Tag Archives: Business Services & Activities

Telegram takes on WhatsApp with business-focused features

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Telegram isn't quite as widely used as WhatsApp, but businesses can now add it as a communication option for their customers if they want to. Anybody on the messaging app can now convert their account into a business account to get access to features designed to make it easier for customers to find and contact them. They'll be able to display their hours of operation on their profile and pin their location on a map. With their operating hours in place, customers can see at a glance whether they're still open and what time they're closing for the day. 

A screenshot showing a business profile on Telegram.
Telegram

Businesses can also customize their start page and display information about their products and services on empty chats, giving customers a glimpse of what's on offer even before they get in touch. To make it easier to respond to multiple inquiries, Telegram Business accounts will also be able to craft and save preset messages that they can send as quick replies. Of course, they can also pre-write greeting and away messages that get automatically sent to customers who contact them. They can use a Telegram Bot to chat with their customers, as well, though we all know how frustrating it can be to talk with a robot when we need to talk to a human customer service rep. All these features are free, but only for those with a Telegram Premium account, which costs $5 a month.

In addition to introducing its new business-focused features, Telegram has also revealed that it's giving channel owners 50 percent of the revenue earned from ads displayed on their channels, as long as they have at least 1,000 subscribers. Based on information previously shared by company founder Pavel Durov, Telegram seems to be doing well financially and can afford to be that generous. Durov told The Financial Times that he expects the messaging app to be profitable by next year and that it's currently exploring a future initial public offering.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/telegram-takes-on-whatsapp-with-business-focused-features-101843987.html?src=rss

Telegram takes on WhatsApp with business-focused features

Posted on by

Telegram isn't quite as widely used as WhatsApp, but businesses can now add it as a communication option for their customers if they want to. Anybody on the messaging app can now convert their account into a business account to get access to features designed to make it easier for customers to find and contact them. They'll be able to display their hours of operation on their profile and pin their location on a map. With their operating hours in place, customers can see at a glance whether they're still open and what time they're closing for the day. 

A screenshot showing a business profile on Telegram.
Telegram

Businesses can also customize their start page and display information about their products and services on empty chats, giving customers a glimpse of what's on offer even before they get in touch. To make it easier to respond to multiple inquiries, Telegram Business accounts will also be able to craft and save preset messages that they can send as quick replies. Of course, they can also pre-write greeting and away messages that get automatically sent to customers who contact them. They can use a Telegram Bot to chat with their customers, as well, though we all know how frustrating it can be to talk with a robot when we need to talk to a human customer service rep. All these features are free, but only for those with a Telegram Premium account, which costs $5 a month.

In addition to introducing its new business-focused features, Telegram has also revealed that it's giving channel owners 50 percent of the revenue earned from ads displayed on their channels, as long as they have at least 1,000 subscribers. Based on information previously shared by company founder Pavel Durov, Telegram seems to be doing well financially and can afford to be that generous. Durov told The Financial Times that he expects the messaging app to be profitable by next year and that it's currently exploring a future initial public offering.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/telegram-takes-on-whatsapp-with-business-focused-features-101843987.html?src=rss

Walmart is buying smart TV maker Vizio for $2.3 billion

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Walmart is buying Smart TV manufacturer Vizio for $2.3 billion, the retail giant announced as part of its latest earnings report. While Walmart has long been one of the major sellers of Vizio TVs, the company says the acquisition "enables a profitable advertising business that is rapidly scaling" via the company's SmartCast OS. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval. 

Vizio sells solid mid-range TVs, most equipped with its SmartCast operating system that supports free ad-supported content. The company recently refreshed its lineup with a more intuitive user interface and faster startups and app switching. 

Walmart, meanwhile, prominently features the brand on its shelves (along with TCL), as anyone who has gone there lately has probably noticed. The retailer already has its own TV house brand, ONN, but those sets are very much on the low end, usually selling for under $500. 

More importantly, the companies plan to combine their respective ad businesses. Walmart already has a $2.7 billion ad business, but Vizio would increase its access to key consumer info like viewership data. It would also effectively give Walmart more eyeballs for its ads — for instance, companies that sell goods at Walmart could also run ads on Vizio TVs, all of which could be tracked by the retailer. 

"We believe the combination of these two businesses would be impactful as we redefine the intersection of retail and entertainment," said Walmart VP Seth Dallaire. "Our technology will help bring a scaled, connected TV advertising platform to Walmart Connect," added Vizio CEO William Wang. 

The acquisition may also be a counter to Amazon's in-house Fire TV business, both in terms of television retailing and advertising, as The Wall Street Journal reported last week. Amazon has one of the largest ad businesses in the US behind Alphabet and Meta, and smart TVs help it gather personalized consumer data for targeted advertising. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/walmart-is-buying-smart-tv-maker-vizio-for-23-billion-130725953.html?src=rss

Walmart says it’s no longer advertising on X

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Walmart has seen enough from X. The retailer, America’s single biggest employer and largest company by revenue, told Reuters on Friday it’s no longer advertising on the platform formerly known as Twitter. The departure follows owner Elon Musk amplifying antisemitic posts and flinging expletives at fleeing advertisers. “We aren’t advertising on X as we’ve found other platforms to better reach our customers,” a Walmart spokesperson told Reuters.

Walmart’s exit adds to a growing list of companies that have pulled ads from the platform. Apple, Disney, IBM, Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery are among the businesses no longer buying ads on X. A group of advertisers told The New York Times on Thursday their temporary pauses will likely become permanent. “There is no advertising value that would offset the reputational risk of going back on the platform,” Lou Paskalis, CEO of marketing consultancy AJL Advisory, told the paper.

X’s former advertisers had no shortage of reasons to jump ship. Musk’s latest series of self-inflicted wounds began when the billionaire appeared to endorse and amplify a post falsely claiming Jewish communities were stoking hatred against white people. Musk replied to the user who spewed the racist “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, saying their comments reflected “the actual truth.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 29: C.E.O. of Tesla, Chief Engineer of SpaceX and C.T.O. of X Elon Musk takes the stage during the New York Times annual DealBook summit on November 29, 2023 in New York City. Andrew Ross Sorkin returns for the NYT summit for a day of interviews with Vice President Kamala Harris, President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-Wen, C.E.O. of Tesla, Chief Engineer of SpaceX and C.T.O. of X Elon Musk, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and leaders in business, politics and culture. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images

Watchdog group Media Matters then published a report showing ads from well-known brands placed next to antisemitic content. X responded by suing the organization, accusing it of “knowingly and maliciously [manufacturing] side-by-side images depicting advertisers’ posts on X Corp.’s social media platform beside Neo-Nazi and white national fringe content.”

Musk’s attempt to smooth things over only made things worse. After apologizing for amplifying the antisemitic content at The New York Times’ DealBook event, he told advertisers backing off of the platform to “Go fuck yourself.” His company now potentially stands to lose $75 million.

Walmart employs around 1.6 million people in the US. The retailer made $611 billion in revenue in the 2023 fiscal year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/walmart-says-its-no-longer-advertising-on-x-215940504.html?src=rss

X sues X in trademark infringement lawsuit

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Elon Musk's X Corp is facing what could be the first of several lawsuits related to its name. A Florida-based company called X Social Media has accused X Corp. of trademark and service mark infringement, obviously for the use of the letter "X." Musk rebranded Twitter in July, renamed the social network as "X" and replaced its iconic bird logo with the letter. The executive is known for having an affinity for the letter X, so it didn't really come as a surprise, but as trademark attorney Josh Gerben told Reuters back then, there's "about a 100 percent probability that Twitter/X will be sued by both opportunistic and legitimate plaintiffs over the new name." Today, Gerben's firm represents the plaintiff in this case. 

X Social Media described itself in the lawsuit (PDF) as a company that has "offered its advertising and social media services connecting law firms and those in need of advocates since 2016." While its logo looks vastly different from the logo used by the social network formerly known as Twitter, it argued in its complaint that it "frequently emphasizes the 'X' portion of its mark throughout its advertising, blogs, and newsletters highlighting its work." 

The Florida-based company also said that the media coverage Elon Musk's X got when it rebranded caused confusion and had led consumers to believe that its advertising services are being offered by or are associated with X Corp. "As 'X' is a social media platform, consumers naturally conflate 'X SocialMedia' as an X Corp.'s social media platform," it explained. The plaintiff told the court that it has already suffered losses in revenue due to Twitter's rebranding, and that it's highly probable that the confusion will continue to its "financial detriment." Especially since X Corp appears at the top of search results when you look for "x social media" — or at least it used to before news about the lawsuit came out. 

Further, it accused Musk's company for filing multiple trademark applications for business data analysis, promotional services, business consulting and information services, as well as business, consumer and market research, which are comparable to its offerings, even though it allegedly knew about X Social Media. Apparently, X Social Media sent Musk's company a cease-and-desist letter in August 2023, but X Corp. refused to stop using the letter. It's now asking the court for an injunction, prohibiting Musk's company from marketing, offering, selling or distributing services bearing the mark "X." The plaintiff is also asking for damages equivalent to three times of its losses or the defendant's profits. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-sues-x-in-trademark-infringement-lawsuit-092041443.html?src=rss

OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise service encrypts corporate conversations

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OpenAI launched ChatGPT Enterprise today, the business-focused subscription it teased in April. The company says it won’t train its AI models on any business data or conversations under the new plan. “Our models don’t learn from your usage,” the company wrote in an announcement blog post about the enterprise features. In addition, the new plan encrypts business chats (in transit and at rest) and is SOC 2 compliant. OpenAI says companies including Block, Canva, Carlyle, The Estée Lauder Companies, PwC and Zapier have already tested ChatGPT Enterprise.

ChatGPT Enterprise provides two times faster access to GPT-4 (the same model from ChatGPT Pro) but without usage caps — and with a boosted 32,000-token context, letting the AI model process up to four times the input / output text as the $20-per-month Pro tier. The business-focused plan also includes unlimited access to advanced data analysis (previously called Code Interpreter), allowing teams to quickly analyze enormous swaths of data.

The business subscription gives companies an admin console, allowing for bulk management of employee use. This includes the ability to create shared chat templates for teams that share common workflows. It also offers enterprises free credits for OpenAI’s API, which can be used for custom chatbots and other tailored AI-generated text. Business customers will also receive an analytics dashboard for “usage insights” within their organizations.

With today’s launch focusing on large corporations, OpenAI says a version for smaller businesses will arrive at some point in the future. COO Brian Lightcap toldCNBC today that starting with more robust enterprise customers “gives us a little bit more of a way to engage with teams in a hands-on way and understand what the deployment motion looks like before we fully open it up.” The company isn’t announcing pricing publicly, but businesses can contact OpenAI to learn about their options and tailor a custom plan. Lightcap told CNBC that pricing “will depend, for us, on every company’s use cases and size.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openais-chatgpt-enterprise-service-encrypts-corporate-conversations-182812290.html?src=rss

Tesla may reverse its stance and start advertising

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Tesla is known for being ad-averse and hasn't really ran traditional advertising since it launched in the early 2000's, choosing to rely on word of mouth to promote its vehicles instead. Now things could change for the automaker. During the company's latest shareholder meeting, Tesla chief Elon Musk replied to an audience question regarding advertising with: "We will try a little advertising and see how it goes." Apparently, the executive changed his mind about advertising after acquiring Twitter, which makes most of its money from ads. 

"It's indeed ironic that Twitter is highly dependent on advertising. Here I am, never used advertising really before, and now I have a company that’s highly dependent on advertising. So, I guess I should say advertising is awesome, and everyone should do it." That's a total reversal from the executive's previous stance. He said a few years ago that he hated advertising and that Tesla uses money other automakers set aside for ads and endorsements "to make the product great."

In his response during the shareholder meeting, Musk said Tesla vehicles have functionalities and features that most people don't know about. The company does post them on its Twitter account, but he acknowledges that doing so is like preaching to the choir. In a follow-up interview with CNBC, he said ads could be "informative and entertaining" so that they're more content than typical advertisements. He suggested that future Tesla ads could take on that format and highlight its vehicles' lesser-known features. 

Musk has also teased two new EVs during the shareholder meeting, where he said that the vehicles' design and manufacturing techniques "are head and shoulders above anything else that is present in the industry." He said that the company is already in the process of "building a new product," which could mean that Tesla is already working on a prototype for at least one of the EVs.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-may-reverse-its-stance-and-start-advertising-060638995.html?src=rss

Microsoft is reportedly already planning to bring ads to Bing’s AI chatbot

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Microsoft is reportedly in talks with advertising agencies on how to slot ads into the juiced-up Bing, particularly when it comes to the generative AI-powered chatbot. The company is already testing ads there, according to Reuters, including by slotting in traditional search ads.

The ad agency talks are still said to be in the early stages. Only a small number of users have access to the chatbot, and millions more are on the waitlist. As such, Microsoft may not feel like there's a rush to incorporate ads right away.

Microsoft reportedly anticipates that the chatbot's more conversational approach to delivering information will bring in more users and, in turn, advertisers. Ads in the chatbot might also be featured more prominently than conventional search ads. One place where you might see ads is in the links that the chatbot uses for citations in its responses. Microsoft told Reuters that it will work with partners and advertisers as it starts exploring the potential of the tech for ads.

It's not an enormous surprise that ads are likely on the way to Bing's chatbot and, presumably, Google's Bard. While they've already had some hiccups, generative AI chatbots have the potential to reshape how people find information. Given how important search revenue currently is (more than half of Alphabet's $282.8 billion revenue for 2022 came from search), the companies have little choice but to monetize the chatbots. The most obvious path is figuring out how to stuff ads inside them.

Microsoft is reportedly already planning to bring ads to Bing’s AI chatbot

Posted on by

Microsoft is reportedly in talks with advertising agencies on how to slot ads into the juiced-up Bing, particularly when it comes to the generative AI-powered chatbot. The company is already testing ads there, according to Reuters, including by slotting in traditional search ads.

The ad agency talks are still said to be in the early stages. Only a small number of users have access to the chatbot, and millions more are on the waitlist. As such, Microsoft may not feel like there's a rush to incorporate ads right away.

Microsoft reportedly anticipates that the chatbot's more conversational approach to delivering information will bring in more users and, in turn, advertisers. Ads in the chatbot might also be featured more prominently than conventional search ads. One place where you might see ads is in the links that the chatbot uses for citations in its responses. Microsoft told Reuters that it will work with partners and advertisers as it starts exploring the potential of the tech for ads.

It's not an enormous surprise that ads are likely on the way to Bing's chatbot and, presumably, Google's Bard. While they've already had some hiccups, generative AI chatbots have the potential to reshape how people find information. Given how important search revenue currently is (more than half of Alphabet's $282.8 billion revenue for 2022 came from search), the companies have little choice but to monetize the chatbots. The most obvious path is figuring out how to stuff ads inside them.

Roku will put Walmart shopping ads on its streaming devices

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Roku has teamed up with Walmart to serve a new kind of advertisement that will let you shop straight from your TV. Unlike typical TV ads that only showcase a specific service or product, these shoppable ads are more similar to advertisements you see online. Viewers who do find something they want to buy from the shoppable ads can press OK on their remote to begin Walmart's checkout process. Their payment details will be automatically populated with their information from Roku Pay, so they'd only have to press OK to complete their purchase. They'll then get an email confirmation from Walmart with shipping and return information. 

Since this is a pilot partnership between the companies, the shoppable ads powered Roku's ad-buying platform called OneView will only feature products fulfilled by Walmart. Of course, ads always have the potential to be annoying, but Roku's announcement suggests that it will at least show ads targeted towards its users, thanks to its advertising tech. The company also said that future iterations of this pilot program "will look for opportunities to build deeper commerce experiences that meet customers where they are."

This isn't the first time Roku and Walmart have joined forces: Last year, Roku debuted its new LE streaming player as a $15 Walmart exclusive for Black Friday. The device eventually made its way to other retailers like Amazon, where it's being sold at prices ranging from $24 to $30.