Techmeme
July 24, 2019, 4:35 PM

Top News

Tony Romm / Washington Post:
FTC announces a $5B fine against Facebook for repeated privacy violations as part of a settlement that requires federal oversight of its business practices  —  The settlement between the Federal Trade Commission and Facebook ends a 16-month probe that began after revelations of the tech giant's entanglement with Cambridge Analytica
Bloomberg:
FTC's Facebook settlement does little to hamper the company's ad business or data collection practices, mostly re-committing Facebook to previous goals  —  - Social media giant agreed to ‘changes’ it's already made  — Massive data collection, ad targeting won't be affected
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Facebook cuts off access to friend data for Microsoft and Sony, the last two of its legacy partners, under FTC deal, says allowing them access was “our mistake”  —  One more consequence of the FTC's investigation of Facebook, which culminated in a record $5 billion settlement announced today …
Charlie Warzel / New York Times:
Facebook:
Facebook reports Q2 revenue of $16.9B, up 28% YoY, as ad revenue rises 28% YoY to $16.6B; MAUs rose 8% YoY to 2.41B, as average DAUs rose 8% YoY to 1.59B  —  Facebook, Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2019.  —  “We had a strong quarter …
Harry McCracken / Fast Company:
As Google Photos crosses the billion-user threshold, Anil Sabharwal, the Google VP who led its creation, shares how the app was spun out of Google+  —  In a tech industry obsessed with scale, no aspiration is more iconic than building something that reaches a billion users.
The Keyword:
Google launches Gallery Go, a lightweight 10MB photo gallery app for organizing and editing photos, designed to work offline  —  Today, at Google for Nigeria we introduced Gallery Go: a photo gallery, designed to work offline, that uses machine learning to automatically organize and make your photos look their best.
Richard Lawler / Engadget:
DoorDash CEO to change tipping policy “in the coming days”, says it will add all customer tips to driver's earnings, after a renewed backlash  —  Earlier this year, news reports exposed that not only did DoorDash (and others, like Instacart) sometimes lower its payout to delivery workers …
Bowdeya Tweh / Wall Street Journal:
In a rebuke to Peter Thiel, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says that Google's work with China raises no national security concerns  —  Findings rebuke claims made by billionaire investor Peter Thiel  —  Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he and President Trump have found …
More: Engadget
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Netflix launches a $2.80 per month mobile-only subscription plan in India, restricted to one mobile device at 480p standard definition  —  Netflix has a new plan to win users in India: make its service incredibly cheap.  The streaming giant today introduced a lower-priced mobile plan in the country that costs Rs 199 ($2.8) per month.
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Asus unveils 6.59" ROG Phone II with a 120Hz display, 12GB RAM, Snapdragon 855+, and Switch Joy Con-like split controllers, launching globally in September  —  120Hz OLED, 855 Plus, 6,000mAh  —  Asus's first ROG gaming phone was one of the most maximalist takes on the concept to date …
Daisuke Wakabayashi / New York Times:
Alphabet lumps YouTube's revenue with Google's in filings, making insights hard to come by, though YouTube's annual revenue is likely $16B-$25B, topping Netflix  —  YouTube probably generates $16 billion to $25 billion in annual revenue, making the video service big enough to crack the top half of the Fortune 500.
Kate Clark / TechCrunch:
Hipcamp, a platform for listing and booking campsites, raises $25M Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz, bringing its total raised to $41.8M  —  Hipcamp uses technology to get people away from technology.  —  The San Francisco-based startup provides a “people-powered platform” …
Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed News:
Interviews, including with the dev who led the team that built the retweet button, discuss the power of retweets and shares and ways to limit their virality  —  Developer Chris Wetherell built Twitter's retweet button.  And he regrets what he did to this day.

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Earlier Picks

Bijan Stephen / The Verge:
Patrick Klepek / VICE:
Brent Kendall / Wall Street Journal: