Techmeme
April 12, 2022, 7:20 AM

Top News

The Verge:
Meta rolls out a test for some creators to sell virtual items and effects in Horizon Worlds, which will take a 25% cut of any sale after app store fees  —  Horizon Worlds will take a 25 percent cut of any sale after app store fees  —  Meta is testing new features to let creators …
Andi Ortiz / The Wrap:
Last Week Tonight's John Oliver weighed in on data brokers, showing how easy it was to target members of Congress with ads after obtaining their personal info  —  John Oliver escalated his typical shenanigans on Sunday night's episode of “Last Week Tonight,” going from poking fun at politicians to outright blackmailing them.
Olga Kharif / Bloomberg:
Ethereum developers launch the so-called mainnet shadow fork, a key stress test ahead of the proof-of-stake Merge upgrade, expected to reduce energy use by ~99%  —  Ethereum's network is inching closer toward its much-anticipated software upgrade known as the Merge, having just entered a key testing step.
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Netflix is rolling out a Double Thumbs Up ratings option, which will appear next to the thumbs up and down buttons, to let it refine content recommendations  —  For nearly five years, Netflix has had simple thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons to express viewing preferences and help its algorithms provide better recommendations.
Bhanvi Satija / Reuters:
Research: TikTok's ad revenue is projected to triple in 2022 to $11B+, surpassing Twitter and Snapchat combined, which are expected to make $5.58B and $4.86B  —  Video-sharing app TikTok's advertisement revenue is likely to triple in 2022 to more than $11 billion, exceeding the combined sales …
Brad Stone / Bloomberg:
Marc Andreessen has tweeted ~350 times in the past two weeks, often referring to “the current thing” meme, joined by Elon Musk and others  —  Three of America's top technologists are talking and tweeting with unusual fervor.  But first...  - Beijing is targeting tech companies' algorithms
Bloomberg:
Sources: Singapore-based fashion marketplace Zilingo suspends CEO Ankiti Bose, after attempts to raise $150M-$200M led to an investigation over its accounting  —  Zilingo Pte, one of Singapore's highest-profile startups, has suspended Chief Executive Officer Ankiti Bose after an effort …
Jill R Shah / Bloomberg:
Filing: Meta spent $26.8M on Mark Zuckerberg's security in 2021, up 6% from 2020, far above other execs, such as Sundar Pichai ($4.3M) and Jeff Bezos ($1.6M)  —  The cost of keeping Mark Zuckerberg safe keeps going up for Meta Platforms Inc., far outstripping what similar technology companies with high-profile executives are spending.
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Over 14,000 Etsy sellers start a week-long strike over an increase in transaction fees from 5% to 6.5%, grievances with Etsy's Offsite Ads program, and more  —  If you're in the market for funky trinkets and unique, handmade clothing, you might want to put off your shopping until next week.
Eli Tan / CoinDesk:
Coinbase will produce a movie trilogy based on the Bored Ape Yacht Club, set to premier at NFT.NYC in June; BAYC owners can submit their apes for consideration  —  The trio of films will tie into the launch of Coinbase's long-awaited NFT marketplace.  —  The Bored Ape Yacht Club is getting …
Reuters:
Epic Games, which makes Fortnite, raises $2B from Sony and KIRKBI, the holding company behind LEGO, at a $31.5B post-money valuation  —  Epic Games said on Monday it had raised $2 billion from Sony Group Corp (6758.T) and the family owned holding company behind the Lego Group, giving the “Fortnite” maker a valuation of $31.5 billion.

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More News

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Teddy Amenabar / Washington Post:
Wall Street Journal:

Earlier Picks

Sara Fischer / Axios:
New York Times:
Omar Abdel-Baqui / Wall Street Journal: