Microsoft is relatively benign as Big Tech overlords go, but don’t imagine it’s any less interested in grabbing your data. Its latest gambit is to purchase TakeLessons, a web marketplace for online and in-person classes. TakeLessons offers mostly consumer-oriented subjects, which expands Microsoft’s reach beyond the business-oriented classes it already offers on LinkedIn Lessons.
In case you spent the weekend in a cave or otherwise cut off from world news: a US district court judge on Friday ordered Apple to let companies in the App Store accept payments outside of Apple’s in-app purchase system, which charges a 30% commission. The change could cut billions of dollars from Apple profits. The decision is sure to be appealed but it’s still a rare victory for the rebels against Big Tech.
If taking a cooking class from Microsoft sounds a little strange, try wrapping your head around getting restaurant reviews from JPMorgan Chase bank. The financial services giant just bought The Infatuation, a “restaurant discovery platform” whose properties include the once-popular Zagat guide. The intent is apparently to offer new benefits and experiences to credit card customers. Data gathering, ecommerce, and advertising revenue are probably on the menu as well.
T-Mobile will allow advertisers to target more than 20,000 screens in 11,000 store locations. That’s a lot of screens, but how much foot traffic does the average T-Mobile store get? It’s also linking up with streaming media company Plex as a CTV partner.