Snap's Rollback of Redesign May Signal an Identity Crisis
*By Britt Terrell*
Snap is doing something that is unprecedented in social media. The maker of Snapchat has answered angry users' protests and revamped its app to make it more similar to the original version.
"It's a sign of humility in a way for Snapchat," said Marty Swant, a staff writer at Adweek. "In a way, I wonder if they have a bit of an identity crisis."
Is Snap making a tool for publishers or is the app catering to its core users?
Snapchat's 2017 redesign was meant to bring more people to its publishing page. But loyal users revolted: A petition called for the app maker to revert to the old design, the platform saw its user growth [decline in the last quarter](http://deadline.com/2018/05/snap-inc-snapchat-slowest-growth-earnings-stock-plunges-1202380663/).
As Snap's stock continues to plummet ーit's down nearly 50 percent year-over-year ー the company must figure out ways to appeal to advertisers.
"I think the big picture that Snapchat has now is their ads are a lot more creative than the ads you're seeing on Instagram stories - Snapchat's main competitor," said Swant in an interview Monday with Cheddar. "They're just cooler looking, they're more engaging. I think that's a big play, but the question is, do users actually spend time with them?"
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/snap-redesigns-its-redesign).
Apple said Tuesday it is expanding the iPhone's capabilities to accept contactless payments, making it easier for merchants to conduct tap-to-pay transactions without having to buy additional hardware.
The Justice Department has announced its largest-ever financial seizure — more than $3.5 billion — and the arrests of a New York couple accused of conspiring to launder billions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
The IRS said Monday it will suspend the use of facial recognition technology to authenticate people who create online accounts after the practice was criticized by privacy advocates and lawmakers.
As we celebrate Black History Month, Cheddar is highlighting prominent Black Americans who are carving their own historic paths and trailblazing in their industries. Today we feature Greg Robinson, director of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope program.
The last trading day of January ended one of the most rocky months for the markets in nearly two years. Dan Russo, Portfolio Manager and Director of Research, at Potomac Fund Management explains what happened in January, and what to expect for February.
Just ahead of Google parent company Alphabet reporting its fourth quarter earnings, investors are keeping an eye on revenue from its cloud services, which has been a major area of development recently as well as its ad revenue. Adam Lampe, CEO and Co-Founder of Mint Wealth Management explains why the cloud may be the future for Alphabet.
After weeks of bad news about Peloton, reports indicate that the at-home fitness giant might find itself getting acquired. Doug Astrop, managing partner at Exponential Investment Partners, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss the possibility that Amazon, Nike, and Apple might be showing interest in buying the subscription-based business, whose shares have plummeted near 80 percent in the past year. "At some point everybody hits the limit on how many monthly fees they want to pay, how many subscriptions they want to have," said Astrop. "And you know, you've got Netflix, you got Amazon Prime, you got Spotify — I mean there's there's endless people who want you to pay a monthly fee. So, if you can be part of these bundles, it can really be advantageous for everybody."
