Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Alphabet’s Google laid off hundreds of employees in its platforms and devices unit, The Information reported on Friday, citing a person with direct knowledge of the situation. The cuts in the division, which houses the Android platform, Pixel phones and the Chrome browser among other applications, follow Google’s January buyout offers to employees in the unit, the report said. “Since combining the platforms and devices teams last year, we’ve focused on becoming more nimble and operating more effectively and this included making some job reductions in addition to the voluntary exit program that we offered in January,” a Google spokesperson told The Information. …

Shares in Google’s parent company, Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG), are down nearly 7% in premarket trading at the time of this writing. The fall comes a day after Google announced its fourth-quarter 2024 earnings results. Here’s what you need to know about those results and the likely reasons why GOOG stock is falling this morning. Google Q4 2024 results were a mixed bag Google saw both its revenue and earnings per share (EPS) increase in Q4 versus the quarter a year earlier. For the Q4 2024 quarter, Google posted nearly $96.5 billion in revenue—12% growth from Q4 2023. However, in that previous Q4 2023 quarter, Google’s revenue growth had been 13%, suggesting that growth…

Ticketing platform Eventbrite has a new look—and an overhauled mobile app. The company just unveiled its first brand refresh and app redesign since 2019, signaling its increasing focus on surfacing event recommendations for its users. Coming less than a week after Eventbrite shared its Q4 and full-year 2024 earnings—posting a loss of $8.4 million for the quarter and loss of $15.6 million for the year—the new app is designed, in part, to help shore up the company’s 10% year-over-year decline in ticket sales by emphasizing event discovery. To do that, CEO and cofounder Julia Hartz tells Fast Company that Eventbrite’s strategy is cribbing somewhat from the music streaming w…

Pop quiz: Which two Super Bowl ads were created by Artists Equity Advertising, the commercial creative arm of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s studio Artists Equity? Hint: It was the two starring… Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The big game ads for both Stella Artois and Dunkin were excellent vehicles for both actors. But they’re also the rare occurrence of major advertising investment—which goes well beyond the $8 million just for Super Bowl airtime—going to a boutique creative shop run by Hollywood A-listers. However, this is not a story about Super Bowl ads. It’s about Artists Equity’s approach to capitalizing on the increasingly aligned interests of Hollywood a…

Ever since DeepSeek burst onto the scene last month, there’s been no shortage of opinions about what the Chinese startup’s artificial intelligence accomplishments mean for America’s AI giants like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and Meta. However, there’s one company that’s usually been absent from any discussion of just how bad DeepSeek’s arrival is for many of America’s tech giants: Apple. Whenever a tech insider or analyst mentions Apple and DeepSeek together, its usually to suggest that the arrival of the Chinese LLM could be beneficial to the iPhone maker. Is that really the case? AI technology is moving so quickly (DeepSeek virtually appeared out of nowhere) th…

Delivering feedback as a leader can feel challenging, but with the right training and awareness, you can set yourself up for success. In this article, industry leaders share the common mistakes they’ve observed and practical tips that can help you communicate feedback more effectively and constructively to foster a more productive work environment. Focus on Behavior, Not Character When feedback judges the individual—and not the action—a poor outcome is almost guaranteed. “You’re not a team player” is an example of feedback that makes an assertion about a person’s character. The receiver of this feedback is likely to experience a “fight, flight, or freeze” response …

Arizona’s highest court has created a pair of AI-generated avatars to deliver news of every ruling issued by the justices, marking what is believed to be the first example in the U.S. of a state court system tapping artificial intelligence to build more humanlike characters to connect with the public. A court in Florida uses an animated chatbot to help visitors navigate its website, but the Arizona Supreme Court is charting new territory with the creation of Victoria and Daniel. Made of pixels, the two avatars have a different job in that they serve as the face of news coming from the court just as a spokesperson made of flesh and blood would do—but faster. The use of A…

If the thought of being hunted by something that can see your every move makes your skin crawl, you might want to steer clear of Eyes Never Wake. This viral horror game takes immersion to the next level, using your webcam to let a lurking monster track your movements in real time. To survive, players must physically move to avoid detection—ducking under desks, leaning out of sight, and staying perfectly still as the creature stalks the room. The game doesn’t stop at just watching. It listens, too. The game listens, too. With your mic always on, the AI-driven entity reacts to sound, forcing players to stay silent to avoid being found. “Every corner you turn is a ch…

Thinking Machines Lab, an AI startup founded by former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, has tapped about 30 leading researchers and engineers from competitors such as OpenAI, Meta and Mistral, it said in a blog post on Tuesday. The team — roughly two-thirds of which comprises former OpenAI employees — includes Barret Zoph, a prominent researcher who left the ChatGPT maker on the same day as Murati in late September. Zoph will serve as the startup’s technology chief. OpenAI co-founder John Schulman is the startup’s chief scientist. Schulman left OpenAI for rival Anthropic in August, citing wanting to “focus on AI alignment”. AI alignment refers to a…

In the mid-1920s, most Americans ate light breakfasts. Edward Bernays, who would eventually be considered the father of public relations, was hired by a company that sold bacon to promote the idea that a “hearty” meal including bacon and eggs was more scientifically beneficial. Bernays conducted interviews and then carefully framed the results that led to a shift in public opinion. America’s iconic breakfast is now bacon and eggs. In the 1950s, the Keep America Beautiful campaign was launched by a coalition of corporations whose products were often littered (soda bottles, plastic packages, etc.). Their iconic moment was 1971’s commercial with actor Iron Eyes Cody as a…

Last fall, Will Ferrell sang an homage to PayPal to the tune of Fleetwood Mac’s classic “Everywhere.” The payments platform was making a big swing with the comedy legend for its biggest-ever U.S. ad campaign. It was also the first major piece of work under PayPal chief marketing officer Geoff Seeley, who joined the company in February 2024. The campaign was created with agency BBH, with an assist from Publicis Groupe creative shop Le Truc. But there was another partner holding influence over the brand strategy, all behind the scenes. The Intangibles—which some might call the Avengers of marketing—is a marketing powerhouse that has largely operated in the shadows unti…

Eric Migicovsky has barely started working on a successor to the Pebble smartwatch, and he’s already talking about being finished with it. Eight years ago, Migicovsky shut down the smartwatch startup he founded, having sold its software assets to Fitbit, which later became part of Google. But all this time, he and thousands of Pebble die-hards have continued to wear their watches, aided in part by a community that’s kept Pebble’s app store and core services alive. Last month, Migicovsky persuaded Google to make Pebble’s software open source, and now he’s started a company to build new watches. (They won’t be called Pebbles, though, since Google still owns the name.) While…

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions. Q: How can I get over decision paralysis? A: I feel this one. I think we all do. By most estimates, the average person makes around 35,000 decisions per day. Most of those are small choices like what to wear, what to have for lunch, what to post on social media. Hopefully you’re not paralyzed by those choices. But you also shouldn’t discount them completely. If you spend too much time mulling over the less consequential parts of life, you can end up with dec…

A TikTok trend claims giving your baby a tablespoon or two of butter before bed will help them sleep better at night. “What if I told you my toddler was still waking up every 2 hours at almost 2 years old until I started giving her real grass fed butter before bed,” reads one TikTok post by creator @bridgette_.gray. Since then, her child has experienced “a week straight of sleeping almost 8 hours every night.” Another TikTok user @abbyexplainsitall calls butter (importantly, not margarine) the “best sleep hack for kids” and she lets hers eat “as much as they want.” The video currently has 279.8K views. In the caption she adds, “The fats help keep them sati…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Like clockwork, every year, the U.S. housing market experiences a seasonal swing. It happens in both good years and bad. And while the seasonal trend may vary slightly by market (for example, snowbird markets), it remains fairly consistent across most housing markets. Here are three core components of the U.S. housing market’s seasonal effect—and what it means for buyers and sellers. 1. Existing home sales begin to rise heading into spring Seasonally speaking, U.S. existing home sales typically bottom out in January, then begin to rise mon…

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) stock (NASDAQ: AMD) fell 9% before the bell on Wednesday after the company fell short on sales for its data centers, despite reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings. (The stock is down 7% as of midday Wednesday.) That’s because the chipmaker’s core business is selling data center chips for graphics processing units used to power AI. It’s currently going head-to-head with Nvidia for market share of the lucrative, high-powered AI chip market. Shares in Nvidia (NVDA), meanwhile, were up 4% in midday trading Wednesday after Google’s parent company, Alphabet, announced it will spend $75 billion in expected capital expenditure…

You may have noticed that the Google-owned video-sharing site’s infamous red play logo is now rendered in a softer, more pinkish hue. That’s because user research revealed that the company’s logo color rated as one of its top three most outdated design elements. Last updated in 2017, YouTube’s old brand color was a pure red that users perceived to be “too loud when implemented in key UI moments,” Robyn Lee, YouTube’s visual design lead, said in a Google Design blog post. From top: The old red vs. the new [Image: YouTube]The old red had other technical problems, too, like rendering orange on some screens and causing a burn-in effect on TVs—a major issue considering YouTube…

Congratulations! You’ve just closed a funding round or hit a major milestone in your company’s journey. Now, it’s time to share this exciting moment with the world. As a founder or company leader, you know how important it is to communicate major news to investors, partners, customers, and other stakeholders. But the steps you take when developing your communications strategy can make or break its true impact. Here is your communications playbook for developing a well-planned strategy that ensures your next milestone attracts the attention of media, employees, partners, and those who matter most. 1. Establish your North Star. As a first order of business, y…

If you tune into the Puppy Bowl on Sunday, you’ll likely see a key person’s influence — even if you don’t actually see her. Victoria Schade is a dog trainer and novelist who’s the show’s lead puppy trainer and wrangler. She’s the one making sure the shelter pups have a conflict-free contest and that they’re captured at their most adorable—all from off-camera. It is Schade who gets the puppies to look up during the “The Star-Spangled Banner” or run through a tunnel to get to the field for the starting lineups. She’s on the lookout for possible conflicts or nervous dogs. “My responsibilities include ensuring puppy happiness and safety during gameplay,” she says.…

Finding fulfilling and motivating work is a challenge for many people, but it can be especially difficult for those just starting their careers. And as Generation Z professionals—those born between 1997 and 2012—increasingly seek personalized career paths, managers are tasked with helping employees find meaning in their roles while also meeting organizational goals. Some managers may view Gen Z’s desire for meaningful work as a form of entitlement, but dismissing it can be costly. Research shows that employees who find their work meaningful experience greater job satisfaction, which directly boosts productivity. Meanwhile, ignoring this need can lead to higher employe…

Many things are considered distinctly millennial: a man bun, avocado toast, axe-throwing bars. Now you can apparently add millennial burger joints to that list. On February 11, TikToker fairylights2007 shared a clip using Kyle Gordon’s “2011 Millennial” parody song, along with a caption that read: “This song is so truffle fries overpriced burger brick walls metal tin of ketchup.” You know the type. As the video points out, the burgers are typically overpriced—$19 to be exact—always with a brioche bun. Fries are extra and come served in a fryer basket with a special “house sauce” (i.e., ketchup mixed with mayo). Somewhere in the restaurant, a chalkboard li…

With their drab gray suits and their Buddy Holly glasses, the so-called traitorous eight don’t look like revolutionaries. Given no context, you can imagine them occupying some kind of middle-management role at a small regional bank. And yet these are the people you can thank for the digital world. The eight—which included Intel cofounder Gordon Moore—had departed Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory to found Fairchild Semiconductor, which soon became the world’s biggest producer of electrical components for computers. Many of its founders would, in turn, leave again to launch their own ventures. Many of these companies coalesced in the same area—the place we now call…

Across the city of Chengdu, China, the quiet but remarkable buildings of Liu Jiakun has slowly pierced through the dominant stereotype of bombastic Chinese architecture. Liu, who has just been named the 2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, has spent the past three decades carefully injecting pieces of socially conscious and transformative architecture into his hometown. Liu’s work includes subtle museums, historically informed preservation projects, and progressive urban projects that blur the edges of private space and public good. “In a world that tends to create endless dull peripheries, he has found a way to build places that are a building, infrastructure, …