People are spending less time on Facebook, according to the company's latest earnings report. On average, users are spending 50 million hours less on the platform, a drop of about 5%. But CEO Mark Zuckerberg says this is intentional. In a statement, Zuckerberg said the company intentionally featured fewer viral videos to "make sure people's time is well spent." The social media company also reported increased ad revenue.
Twitter doubles the number of users who interacted with Russian-linked trolls. The social company now says 1.4 million users in the U.S. engaged with these accounts, more than double what the company originally reported. Twitter is sending out notifications to users who liked, retweeted, replied to, or quoted a Russia-backed account.
And eBay is parting ways with longtime partner PayPal in favor of Dutch payment processing company Adyen. Consumers will still have the option to check out using PayPal but will now be redirected towards an external site. This is an attempt by the company to take more control of sales on its platform. PayPal and eBay used to be part of the same company but parted ways in 2015.
Plus, we bring you a full hour on the Business of Sports heading into Super Bowl weekend. President of the San Francisco 49ers Al Guido discusses how the NFL is trying to turn around declining viewership. He also talks about the team's thoughts on Colin Kaepernick and protests within the NFL. Guido says he's inspired by the work Kaepernick has done and wants to turn these protests into progress.
Electronic Arts, the video game maker of “Madden NFL,” “The Sims,” and other popular titles, is being acquired and taken private for about $52.5 billion in what could become the largest-ever buyout funded by private-equity firms.
Merriam-Webster has fully revised its popular “Collegiate” dictionary with over 5,000 new words. They include “petrichor,” “dumbphone” and “ghost kitchen.” Also “cold brew,” “rizz,” “dad bod,” “hard pass,” “cancel culture” and more.
YouTube will offer creators a way to rejoin the streaming platform if they were banned for violating COVID-19 and election misinformation policies that are no longer in effect.
Lukas Alpert of MarketWatch explores how networks, brands, and ad buyers absorb the shockwaves when late‑night show hosts are suddenly cut — and brought back.
