Elon Musk may have pretty much destroyed the value of blue checkmarks at Twitter, but others think they’re worth doing right. The latest convert is Google Gmail, which is offering a blue checkmark on emails from brands that use its BIMI authentication service. Other recent checkmarketeers include Google Ads, LinkedIn, and Meta.
I vaguely recall a satire where ads were inserted at contextually relevant spots in movies, such as a cellphone ad when ET calls home. Wait, that’s the example given to explain an utterly serious announcement last week of a new ad placement option from Roku. “Roku’s artificial intelligence searches the Roku library for iconic plot moments that match a brand’s message and place their ads in real time.” So horrifying it might just work.
Publishers have long complained that search and social media companies share their content without paying for it. Google and Facebook have aggressively opposed such efforts in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. TikTok, on the other hand, just announced a program to let publishers share a reported 50% of revenue from ads near their content.
Amazon would prefer that you buy everything through them, but if you insist on using another merchant, they’re still willing to handle the shipping and fulfillment. They’ve just made their Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) service available to Walmart merchants and will soon add Shopify and Shein options. MCF clients place their inventory in Amazon-run warehouses, where Amazon will pick, pack, and shop customer orders.