Twitter Sheds Light On How To Make The Best Use Of Its Platform During An Emergency

Twitter is a popular app for so many users around the world. But did you know how useful it can be during times of crisis?

Well, the popular network on social media is taking out the time to make users realize how they can best utilize such platforms for emergency situations.

Let’s take the upcoming summer season in Australia for example. It can be overwhelming because of the large number of wildfires that were observed in the previous year. Hence, the platform is going public with ways through which it can assist users in times of urgency and need. And no matter which region you may be in, the app vows to be by your side.

In the past year, Twitter highlighted how some uberly dangerous events took center stage in Australia. They included the likes of floods, natural calamities, bushfires, and a lot of others. But Twitter never left the country alone and did everything to assist with the relief efforts. So here are some tips that were shared by the company recently and we feel it’s a great initiative.

For starters, there is a lot of chance of misinformation so that’s why the app needs you to follow the most trusted sources out there in terms of breaking news and minute-by-minute updates. Some great sources during distressing times included the likes of the Red Cross and a few other organizations. These really step up their game and provide the most authentic data there is. Other great sources to follow include the likes of weather providers and emergency handles.

Next up, it’s a great idea to visit the app in a reverse chronological manner. Users can simply press on the stars icon that’s located in the upper right-hand corner to view the newest feeds on the timeline first so you’re alert with any breaking news as it takes place.

On the other hand, the app recommends the use of hashtags for searching for relevant information and also for making the stream of tweets more organized. This way, users grab a hold of information quicker and can have tweets witnessed by so many others out there that may be on the lookout for something similar.

Twitter also recommends users track their ‘Twitter Moments’ and while you have thought it’s an outdated feature, well, think again. Users are now being recommended to keep a track of such customized overviews regarding events so you’re updated on issues that are relevant.

In the same way, a feature called Twitter Lite was also recommended as a go-to app solution that outlines quicker and more reliable service for any users located in remote locations or places where telecommunications were disturbed for some reason.

We feel these notes are super useful and can really help the average user stay on top of their game of what’s going on in terms of a natural disaster. Experts have always called the app out as being great at handling updates related to some serious events out there.

We all live in the most unpredictable of times and the recent past has taught us that nothing can be taken for granted and anything is possible. Remember, the pandemic is the greatest example of something that really blindsided so many of us in the world. Similarly, matters like global warming and climate change have really led to flooding disasters and that’s why it’s so important now than ever to be aware of your surroundings with the help of social media platforms like Twitter.

Read next: Trouble For Twitter As App Reports Losing Out On Its Most Active Users
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Metaverse Heavily Criticized By Snap CEO Who Says The Idea Lacks Practicality In Today’s World

The metaverse has recently been heavily criticized by Snap CEO Evan Spiegel.

He called out the vision of the company’s head Mark Zuckerberg as one that lacked practicality in today’s day and age. Moreover, he slammed the thought of going home and living inside a computer when all one would want to do is rest.

The bold and blunt statements were recently a part of a conference that was held with The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

But he is definitely not the first person to mention the drawbacks of the idea as Zuckerberg is well aware that people are underestimating the potential and vision that it has or how he envisions it.

Time and time again, he’s been forced to justify to the world why this is such an important platform and why the company is spending so much time, money, and effort to bring it into existence. It’s also looking for those who are keen on investing in it because that’s the only way such a plan could succeed in the first place.

Zuckerberg says that this is the way people can better interact with the world but Spiegel fails to see what the benefits of the investment really are.

The founder of Snap mentioned how his goal revolves around targeting the world of AR technology over the likes of VR. He did agree that the latter takes the person to a whole new digital landscape, but it’s the AR that puts together computer-produced content along with the real world.

This means that AR digital content is superimposed on a person’s vision of the real world. Just last year, we saw the popular platform roll out its own pair of AR glasses because he feels it’s just more immersive.

But we must tell you that this is not the very first time that we’re hearing such heavy criticism take center stage linked to the metaverse by Spiegel. He called out the idea and stated that such a term as the metaverse isn’t even used in his firm. The reason is quite simple, he adds, and that’s related to how hypothetical and confusing it is.

He even slammed it as one of the most overstretched and over-the-top concepts he’s encountered in a really long time. Not only did he state it wasn’t practical but also highlighted how it replaced reality.

One of our greatest bets is linked to people adoring the real world and that’s why we like focusing on such trends instead of getting too carried away, he explained. It’s interesting to note how this is the same founder who once put into words how it was keen to make sales of its products on the platform possible. Hence, it didn’t take long for it to make a quick U-turn.

The news comes just a month after Apple’s Tim Cook blasted the idea and said that the common idea failed to understand what it really stood for.

Read next: Troubled Times For Snapchat As Its CEO Loses 83% Of His Wealth While App Struggles With Losses
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Russia Tops List Of Countries Most Breached Online As Hacked Accounts Rose By 136%

A new report by leading cybersecurity firm Surfshark says Russia underwent the greatest number of hacking attempts this year.

Figures were estimated to have increased by a staggering value of 136% MoM since February end and that was also the time when Russia began its brutal invasion of Ukraine.

In the previous quarter, around 110 million were hacked and that is what allowed it to take the lead as the nation that underwent the largest number of breaches. Meanwhile, there are reports about how the US continued to dominate as far as the entire last decade is concerned.

After Russia came nations like France and then Indonesia and the US. Moreover, the number of breached incidents had increased by 70% in this quarter when compared to the findings seen in Q2. Meanwhile, a few seconds in the last three months showed how 14 accounts underwent leaking attempts as highlighted by Surfshark’s data.

Security analysts are on the alert as such hacking incidents are rising with each passing time. To better put things into perspective, around 14 accounts kept getting leaked every second and that means a staggering 109 million people are at risk.

In the same way, the report also highlighted how a clear ally of Russia, Belarus reported a striking four-time growth that occurred in the previous quarter. This is where 540,000 accounts were leaked. But it is rather interesting to notice how Ukraine saw a decline of 14% during the same time.

Another shocking finding had to do with Indonesia where a mega 1370% rise in hacked accounts arose in the country. And this was credited to massively scaled cyberattacks that pushed the nation’s government to bring on new regulations for Personal Data Protection.

Read next: Businesses Are Using Pirated Software to Save Money, Here’s Why That’s Dangerous
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Bots Are Going To Make Users’ Shopping Experience For Black Friday A Nightmare, Claims New Report

It’s October end and that means we’re just a few days away from getting news about growing Black Friday sales. But we’d just like to give you a heads up about bots making users’ online shopping adventure a nightmare.

A new study claims threat actors are really arising with full force and that’s when they were seen attacking the famous Amazon Prime Day that arose during the mid of this month.

The report comes to us thanks to CHEQ which carried out an analysis of visitors that made it to the platform of e-commerce when Amazon Prime Week was in full swing. Around 6 million visitors arose and they saw about 18% of traffic coming from the likes of bots and fake users.

The firm alleged that fake form of traffic is not something new but a reality that retailers must deal with all year round. So many of these bot handlers are continuously trying to grab a hold of the most famous items during sale season and then go about reselling them through illegal means.

The news is even more worrying as we’re coming close to the holiday season and this is where experts are predicting that figures linked to bots will rise dramatically with estimated figures bound to reach the 46 million mark for shoppers when Black Friday comes. So many are going to be fake users and they could well be draining people’s budgets, carrying out malicious activities, and also clicking on frequent ads that are seen online.

Such behavior would be more commonly observed on paid platforms for searches, ads on social media, and different types of ads for text and display, the firm continued.

In case you didn’t already know, most purchases done online start with organic searches and aren’t paid by bot traffic on e-commerce platforms. This usually undergoes an increase when the shopping holiday arises.

Moreover, you’ll find invalid traffic taking up a staggering amount of advertising budgets that were dedicated originally to making revenue through legitimate users. Remember, after ads get put forward to fake and bot accounts, this chunk of the budget goes down the drain as waste.

CHEQ mentioned how stakeholders like retailers may end up with losses reaching $368 million thanks to fraud clicks on Black Friday only.

Then we’ve got brands estimated to lose out on $3.3 billion thanks to fake accounts abandoning their carts. You’ll notice that most shoppers tend to alter their minds after searching for the same item that can be found at better price tags in other places.

This just adds misery as it messes up metrics, holds up the inventory, and really overwhelms people across the board. But users are also affected as it becomes harder for them to conduct the process of shopping during such mega-sale events.

In 2021, bots comprised 35% of visitors on such platforms and now, with more sophistication in their dealings, we’re expecting a greater increase in proxy users, fake accounts, and botnets, among others.

Illustration: freepik

Read next: Smart Assistant users believe that their devices are secretly listening to their conversations
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

4 Best Practices For Monetizing Your CTV Content

Advertising is a competitive arena. Consumers have woken up to the constant barrage of ads publishers have unleashed on platforms, and ad fatigue is a drain on every team's budget. Connected TV (CTV) platforms offer publishers a great way of reinforcing products with users.

Via: macrovector/Freepik

However, the connected nature of the platform can result in doubling ad fatigue resulting in wasted ad dollars. Publishers looking to monetize CTV content must execute the following best practices to avoid the negative effects that most people experience currently.

Use diverse ad pod positioning

Recently, CTV platforms have witnessed the rise of non-intrusive advertising. However, most non-intrusive advertising misses the mark. These ads are non-intrusive to the point of being non-existent. To monetize CTV content effectively, you must strike the right balance between intrusiveness and engagement.

Take VFR for example. This startup offers advertising that is both native and non-intrusive. They create content in-house, and by choosing only the right brands and advertisers for the content, the audience enjoys premium ads that are targeted at them, making the ads a natural part of the experience.

Review your creative assets regularly to ensure an optimal ad experience for your users. These processes will help you avoid ad fatigue and reveal creative ad pod position opportunities.

Use the right tech stack to manage your ads

Personalization is the best way to boost engagement, as numerous consumer apps have demonstrated. However, personalization is tricky to execute, no matter how much data you gather. A good personalization program uses data and analytics to deliver great UX.

CTV publishers typically prioritize ad monetization (high returns) over content experience, leading to decreased engagement over time. Instead, you must use the right technology stack to gather and analyze user data to deliver memorable experiences.

This is another area where VFR shines. Their targeted premium ads result in further content engagement, happier consumers, and also reduced drop rates. In fact, they boast a 94% ad completion rate, as they understand the art of creating custom content for targeted audiences.

With this investment, you can bet on higher customer LTVs in the long run. People will stick around for longer and will engage more with your content, whether paid or free. As a result, you can rely on steady cash flow in the long run.

You should also use data to diversify your ad pods and streams. What do your users engage with the most, and what are their demographics? How can you segment your audience to serve them better and deliver better UX?

Linear TV ads are a great example of how you can seamlessly blend advertising into content. Use data to build your ad inventory, and you won't have to worry about common CTV issues like ad fill.

Ensure the right ad frequencies

Data analysis can also reveal other interesting patterns in your advertising, such as reach and frequency. For instance, most mobile game ad publishers struggle managing ad frequencies. Bombarding users with the same ad constantly will not drive more engagement.

Instead, look at your historical patterns to reveal ideal frequency levels. You want to strike a balance between fatigue and awareness. While many publishers like to go with how they "feel" about ad frequencies, use data to arrive at the right number.

Pay attention to the context around the ad as well when analyzing frequencies. Sticking with the mobile game example, ads that play before the game loads and the ones that play in-game will have different ideal frequencies.

Place all your data in the right context when analyzing it, and you'll arrive at the right ad frequencies, along with a host of other important engagement variables.

Invest in data analytics

The CTV world experiences far greater engagement rates than the norm. People interact with CTV content with more depth and spend more time on these platforms. Typically, most publishers take this engagement for granted and deploy a stream of boring, repetitive ads.

However, the reason for greater engagement is high-quality content. Instead of disrupting a highly engaging experience, advertisers must look to continue it. Data analytics is the best way to personalize content and offers the easiest way to increase ROAS.

User profiles and interests offer publishers a wealth of information when it comes to creating engaging ad content. Similarly, game publishers can draw from a wealth of demographic data to create engaging content that sustains engagement.

Your data analytics infrastructure might appear expensive at first but drive more ROI than any other piece of technology in your stack. Invest in the right analytics package, and you'll reap consistent rewards.

Overcome ad fatigue in creative ways

Ad fatigue is a huge issue in the CTV world, but the best way to overcome it is to create high-quality content tailored to your audience's needs. Investing in the right tech stack and analytics package will help you deliver memorable experiences, boosting ROI.

by Web Desk via Digital Information World

Meta’s Upsetting Earnings Report For Q3 Forces It To Make Some Major Changes For Better Business

The earnings report put forward by Meta for Q3 of 2022 is not what the company had wished for but some things are just out of its control.

Therefore, when disaster strikes, it’s time to make some necessary amendments for better prosperity. And that appears to be Meta’s plan at the moment.

Meta recently highlighted some huge changes that it intends to make for its net income to increase after it called out recent figures to be at an all-time low. A lot of that had to do with big investments and the metaverse vision.

Hence, investors are not happy but the tech giant is doing everything in its power to get back to business, even though the challenges and hurdles are plenty in terms of digital ads.

So we got to see four different aspects through which Meta plans to focus on in the future. These include the likes of better AI tools for discovery and a lot of engagement across its apps. Next up, they hope to incorporate new offerings for business messaging that can monetize the firm’s shift into the world of texts and away from the social platform.

Similarly, he spoke about revamping ad tools so that less dependence was placed upon user data. There are a lot of developments happening in the world of AR, VR, and the metaverse, and Meta wants to move ahead with those too.

For enhanced AI tools for discovery, Meta wants to showcase a lot more content through profiles that don’t follow up into the feeds of users. It’s a technique that was better guided for the likes of TikTok and was designed to enhance the value of content seen in every application. They hope to highlight those posts that engage users the most. So as you can see, assistance will be drawn from sophisticated tools to see more of what people like on apps, even if they have zero clues about existence.

Meta feels confident about its approach and how it can do a better job than other leading apps like TikTok in this regard. A lot of different content such as images, links, and texts would be put forward. And it’s a great blend of these mediums that wouldn’t be able to be produced through simple AI links.

We’re sure you’re just as curious as us about Meta entering into the world of monetization and shifting gears to make the most of its messaging.

In case you were not already aware, stats have proved how Meta is really in the mood to shift gears and monetize ever since data shows how many people share content through little groups on DMs as compared to making a public post through its platforms.

Another factor worth consideration in this regard is how so less people are not interested in posts linked to violence or politics seen across such platforms. They’re keen on sharing information linked to the world of celebs, media, entertainment, and fashion. Twitter saw a similar result and how tweets were also down at new lows. So many users are not keen on putting up updates continuously.

So Meta wants to tap into the world of messaging and gain profits since it’s a great way to generate revenue. There were also some talks about monetizing the likes of its WhatsApp platform as paid texting would really be something big in the future.

So we can soon expect things along the lines of ads popping up after clicking on messaging options. Here, brands run ads through apps that begin a chat on Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, or WhatsApp. Hence, a lot is in store and could be just the start for Meta’s turning point.

Read next: Meta’s Facebook Has Evolved Over The Years And Earning Reports Prove It’s Become Worse
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Smart Assistant users believe that their devices are secretly listening to their conversations

With rising data breaching incidents and privacy concerns, most Americans and Canadians believe that smart speakers are secretly listening to their conversations and suspect that they are targeted with ads based on this.

The results are extracted from the survey conducted by Chubb Insurance, an organization that looks into matters such as breaching personal data or lack of data security.

On the occasion of the 5th yearly study on this, the company stated that users get annoyed and frustrated with the steps they’ve to take to secure their personal information. However, it seems that the gap between initiatives taken by the users and the insight they have on such matters is now being filled. The figures highlighting the rise in data security concerns have gone up in the last 3 years. Currently, almost 92% of users are worried about their data falling into the wrong hands, and 56% of them are highly stressed about such a breach. On the other hand, data from 3 years back showed that 80% of users were concerned and 39% of them were highly concerned.

With such concerns at their highest, people believe smart devices may also have a lot to do with this. As per the survey results, almost 79% of the participants think their smart speaker can listen to the conversation they have in front of it, while 67% think that they have been targeted with ads based on the discussion they were having near their smart speaker.

Devices such as Echo from Amazon and Nest Audio from Google are voice-activated, which means they can easily be turned on, which may lead to the discussion being recorded. However, if companies do end up using these devices for such means, it would call for governmental action against them, which may include the imposition of heavy fines.

The study also highlighted how much users struggle with managing their credentials. 61% of them agree that it’s hard to remember them, while 35% of them use the support of password managing applications and another 35% of them use the same password for different platforms. It was also observed that people tend to create passwords based on things that may be important to them, which could be someone’s name or a date. As compared to the results observed last year, almost 51% of the users tend to use two-factor authenticator services.

The survey was based on 1605 participants aged 18 or above, having half a million in cash and an internet connection. The survey went on from August to September.

Read next: Tech Companies Are Still Collecting Tons Of Unconsented Data From Users, Claims New Study
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World