• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis requested the state’s inspector general investigate whether the Walt Disney Co.-controlled Reedy Creek Improvement District board broke any laws when it entered into a 30-year development agreement with the entertainment giant just days before being taken over by a team handpicked by DeSantis in February. (Deadline) Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger responded to the request for an investigation, calling it “anti-business” and “anti-Florida.” (The Wall Street Journal)
• L’Oréal SA agreed to purchase luxury cosmetics brand Aesop for $2.53 billion in a deal expected to close in the third quarter. The acquisition represents a growing shift in focus toward high-end products throughout the beauty industry. (Bloomberg)
• Twitter Inc. briefly replaced its iconic bird logo with an image of a Shiba Inu dog, frequently associated with the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, on Monday in an apparent callback to an exchange owner Elon Musk had in March 2022 when a Twitter user suggested he buy the company and change its branding. Meanwhile, the platform experienced another significant glitch when retweet labels disappeared, causing users confusion as to why some tweets were appearing in their feeds. (The Verge)

Amazon’s Fastest Growing Markets

Marketplace Pulse

IAB Releases New CTV Privacy Compliance Report

Karlene Lukovitz, MediaPost

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released an updated report on privacy compliance in the connected TV (CTV) environment in light of the shifting state and federal privacy law landscape.

Danone is Set to Consolidate its Global Creative with Havas’ BETC

Brian Bonilla, Ad Age

Evian, Activia and Silk marketer spent $1.25 billion on global advertising in 2021.

Publishers Call Out Ad-Tech Firms’ Sale of Contextual Data as IP Theft

Catherine Perloff, Adweek

Under threat of cookie deprecation, an old practice is drawing new ire.

Paramount slows down its podcast production launch pace as market comes ‘back to Earth’

Sara Guaglione, Digiday

Paramount will launch fewer podcast shows this year than in years past and will be more selective about which shows get developed going forward.

Thousands of Gen Z creators are using Fanfix to monetize content and interact with fans

Lauren Forristal, TechCrunch

More and more Gen Z users are hopping on the content creation train in an effort to earn a living beyond a regular 9-5 gig. According to a 2022 study by Adobe, around 45% of Gen Z creators surveyed said they want to earn money from their content.

Financial Times acquires majority stake in medical publication Endpoints News

Reuters

UK’s Financial Times said on Monday it had acquired a majority stake in medical news publication Endpoints News.

Facebook report disparages news: ‘Small and diminishing role’ for publisher content

Charlotte Tobbit, Press Gazette

News links account for less than 3% of posts people see in their Facebook feeds.

N.C.A.A. Women’s Tournament Shatters Ratings Record in Final

Remy Tumin, The New York Times

The average 9.9 million viewers for Louisiana State topping Iowa was significantly more than the previous record of 5.7 million for an N.C.A.A. women’s tournament game, achieved in 2002 when Connecticut won the title.

Warner Bros. Nears Deal for Harry Potter Online TV Series

Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is close to a deal for a new online TV series based on Harry Potter, the best-selling young adult books, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Vice Sets Slate Of Docs At Tubi Including ‘The Cult Of Elon’

Peter White, Deadline

The youth-media company, which recently saw its CEO Nancy Dubuc exit amid sale plans, has struck a deal with Fox-owned Tubi for a new slate of original documentaries for the ad-supported streamer.

Google Search gets new travel features, including a ‘price guarantee’ tool for flights

Aisha Malik, TechCrunch

Google today that it’s introducing three new Search features to make it easier for users to research hotels, book their next plane ticket and discover things to do while on vacation. Most notably, the company is piloting a new “price guarantee” badge for flights.

YouTube will live stream six Coachella feeds at once this year

Jay Peters, The Verge

That’s double the three simultaneous live streams that aired last year.

Spotify is shutting down its live audio app Spotify Live

Aisha Malik, TechCrunch  

“After a period of experimentation and learnings around how Spotify users interact with live audio, we’ve made the decision to sunset the Spotify Live app,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch in an email. 

Celebrities ‘call Elon’s bluff’ as Twitter’s blue check-mark deadline passes with only one subtle change

Eleanor Pringle, Fortune

The Twitter CEO’s bid to pressure users into paying for a blue check mark seemingly hasn’t gone according to plan, with big-name users refusing to fork out but seeing their verification mark stay in place anyway.

Apple CEO Tim Cook explains why people might want a mixed reality headset

Rohan Goswami, CNBC

Apple CEO Tim Cook thinks creative, business, and communications uses hold the most promise for virtual reality technology.

Australia Bans TikTok From Government Devices Amid Security Concerns

Stuart Condie, The Wall Street Journal

Decision means all members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance have fully or partly barred lawmakers’ access to the app.

Post, a publisher-focused Twitter alternative, launches to public

Sarah Perez, TechCrunch

The startup, like others in this space, gained ground in the wake of Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter as many began to look for a new place to read and discuss the news or share their own thoughts with their followers. But Post doesn’t want to be just another Twitter clone. Instead, its aim is to develop a platform where publishers can generate revenue from micropayments — that is, where users pay some small amount of money to read individual news items.

Ford Credit Debuts First Ever Consumer Ad Campaign As Auto Lending Market Undergoes Rapid Changer

E.J. Schultz, Ad Age 

With more people shopping online, lenders must shift strategies.

Walmart Aims for More Curation, Less Clutter in New Online Look

Brendan Case, Bloomberg 

Walmart Inc. has been pouring investment into its e-commerce operation for years in an effort to catch up with Amazon.com Inc. Now it’s trying to boost its appeal with a new online look.

Bombay Sapphire readies world’s largest AI art event

Chris Kelly, Marketing Dive

Bombay Sapphire and director Baz Luhrmann have teamed for “Saw This, Made This,” an art installation experience that combines user-generated art and paintings made by an AI-powered robot, according to a press release.

Would Life Be Better if You Worked Less?

Rachel Feintzeig, The Wall Street Journal 

From part-time hours to four-day workweeks, Americans experiment with living more.

Walmart Sees More Than 2,000 Job Cuts in E-Commerce Warehouses

Brendan Case, Bloomberg 

Walmart Inc.’s job cuts at five US e-commerce fulfillment centers will affect more than 2,000 positions, according to regulatory filings, though impacted employees may find other roles at the company. 

Broadcast News Is at Center of Fight Over Noncompete Clauses

Lydia DePillis, The New York Times

Job-switching barriers are routine at TV stations, even for workers not on the air. A proposed federal rule would curb the practice across all fields.

CEOs are tired of being held responsible for gun regulation

Nicole Goodkind, CNN 

Corporate leadership has long been vocal on the issue of gun control – in 2019 and again this past summer nearly 150 major companies – including Lululemon, Lyft, Bain Capital, Bloomberg LP, Permanente Medical Group and Unilever – called gun violence a “public health crisis” and demanded that the US Senate pass legislation to address it.

Apple to Cut Jobs in Some Corporate Retail Teams in First Known Layoffs

Mark Gurman, Bloomberg 

Apple Inc. is eliminating a small number of roles within its corporate retail teams, according to people with knowledge of the matter, marking its first known internal job cuts since it embarked on a belt-tightening effort last year. 

A new approach to upskilling is the key to navigating economic uncertainty 

Ashwin Damera, Quartz

Rethinking how we build skills for the future of work.