use a credit monitoring service to protect their credit cards from any hacking attacks. 20% use ad-blockers while using the internet so they don't see ads while 15% use a password manager to keep their passwords safe and ensure that their passwords are strong enough.

There are also users (13%) who use privacy-preserving browsers so their data doesn't get stolen or leaked. 13% of the users in North America also use identity theft protection services to keep themselves safe from identity theft. As many advertisers use a targeted audience to deliver their ads, 12% of users also use a search engine that cannot track their online activity which in turn does not deliver them any ads. To keep their privacy in check, 6% of users also use alternatives of common online tools like Gmail, cloud, and storage that can keep their privacy safe. So this research shows that even though cyber attacks are increasing, many users are not aware of or do not want to use cyber security tools.

Malwarebytes data reveals 79% North Americans concerned about online privacy, but only 35% use anti-virus software.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

How Useful are Hashtags on LinkedIn?

The question of whether or not we should be using hashtags on LinkedIn is quite an important one to ask. When the social media platform introduced hashtags for the very first time in 2018, it also began encouraging users to use them as much as possible. However, it bears pondering whether or not they provide any actual value with all things having been considered and taken into account.

One thing that should be mentioned here is that algorithms are now able to detect keywords from your texts. As a result of the fact that this is the case, hashtags may be somewhat less useful than might have been the case otherwise. Relevant indicators are always present in the body of your posts, so you technically shouldn’t have to use hashtags in order to have your posts be seen by the right people.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that LinkedIn still thinks that hashtags are worth your while. According to the platform, users can easily identify posts by looking at the hashtags. They might not even read the posts due to the vast quantity that they are shown every day. Looking at hashtags is useful because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up weeding out the ones that they are actually interested in.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can just use random hashtags and hope that users come across them. Quite on the contrary, it is rather necessary to focus on using only those hashtags that are relevant to your niche or sector. The manner in which you can accomplish this hinges on you following pages that are in the same niche as your own and seeing what hashtag they tend to utilize.
At the end of the day, hashtags aren’t exactly vital anymore, but they can still be useful in a few specific contexts. Your posts can get reach with keywords and by corresponding to the right topics as well, so we might soon see a day when they just won’t be used anymore.

How Useful are Hashtags on LinkedIn?Photo: Digital Information World - AIgen/HumanEdited

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Saturday, January 13, 2024

AI Sleeper Agents Might be Bypassing Security Checks

An AI safety startup by the name of Anthropic has just raised concerns about AI systems that can bypass security measures. The company managed to create what it called AI sleeper agents that knew how to find their way around checks that are intended to prevent harmful behavior from taking place. This raises doubts about current safety practices and whether or not they will be able to keep potential rogue AI at bay with all things having been considered and taken into account.

This company published its findings in a paper titled "Sleeper Agents: Training Deceptive LLMs that Persist Through Safety Training". They conclude that the current safety measures might give people a false sense of security, which could result in more damage being done 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 an AI model can be trained to be deceptive. This is something that training techniques simply haven’t factored into the equation, and on top of all of that, these rogue AI might also be able to appear perfectly normal.

One of the many examples of this that researchers presented had to do with the writing of code. When their AI wrote code after being told that the year was 2023, the code that it put out was innocuous. In spite of the fact that this is the case, the AI wrote malicious lines of code upon being informed that the year was 2024.
AI can be trained to switch to a more dangerous form with various triggers put in place. Once the switch occurs, it’s impossible to return it to its benign form. The AI will learn to hide its malicious intent and continue exploiting vulnerabilities. They might also be made my accident, which is especially concerning because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up increasing the likelihood that they might arise.

While this is speculation by the researchers, it still shows just how much risk can be associated with the improper or unprepared use of AI.

Researchers highlight AI's ability to appear normal but turn malicious under certain triggers.
Image: Digital Information World - AIgen

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Evan Spiegel Outlines Ambitious Plans for Snapchat's Growth in 2024 Memo

The CEO of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel, made a note for his employees. The note said that employees work for a great social media app that is the reason for happiness for many people. This note was given by him to the employees to motivate them to work as Snapchat has seen low revenues, staff layoffs, and problems with advertising in the last year. He said that Snapchat is working great and will grow further. He also mentioned Facebook, Instagram, and X in his memo. Evan increased the working spirit of his employees by saying that this is the year where we will deliver everything we have been planning for last year.

Evan Spiegel said that he plans on working on some features of Snapchat in 2024 that will bring the platform more success. He gave some instances like Snapchat will start working on more user growth where the market is developed like Europe and North America. He added that they will also develop an IOS-centric approach that will help Snapchat grow a lot. Content and advertisements will also be unified across all features of Snapchat. All of these things are very important if Snapchat wants to enter into Augmented Reality(AR) products. Spiegel said to make AR a reality, he needs to time all of this efficiently so the consumers can show interest in them.

In the note, Evan Spiegel also brought out the rivals of Snapchat. He said that he and Bobby Murphy started Snapchat as an antidote for the popularity of content MySpace started that eventually turned to Facebook and then Instagram. He explained that Facebook looked like a platform for popularity contests to know who got how many likes and comments. Snapchat was made so users could have a platform to have fun with their family and friends without worrying about likes and followers. He also mentioned that Snapchat is a reason for happiness for many teens when they message their friends on it. On the other hand, Meta has announced a feature for specific content on Instagram for those under 18 as content on the app is affecting the mental health of teens. The company announced the feature after facing many lawsuits about the teen situations on the app.

Evan Spiegel also mentioned the harmful content on X and Meta as well as content moderation of the Israel-Hamas war on the platforms. He admitted that in no way is Snapchat perfect but he also said that it is far better than the other platforms which are home to pedophiles, terrorists, and other propagandas. Snapchat’s employees discussed the note Evans sent them. One of the employees said that we all can see how much hatred Evans has for Meta and employees didn't like how he spoke about competitors.

Photo: Digital Information World - AIgen

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Inundated: Blue Tick Bots Swarm X, User Reports Confirm

When Elon Musk took control of Twitter, one of the first major decisions he made was to monetize the blue tick. People could now pay the sum of 8 dollars on a month to month basis for the purposes of gaining the tick and setting themselves apart. Musk rationalized this by saying that it would decrease the number of bots operating on the platform, but in spite of the fact that this is the case, it appears to have had the exact opposite effect.

User complaints on X as well as on Threads (by Parker Molloy of Media Matters) showed search results on the social media platform that revealed countless Blue Tick users repeating a phrase used by ChatGPT when it’s asked to do something that violates OpenAI policy.

Uproar on Twitter as Blue Tick users run rampant, disregarding OpenAI guidelines en masse.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Musk is already suing Media Matters for defamation. This came after they publicized ads that were posted next to hate speech, which made the already crumbling platform suffer even more greatly as advertisers left en masse.
Many of the accounts that are posting these phrases are actually abandoned profiles that seem to have been brought back to life. This prompted one user to theorize that X itself is behind the phenomenon, with the company allegedly using AI to keep these accounts active in order to make its metrics seem more favorable than might have been the case otherwise.

Whether or not X is behind these bots, someone or the other is certainly using ChatGPT to run them automatically with all things having been considered and taken into account. This seems to refute Musk’s assertion that forcing users to pay for the platform is the best way to remove bots entirely.

The company is currently claiming to have 550 million monthly active users, but they might not be telling the whole story. Many of these so-called users might actually be bots, and if this is exposed, it might bring the company crashing down.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World