Buzzfeed
BuzzFeed launches Infinity Quizzes, creating personalized stories powered by OpenAI
BuzzFeed — the media site that made its name (literally) spinning out viral content — landed in the middle of the buzz itself last month when news leaked out that it would partner with the
Just how bad is the Q1 ad market going to be?
What do media layoffs and tech worries have in common? Fear about what's ahead in coming quarters, especially as it relates to advertising revenues.
TikTok claims it’s not collecting US users’ biometric data, despite what privacy policy says
Last year, TikTok quietly updated its privacy policy to allow the app to collect biometric data on U.S. users, including “faceprints and voiceprints” — a concerning change that the c
Will M&A bring relief to media startups amid a public-market hangover?
With public-market exits effectively off the table and M&A for media startups historically capped around 6x-8x, the upside in media deals isn’t very high compared to other investing opportunities.
TikTok targets small businesses with new ‘Follow Me’ educational program
TikTok announced today a new initiative designed to help small businesses better market themselves on its app — and eventually become TikTok advertisers. The company is introducing a free progra
This Week in Apps: Period tracking app privacy, Snapchat’s paid subscription, calls for TikTok ban
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry continues to grow, with a re
Bidding adieu to the SPAC craze
The implosion of the SPAC boom has proven a multiquarter process. We may be in the final throes of the experiment, at least from a startup perspective.
If you must conduct layoffs, don’t be a jerk
Since our last column, another smattering of tech startups has laid off employees. We get it. Layoffs happen. But as we conduct yet another week of analysis into a depressing time in tech, we’re thi
Grubhub’s free lunch promo creates a literal ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ for NYC restaurants
Grubhub offered free lunch to everyone in New York City yesterday. What could go wrong? Between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., New Yorkers could use a Grubhub promo code to get a $15 discount on lunch. Naturally
Lumos wants to build an app store for the enterprise
Lumos, a startup that wants to provide an end-to-end solution for enterprises to manage all of the SaaS apps their employees use, is coming out of stealth today. The company plans to take on the SaaS
All eyes are on Swvl as it starts trading on a SPAC combination
Mass transit and shared mobility provider Swvl went public today in a landmark moment for Egyptian and Middle Eastern tech ecosystems. It’s also a test for the company going public despite a market
Big Cabal Media, parent company of TechCabal and Zikoko, raises $2.3M seed funding
African startups raised between $4 billion to $5 billion in 2021, according to various reports. For years, tech publications run by local digital media startups have worked hard behind the scenes in p
Meta will add basic parental supervision tools to its VR headset almost three years after launch
Despite releasing its first virtual reality headsets in May 2019, Meta is only now adding parental supervision tools to its Meta Quest VR headset. After last year’s rebranding spectacle, all eye
The SPAC boom was a failure, yeah?
The results are proving to be pure trash so frequently once the hype has died down and real, post-debut life begins that I would hazard we've collected enough data to call the SPAC boom a failure.
The New York Times plans to buy The Athletic for $550M
The New York Times Company agreed to purchase sports media outlet The Athletic in a deal valued at $550 million, The Information reports. This deal comes after months of speculation — at one poi
MrBeast’s ‘Real Life Squid Game’ and the price of viral stunts
First, everyone was talking about “Squid Game,” the Korean psychological thriller that became Netflix’s biggest series launch ever, with 142 million viewers. Now, everyone’s ta
Extra Crunch roundup: Pre-pitch tactics, Warby Parker S-1, Israel’s fintech ecosystem
Forget what you've heard: There are *many* shortcuts to success.
Forbes jumps into hot media liquidity summer with a SPAC combo
Is it the most exciting debut? No. But it does highlight that with enough gumption, one can take a magazine business into the digital age and keep aggregate revenue growing. That's worth something.
Venmo removes its global, public feed as part of a major redesign
PayPal-owned payments app Venmo will no longer offer a public, global feed of users’ transactions, as part of a significant redesign focused on expanding the app’s privacy controls and bet
Extra Crunch roundup: Unpacking BuzzFeed’s SPAC, curb your meeting enthusiasm, more
There's a kernel of truth in every joke, so whenever someone quips, "This meeting could have been an email!" you can bet that some small part of them meant it sincerely.