, while 15% of US consumers and 17% of global consumers said they weren’t sure if they would even purchase gifts this year. 

Salesforce further predicts that while stores with 

 are poised to grow online sales 1.5x faster than those without, they will also feel the pinch on 

—especially as workers could face a nearly 200% increase in “costs to work” (think clothing, gas, etc.), and the expected seasonal bumps in retail pay could “eat directly into margins if not managed effectively.” 

 brought in less than $1 billion in sales for the first time since July 2021. Nevertheless, KBV Research analysts—citing an increased global interest among artists and companies to embrace Web3 (including 

 will continue to grow and reach a market value of £84 billion (~$100 billion) by 2028. 

is scaling back its live commerce plans in Europe and in the US. Citing unnamed sources, the 

—was slated for Germany, France, Italy, and Spain during H1, and later in 2022 in the US.

 is testing a feature that automatically turns 

as part of the app’s ongoing efforts to “simplify and improve the video experience.” Currently, the test is being conducted globally among select users. It’s unclear whether Instagram has plans for a wider rollout.

Most marketers (69%) are budgeting more for 

now than prior to the pandemic. Whether on 

, influencers have become essential to some of the largest marketing organizations in the world, filling a role to pitch products and closing creativity gaps left by the 

’s “brain drain” as many of its creatives turn to freelance or tech platforms. 

 is testing a feature that would allow users to 

 to viewers who are 18 years of age and above. The new setting—which comes after both an October 2021 congressional hearing and a subsequent February 2022 policy update to make the platform safer and more secure for younger users—is intended to help creators prevent minors from encountering content that may not be 

 have plummeted to $1.57 (0.0013 ETH) after sitting at an average of $40 for nearly two years and peaking on May 1 this year at over $196. Gas fees are necessary to complete on-network transactions and had been rising; after 

 gained sudden popularity, fees surged further. Now that both cryptocurrencies and NFTs have experienced drops, gas fees have come down with them. 

 following a ruling made by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB). For artists that means an increase from 10.5% to 15.1%. The determination covers the 2018–2022 streaming period; 

(that is, the five companies who pay out 96% of these types of royalties) are fighting to delay retroactive payments.

 are closing at a rate of two per week, with over one-fourth of all newspapers (most of them weeklies) having closed since 2005 and the figure expected to grow to one-third by 2025. At the end of May, the country had 6,377 newspapers and 31k newspaper journalists, down from 8,891 newspapers in 2005 and ~75k newspaper journalists in 2006. 

Grown-ups like fun too: A 2021 Toy Association survey found 58% of 

 had purchased toys, games, and collectibles not just for the kids but for themselves. Of those respondents, 65% bought 

. This collective embrace of play and nostalgia is also reflected in the rise of products like “grown-up-sized Razor scooters, artsy Lego sets, and a $105 Barbie dressed like David Bowie.” 

 this year. The sum doubles its 2021 total ad revenue—a milestone helped along by securing the Super Bowl and the Olympics back in February, plus a deal in April for 18 Sunday morning MLB games. The service entered Q2 with 28 million active US accounts and 13 million paid subscribers. 

 service. Just Eat Takeaway, which purchased Grubhub last year for $7.3 billion, continues to explore a partial or full sale of the company. 

: 48% of consumers say videos are a swaying factor, while 51% say customers’ videos sharing product opinions are the “

” content a seller can offer. Category-wise: 81% said videos helped inform 

purchase decisions, 38% said videos helped enhance their perception of 

Edition-#27

) from a projected $2 billion in 2022 to $23 billion in 2023 following the launch of in-app stores. The news comes as analysts estimate the tech giant will bring in $12 billion in revenue this year—if that figure is reached, it would be bigger than Twitter and Snap combined.

exclusive access to discounts and early releases if they link 

 to a merchant’s store. In other words, the e-commerce company is thinking of NFTs as “a kind of loyalty card.”

, high interest rates, and technology stocks experiencing a slump have taken the wind out of 

sails, and also sales… Launched in 2015 to commemorate the retailer, it was hyped as offering “more deals than Black Friday.” The 

 last year was $54.15, a dip from $58.77 in 2019, and sales that once upon a time increased 65% YoY during the event are anticipated to go up “just” 17% to $7.8 billion this year. 

 once it arrived. Most respondents said they would be more likely to purchase clothing after such a test—with 60% or more saying the same for retail, beauty products, travel, and food and beverage items.

 CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently stated that within the decade the company aims to “get to around a 

 doing hundreds of dollars of commerce [each],” a goal that the executive said follows the reality that “it’s going to take a while” for the metaverse to scale and for that to translate into significant business. But, added Zuckerberg, “that’s the north star.”

 is collaborating with University of Texas at Austin researchers on 

 that could result in more realistic-sounding 

. These three newly announced AI models are “designed to make sound more realistic in mixed and virtual reality experiences,” and are an effort to make sound and presence as much of the metaverse’s focus as its visuals.

, a US video game publisher and device manufacturer, filed a 

in “the coming months” have a noticeable 

,” which will allow users to connect in “smaller, more casual settings.” The announced feature set—which even boasts a purple color similar to Discord—follows a recently leaked memo indicating that Facebook is 

 has grown 30% from Q4 2021 with total advertisers contributing to that spend up 21% QoQ. Much of the spend has gone toward 

, with 74% of advertisers directing funds exclusively to the platform. Ad spend is up 57% to $482 million for YouTube-exclusive campaigns, while it’s down 56% to $63 million for non-YouTube campaigns. Advertisers are spending $5 billion on 

 that run on YouTube as well as other online video platforms.

 were almost entirely pre-roll ads (97%) and only 2% ran longer than 30 seconds, while 28% and 42% of 

 were mid-rolls and post-rolls, respectively, and 17% ran longer than 30 seconds. 

 so far this year, surpassing the total Series B funding for three of the past five calendar years. San Francisco-based AI research company Anthropic has so far claimed the year’s largest B round at $580 million. 

. In 2021, six of the 100 most-watched primetime broadcasts were news programs, while 61 were sports broadcasts, including 37 NFL games. An analysis by MoffettNathanson last year noted that most of the

—aka the trend of folks moving to streaming—“appears to be from consumers who aren’t self-classified as sports viewers.”

 push ad tiers to encourage subscriber growth, 

—now a $23 billion industry—remains one of the only ways to ensure audiences pay attention to what brands are selling, even if subconsciously. To boot, a recent Fast Company survey found that 74% of 

According to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report, a market-growth slowdown is forecasted for 

 over the coming five years, despite the sector seeing growth of 35.6% in 2020 and 19.9% in 2021. Even with the slowdown, the ecosystem is expected to become a $40.4 billion industry by the end of 2026.

. Today, that number has dropped to 15%, with 67% reporting they now consume their news via 

 sources and 42% reporting they specifically get it from 

were feeling the effects of this shift for quite some time, and the numbers underline that—in 2022, only nine papers sell 100k 

. The top 25 newspaper circulations tumbled an average of 12% YoY.

, Snapchat+, that will charge subscribers for access to experimental, pre-release, and exclusive features like app icon customization, BFF pinning, and the ability to see who has rewatched Stories. The service will be available in multiple countries, though power users everywhere opting into the paid feature set still won’t be able to turn off ads—an option users have been requesting and are seemingly willing to pay for.

a key role in overseeing bitcoin markets. The decision represents the potential for wider availability and less oversight, because securities can only be legally sold by merchants who have registered with the SEC and follow strict disclosures. 

 fell from 204.5 to 132.07 terawatt-hours between June 8 and June 25. The cryptocurrency’s price peaked in November 2021 around $69k, and as of this writing is resting at ~$19k. Still, even with its electricity use plunging, its energy consumption remains equal to the entire country of Argentina.

Edition-#26

 are projected to bring in ~$19 billion in 

 this year from both free apps and ad-supported subscriptions, growing their revenue more than 2x from 2020. 

 is on its way. With its stock down ~50% since announcing major subscriber loss earlier this year, the streaming giant had been exploring the possibility as a way to offer a lower cost option to customers—and has now reportedly met with 

, China’s highest valued tech company, has traditionally focused on social media, messaging, and gaming. It’s now created an 

, leading many to conclude the company is planning to enter the metaverse space. 

, a game developer it acquired three years ago, signaling further retreat from gaming and a win for Tencent, which dominates China’s mobile gaming industry. 

to date this year has totaled $293.1 billion across 560 vehicles, a slowdown from 2021. However, when compared to 2021’s $1.3 trillion raised across 3,392 funds, the YoY pacing differential may not be as dire as many analysts predicted.

 can now display location, operational hours, and contact info on their 

. The new feature is available for Twitter Professional account users in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.

 have yielded a prototype that can create avatars using the depth sensor on a smartphone’s front-facing camera. The avatars can depict ~65 facial expressions after three-and-a-half minutes of scanning (plus multiple hours of rendering). 

 has inked a multimillion-dollar, multiyear deal with 

—a food- and travel-related content network—to create 50 new TV shows with ~20 episodes each, plus other live videos and events. 

 has secured a 10-year streaming rights deal with 

 (Major League Soccer) that will begin in 2023—and the tech giant is reportedly paying ~$250 million per year for package rights. The deal will see the 

 become the exclusive streaming home for every live MLS game without local broadcast blackouts or restrictions. MLS remains in negotiations with ESPN, FOX, Univision, and Canada’s TSN and TVA for linear TV viewers.

 (Paramount Global and India’s Reliance Industries’ partnership) for the exclusive rights to broadcast 

20 million subscribers as a result, setting it back in its goal of reaching 260 million subscribers by 2024. 

(up from $7.5 billion in a previous projection), with 

on a trajectory to hit $11.6 billion (up $1 billion), and 

 climbing to $89.3 billion and ~$38.3 billion respectively. The firm cites increased paid and ad-based streaming revenue, physical sales (specifically vinyl), and performance revenues as growth drivers. Further, the investment bank anticipates paid streaming 

 (average revenue per user) of $45.80 per year across 1.26 billion users paying for music streaming 

. Goldman concludes music is “under-monetized,” with spending still 40% below its historical peak.

. The plans include the company not taking a revenue split until 2024, a subscription integration for 

, the ability to monetize and cross-post Reels, and an Instagram 

brands more easily discover content creators

, a feature that enables users to directly publish 

utilizing rich formatting and uploaded media, and which “can be read on and off Twitter.” A “small group of writers” is testing the feature, which is expected to launch in the next few weeks.

 by April 2023. Belgium, South Africa, Chile, Nigeria, and Colombia are reportedly in consideration for the retail giant starting in late September, and would join the current list of 20 countries where 

 have access to Amazon’s fulfillment services.

. The integration comes after the introduction of 

, and a “Product Drops” feature. According to Shopify, orders placed through partner integrations like Twitter’s quadrupled in Q1 2022.

 (up from 11% in 2015), according to a recent Gallup poll. While respondents were more likely to browse and check prices on their smart phones (46%) than on desktop (36%), for actually making purchases, they were evenly split. 

” when it comes to reducing the disposition towards 

—and “smartphone addiction was lower among those who had been listening to podcasts for more years.”

-related podcasts—between the ages of 18 and 24, there’s been a 62% uptick in listening to the genre in the last year alone. As well, a BetterHelp report found that 67% of Gen Z respondents use audio—including podcasts and music—“to cope with stress and anxiety.” 

Cosmopolitan magazine’s latest digital issue

, an image generator that can draw up an original image from a simple text prompt. (The prompt for the cover included a description of a female astronaut “swaggering” toward the camera “on Mars in an infinite universe”—in the style of “synthwave digital art.”)

Edition-#25

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Recap, your roundup of tech, business, and finance news for founders, entrepreneurs, and business builders.

While recent reports have highlighted scaled back hiring by 

 are up 120% from early (pre-COVID) 2020, and ZipRecruiter estimates there are 1.6 jobs for every unemployed person in the tech industry. 

 has replaced it with Microsoft Edge, which includes an Internet Explorer mode, because “some parts of the web still rely on Internet Explorer’s specific behaviors and features.” 

, the Competition and Markets Authority, is exploring an investigation into 

 “effective duopoly on mobile ecosystems that allows them to exercise a stranglehold over these markets” including operating systems, app stores, and web browsers on mobile devices. 

 have gained popularity as they offer fans more time with the actors portraying their favorite characters and provide behind-the-scenes content. Some companion podcasts are even more popular than their broadcast counterparts—leading some entertainment insiders to speculate that these types of podcasts may help 

 in Q1 2022 was indirectly caused by electronics 

—says CEO Ted Sarandos. ~60% of households using broadband internet in the US have web-enabled televisions, which are a main driver in how people build their streaming bundles, but market penetration has slowed due to rising costs and supply shortages.

 subsidiary, Apple Financing LLC, will handle lending for the tech giant’s new 

 (BNPL) service. The move marks Apple’s entry into accepting financial responsibilities including credit checks and lending. 

. According to multiple outlets, the technology corporation has quietly invited in a few hundred retailers—and once public is targeting $25 million in gross merchandise value by 2023. 

, putting it into further competition with 

, after the streaming company this week acquired 

, a “global leader in digital audiobook distribution.” The news and acquisition follow Spotify’s 

push, which is still in “investment mode” (they’ve spent ~$1 billion so far) and brought in ~$215 million in 2021.

 events tool that allows users to host conversations on the platform, similar to 

. The functionality will gradually roll out this month. 

It’s gotten harder for retail CFOs to make accurate 

 and sudden fall in demand for items like 

—are warning investors that profits will likely take a short-term hit, with revenue growth hopefully hovering in the low-to-mid single digits by the fall.

A new Deloitte survey in collaboration with PayPal found that 65% of executives in 

 is reportedly reconsidering its commitment to 

 to feature their content on its news tab

after spending an average of $15 million+ on the 

 software engineer was placed on leave after raising concerns that the firm’s 

 (Language Model for Dialogue Applications), is 

. While most AI experts dismiss ideas that computers could become conscious (at least, not in the immediate), the situation has ignited debate on transparency and AI ethics at tech companies—not to mention the nature of consciousness.

 have landed on opposing sides of the future of 

. Firefox will continue to support Web Request, a feature that blocks off domains, while Google is working to remove the feature and instead favor a more restrictive API. 

. The research findings estimate that ~$1 billion is wasted per year by brands to air ads that are never actually seen by viewers.

Given current market and economic conditions, 

financing has dropped in a number of industries, including 

prices have led to investor caution; funding in the space is expected to be reduced for the remainder of the year. Electric vehicle funding is down $1.9 billion to $5.8 billion so far this year with EV startup valuations expected to fall…

…On the other hand, VC financing has been relatively solid in other industries, including 

 saw an influx of capital, with funding expected to remain steady; valuations could dip but the sector still minted 12 new unicorns this year. 

 funding is below 2021’s record of $72 billion at $24 billion this year, but slated to beat 2020’s $49 billion. The 

 industry has raised $12.4 billion this year, up from $11.4 billion in the same period last year. 

 has apparently peaked and is now slightly declining after pandemic restrictions fueled a huge usage surge. According to eMarketer, among 

per day on the platform this year—7% less time than in 2021.

code. The voluntary initiative was first introduced in 2018 and requires platforms to be transparent about how they 

 from being advertised or promoted. It also requires transparent country-by-country breakdowns of their efforts, which most tech firms previously resisted. 

will enforce the new rule and companies in violation will be fined “up to 6% of global turnover.”

Edition-#24

 totaled $39 billion in May, making it the first month in over a year to see that figure fall below $40 billion. VC funding reached $70 billion in November 2021, and so far the decrease since has most severely impacted 

42% of people spend ~2.5x more than they think on 

—or about $133, on average. According to a study by C+R Research, many continue to pay for subscriptions they no longer use, with Gen Z being most likely to forget and Boomers least likely. 72% of 1,000 self-reporting consumers set their monthly subscription payments to auto-pay. 

 in May, a milestone for the crypto exchange after having grown its market share from 5% to 44% over the last 18 months. However, Coinbase saw a record 2.1 million trades in May, just at a lower value per trade than FTX. 

 firms Web3 Foundation and Ripple, thousands of 

 will collapse similar to terraUSD—a token that began to slip in early May after becoming one of the largest cryptocurrencies on the market. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Bertrand Perez, CEO of the Web3 Foundation, said the digital currency ecosystem now is like “the beginning of the internet, [when] you were having lots of dotcom companies and lots of them were scams.” 

 for the first time under the Lummis-Gillibrand Bill, which will put the 

 (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), not the 

 (Securities and Exchanges Commission), in charge of crypto regulation. However, the bill requires the CFTC and SEC to create a “self-regulatory organization” that will play a “complementary role, working with regulators… while maintaining strong supervision.” 

A Block, Inc. report indicates that 40% of 

 to send money and buy goods and services rather than treat it like an investment. Regions with high amounts of income from remittances report more interest in Bitcoin for purchases and sending money, which may point to financial infrastructure access as a possible motivator. The report’s survey, conducted by Wakefield Research, polled ~9,500 adults in the 

 countries in January 2022—ensuring there were at least 100 bitcoin owners per region.

The number of downloads required to hit the

 is up 37% from 2019, while the same achievement for 

are currently among the most competitive categories for apps to break through and hit No. 1. 

 hosting and distribution platform Libsyn announced 2,900+ shows generated an average CPM (cost per thousand listeners) from advertisers of $23.77 in May 2022. The number is ~3x higher than 

 CPM of $7 on videos. However, the difference in length could be a factor—podcast ads are typically longer (~60 seconds) than video ads (~15-30 seconds).

 grew 41.4% in 2021, bringing the total market value to $90.9 billion. The figure is up from $64.3 billion in 2020 and saw 

 retain its No. 1 spot in market share, while 

 proved to be the fastest growing within the sector, growing 63.7% in 2021 to reach $6.4 billion in revenue. 

 has reportedly been attempting to lure high-profile 

 feature. Some influencers claim to have been offered $9k+ per month to break from TikTok. 

’s Instagram was compromised with $2.4 million worth of NFTs stolen, on June 4 the token suffered a security breach on 

—resulting in the loss of 200 ETH worth of NFTs. Bored Ape is investigating the incident, and co-founder Gordon Goner said on Twitter that “Discord isn’t working for Web3 communities.” 

 are regularly outperforming big-name podcasts on 

 and other streaming services. “Tmsoft’s White Noise Sleep Sounds” podcast, for example, generates $18k+ per month from commercial providers and “12 Hour Sound Machines (no loops or fades)” receives 100k daily listeners. At one point last year, the latter reached the top 15 alongside Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” and the NYTs’ “The Daily.”  

 for Americans in both 2020 and 2021, accounting for a fifth of all clothing items purchased in those two years during the pandemic. According to the NPD: “Wearing socks has become part of our at-home lifestyle… as usage increased, so did the need for replenishment.”

 now allows users to withdraw and deposit 

. It’s a long-awaited move that enables its ~400 million users to more easily move between cryptocurrency and traditional currency. 

In an effort to save European consumers money and cut down on the 11,000 tons of their e-waste produced annually, the 

across small electronics including phones, cameras, and tablets to reduce “unnecessary charger purchases.” Manufacturers have until 2024 to comply with the ruling to make devices 

 is expected to be the most heavily impacted, as the ruling deals a massive blow to its Lightning port—but it could also stand to quickly gain in sales, as rumors have been swirling before this announcement that Apple has been looking to bring USB-C to iPhones in 2023.

. To start, 17 merchants in San Francisco, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles will be featured, followed by an expansion into other restaurants “soon.” 

The migration away from metro areas has impacted the distribution of 

which have grown during the pandemic and have traditionally seen the highest numbers come out of 

. Overall sales across the country grew 15% from 2019 to 2022—meaning it’s a trend that began before COVID, but was accelerated by the pandemic—while sales in New York (the largest book market in the US) grew by only 1%. The industry is now navigating how indie bookstores in rural areas could benefit, and how publishers should adapt their marketing and sales efforts. 

 announced its goal to have 230–260 million 

subscriptions globally by September 2024. There are currently 137.7 million global subscribers, but of the total 87.6 million subscribe to Disney+ and 50.1 million subscribe to Disney+ 

 that has exclusive Indian Premiere League rights).

Edition-#23

Even with this year’s drop and potential for further losses, 

 have nearly doubled in value over the past five years.

Five emerging sectors coming off Q1 particularly 

 (and some of the quarter’s largest seed rounds in the those sectors) include: 

 (virtual fashion developer Space Runners raised $10 million in March), 

(Bored Ape Yacht Club creators Yuga Labs raised $450 million in March), 

(microbe-based and precision-fermented cheese manufacturer 

(AI-powered personal training platform Altis raised $10 million across two seed rounds this year).

another move to replicate features seen on the competitor platform. The move comes as parent company Meta’s value has dropped by about half in the last year, and it grapples for relevance with the youth demographic; Meta is also cutting spend on projects like 

as it “waits for Reels to win over advertisers.”

, which is—according to Google—currently yielding 30 billion views per day (up 4x YoY). Product feeds on video action campaigns are slated to roll out to YouTube Shorts later this year.

, the popular card game that began life as a Kickstarter campaign in 2015, is coming to 

, and then as an animated series to the streaming service in 2023. It’s Netflix’s latest move into the gaming space, where it’s mostly done re-releases to date, though seems to be expanding its original content ambitions as it beefs up its now 22-game catalog.

—who are the biggest and most monetizable audience—

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