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.
Just over one-third of marketers plan to either buy a new CDP (21%) or replace an existing one (13%) this year, according to this Optimove survey. Unfortunately, it doesn’t report how many have a CDP already in place, which would put the other values in perspective. It does seem that CDPs are a relatively low priority: they rank sixth on the list of new systems and eighth on the list of systems to replace.