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Advertisement is the key – 52% of companies to increase their social media marketing budget in the year 2020

January 26, 2020, 5:30 pm
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Smartly conducted research in which they found that Facebook advertisement will be the talk of the town with retailers and brands looking forward to invest about 52% of their marketing budget on Facebook advertisement.

About 96% of survey respondents said that they prefer Facebook for advertisement followed by Twitter and Instagram. Facebook has maintained to appeal to the advertisers in the past year and it will be a hit this year as well. Facebook keeps on updating the e-commerce features on its social media hub along with improving its WhatsApp and Instagram.

Smartly further investigated certain areas of concern related to paid advertising. The research found that about 83% of respondents said that there is no room for automating ad creation and deployment with 65% do not even use automation. Apart from it, 48% of executives said that their performance marketing and creative teams do not collaborate enough, which is a hindrance. Also, 61% of ad creative is done manually which is extremely time-consuming and inefficient.
The results of this study are in accordance with the report by Advertising Research Foundation that highlighted the fact the way creatives and researchers approach data, which in different ways obviously. Thus, handling data differently results in creatives not reaching their full potential. For better results, the creatives and the researchers needed to be on the same page.

About 39% of executives said social advertising is mostly done in-house. Also, about 35% of retailers are planning to change their KPIs and 47% are planning to increase their social media ad budget.

Brands to increase their social media marketing budget in the year 2020

Read next: How Smartphone Has Evolved Industries? The State Of Mobile In 2020 (Infographic)
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Google Won't Give Featured Snippets Links A Second Chance In Search Results

January 26, 2020, 10:00 pm
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In recent years, Google chose to offer Featured Snippets in order to give users the most relevant and up-to-date answers for their searches right away. While this did bring more ease for people, especially in case of queries via Google Assistant, there is one slight change that the company has decided to do with it and that is of not repeating the similar link on the first page of web results.

The update was confirmed by Google Search Liasion team on Twitter where they announced that the link included in Featured Snippets would no longer be duplicated in the other top results appearing on the first page. The decision of deduplication has been taken only for the links of Featured Snippets and its impact would also be only limited to the first page of web results.

Google is already working on decluttering results and help users find the exact information they are looking for more easily. Hence being part of the process, this move will ensure that the first page of results will have different 10 blue links, giving unique information. Repetition of the link from Featured Snippet makes things difficult for sites that have good content but struggle to come up into the top 10 of the first page on Google.

Google Won't Give Featured Snippets Links A Second Chance In Search Results
However, that being said, you won’t find cards/carousels like Top Stories, Interesting Finds, and videos getting deduplicated, so the rest of the functions on Google would remain exactly the same.

For the duplicated link, it can still appear on the second page of Google’s web results but that won’t still be intentional or a guaranteed placement by the search giant. So the best bet for sites making it to the Featured Snippet would be that users actually click the link given in the box, considering the content is that catchy or relatable.

The tweak in search results has already been made.

Read next: Chrome for Android Will Now Show Favicons of URLs in the Omnibox, As On Chrome for Desktop
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The Techy Business of Mobile Gaming (infographic)

January 27, 2020, 1:00 am
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is as new as gaming, and both have been involved with each other since the beginning. Several of the world’s most popular games feature elements of artificial intelligence. Instances can be found in Pac-Man, Red Dead Redemption 2, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, and so on. Unbeknownst to many, mobile games played a major part in bringing Augmented Reality (AR) to popularity. Today, 81% of American gamers have played using AR at least more than once. With 81% of digital gaming time being spent on mobile apps and engagement with mobile games increasing by 10% annually, it’s safe to say we are witnessing the business of mobile gaming in its prime. In fact, consumer spending on mobile games will reach $90 billion by 2021- mobile gaming has no plans of slowing down.

As Artificial Intelligence grows in advancement, games will feature a wider-scope of AI-generated levels, graphics, open worlds, and games. Today, we see simplified versions of this technology- similar to what is modeled in the aforementioned game titles. These features include Pathfinding, Non-Player Characters (NPCs), Superior Gameplay, and Next Generation In-Game AI. In some cases, chatbots are involved.

Pathfinding artificial intelligence plots the shortest path between two points. This can be seen in-action by playing Pac-Man. NPCs define complex behaviors for “non-player characters.” Think of the crazy actions background characters do in Red Dead Redemption.

Furthermore, games equipped with Superior Gameplay AI can adapt and generate new content for a unique player experience. This is modeled in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI. Next Generation In-Game AI has the capability to enhance two things in gameplay: character self-learning and personalization. In other words, this technology allows you to play games with characters that learn and grow just like people do. Next Generation In-Game AI can also personalize games to adapt to what each player likes.

Instances of chatbot artificial intelligence being used in gaming was previously mentioned. Currently used in online games, Ally is a chatbot designed to identify abusive language between players.

Augmented Reality (AR) has its fair share of influence on mobile gaming as well. AR brings a game into the real world, immersifying the user experience. Today, 53% of American gamers play AR games. Pokemon Go is a great example of mobile AR gaming. To date, Pokemon Go has generated over $1.9 billion in revenue. Some of the other top AR games include Jurassic World: Alive and The Walking Dead: Our World. Jurassic World: Alive has earned $20.5 million since release, The Walking Dead: Our World- $6.8 million.

The future of gaming will dive even further into artificial intelligence as gaming drives AI innovation.

Take Microsoft’s Project Malo for example. Malo uses Minecraft to test its AI ability to navigate the world and collaborate. Another example is OpenAI’s Universe Program, which lets self-driving car developers train their AI algorithms by playing Grand Theft Auto. Google’s DeepMind set AlphaStar AI loose in StarCraft II to test its ability to learn with nothing but reinforcement algorithms. AlphaStar is now capable of beating 99.8% of human players.

Greg Brockman, CTO & Co-founder of OpenAI said, “If it takes a human between 12,000 and 20,000 hours of practice to master a certain skill, then the bots through ‘100 human lifetimes of experience every single day’.” As mobile gaming grows, so will the technology used to make it.

By 2021, over 1 in 4 on Earth will be a mobile gamer and consumers will have spent $90 billion on mobile games. To find more information on the explosion of mobile gaming and how technology influences the field, read more below.

Gaming and Artificial Intelligence

Read next: If you’re planning to choose game development then this is the right time for you (infographic)
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Facebook now Allows you to Adjust Your "Active Status" Settings, Messenger App Getting a "Face ID" Feature?

January 27, 2020, 3:00 am
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Facebook has been around for nearly 2 decades now. Over the years, it has managed to become the biggest social media platform and is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. However, in order to retain its top spot, the social networking service in question has to constantly work on updates and new features to keep its user-base satisfied and engaged. Well, today isn’t any different either!

According to reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong, Facebook is testing “Face ID” App lock for Messenger. Wong also attached a screenshot with her tweet, through which we can get a better idea about the feature in question.

In the screenshot, it is clearly mentioned that once you enable “Face ID”, you will be required to use this ID to unlock the Messenger app. However, you will still be able to reply to messages through notifications or respond to incoming calls without unlocking the app.

You will be able to enable the feature either immediately after you exit Messenger or after a certain duration (1 minute, 15 minutes or 1 hour).

It’s interesting to note that Wong discovered this feature while using Messenger for Android. So, it’s highly possible that the Face ID will become Biometric authentication instead of Apple’s Face ID.

Moreover, it was mentioned in Wong’s tweet’s screenshot that Face ID won’t be sent to or stored by Facebook Inc.



While the Face ID can prove to be a beneficial feature for Messenger users, there’s more to look forward to! Yes, that’s right as renowned social media consultant Matt Navarra had interesting news of his own to share regarding Facebook.

Navarra recently tweeted that Facebook has rolled out new options to help you adjust your “Active Status” settings. As per the screenshot provided in his tweet, you will be able to choose whether you would like your “Active Status” to be displayed to your friends and contacts on not. Furthermore, you would be able to choose where you would like your “Active Status” to be shown (Facebook, Messenger, both or none).



These new settings will also replace your current settings and this will go for Facebook, Messenger and Portal devices. The new options have reportedly been added to Facebook. In case you can’t spot them, it could either be that you need to update Facebook and/or Messenger or that they are being rolled out slowly.

As for the Face ID feature, it's in the testing phase at the moment and whether (and when) it would be released or not remains unknown. Stay tuned for further updates!

Read next: Facebook Messenger rolls out Ignore Messages feature for Desktop Beta Users
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New Analysis Reveals Top 25 Companies Who Own the Most Domain Names

January 27, 2020, 5:30 am
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Large corporate companies have been investing in domains for almost two decades, with benefits ranging from trust and authority, saving future costs on branding and marketing and search engine optimisation gains. This means that combined with the domains of the brands MNEs have already acquired, companies can own hundreds of different domains, equating to thousands of traffic.

WebsiteToolTester has analysed OECD data to reveal the estimated combined traffic and owned domains of some of the biggest companies in the world, to see which companies are getting the most visitors per month - a large number of corporate businesses own domains you might not expect.

Domains are a huge part of the branding of a company, and are often customers’ first point of call for a lot of businesses. So, which companies own the most domain names - and which companies receive the most online traffic from their domains?

The research reveals that Alphabet Inc. receives the most traffic, receiving almost 120 billion visits (119,879,300,000), per month.

Alphabet Inc. was developed during a corporate restructuring of Google in 2015, and owns several subsidiaries, including DeepMind, Makani, Wing and Jigsaw. Alphabet is now the world’s fifth-largest technology company by revenue, and the research reveals that Alphabet Inc owns 422 domains in total. The biggest of which is Google (google.com) and receives over 77 billion visits - equating to 29,726 visits every second and making up over half of Alphabet’s overall monthly traffic.

Youtube.com is Alphabet Inc.’s second-biggest domain which receives almost 28 (27.8) billion visits per month. The domain name youtube.com was activated on February 14th 2005, and the website was further expanded over the coming months. By December 2005, the site was receiving 8 million views a day, and following a $3.5 million investment the site launched officially.

Some of the Alphabet’s famous acquisitions can also be seen in their bank of domains, with the likes of GPS navigation software Waze, computer programs company DeepMind and workplace pension scheme Nest - which was purchased for over $3 billion in 2014.

The second biggest company in terms of total traffic is Microsoft Corp, with their domain names reaching a total of 7.2 billion visits. Microsoft Corp owns 139 domain names, a large proportion of which are defensive registrations for their products including msn.com, bing.com, and linkedin.com, the latter of which it famously purchased for over $26 billion in 2016.

However, it is live.com - the personal email website which receives over 2.2 billion visits a month that generates the most traffic for Microsoft. Prior to acquiring the domain, Microsoft hosted the website for Live Networks Inc [1], which subsequently moved to Live 555.com. From 2005, the domain was the home to the brands replacing Microsoft’s Hotmail - what we know today as Windows Live and Windows Live Mail.

Multinational technology company Amazon.com Inc receives over 6 billion total visits across their 258 domain names. The research reveals that the domain name leading the way for Amazon Inc is amazon.com, launched in 1995, which on average last year had around 2 billion combined desktop and mobile visits a month. In 2018, research [2] found that Amazon’s website took up over 30.7% of online shopping websites traffic.

Amazon has been in an eight year battle to secure its own ‘.amazon’ top level domain, after the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), a nonprofit organisation that helps manage IP addresses and the internet’s domain name system delayed granting the request. This is as a result of South American countries, including Peru and Brazil, stating that approving ‘.amazon’ would be the equivalent to an “expropriation from the Amazon countries and ACTO of their right to use and be recognized by the name ‘Amazon’” [3].

It’s unclear what impact using these top level domain names eg. ‘Fashion.amazon.com’ would have on Amazon’s existing domain traffic numbers but with monthly traffic numbers remaining in the billions, it’s safe to say the retail giants are likely to remain leaders in their field.

Walt Disney is another well-known company that receives a significant amount of traffic, around 782,700,000 a month. The American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owns 396 domain names, but competes with the likes of Samsung Electronics who receives 779,500,000 total visits a month from it's 257 domain names; and Apple - which whilst only owning 52 domain names, receives over 515,000,000 visits a month in traffic.

Apple only last month acquired the long-desired domain name ‘SteveJobs.com’, after a dispute when the company filed a cybersquatting complaint arguing that the South Korean registrant of ‘SteveJobs.com’ was cybersquatting by owning the domain name [4]. In December 2019, it was ordered that this domain name be transferred to the Steve Jobs Archive (owned by Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs).

British-Dutch transnational consumer goods company, Unilever NV comes top for the most domains, owning 1,181 domain names including the likes of Ben & Jerrys, Dove and Hellman’s. Their group of owned domain names is over eight times more than Microsoft and over double that of Alphabet. Founded in 1929, the company owns over 400 brands and has made numerous corporate acquisitions including Lipton (1971), Ben & Jerry’s (2000) and Pukka Herbs (2017).

Unilever’s two biggest sites are ‘cleanipedia.com’ and ‘dollarshaveclub.com’, despite owning domain names for some of the world’s most well-known brands. When it comes to traffic, the two sites combined see around 5 million visits a month.

One of Unilever’s biggest sites, founded in 2011, Dollar Shave Club is an American company that delivers razors and other personal grooming products to customers by mail. Unilever acquired Dollar Shave Club in 2016 for a reported $1 billion in cash. With more than 2 million visitors every month, Unilever’s Cleanipedia domain is a handy platform for cleaning tips.

The research reveals that Nestle SA ranks in at second place for the largest amount of domain names, owning 907 - double that of Sony Corp, and over three times that of Pepsico Inc. Following closely behind are Johnson & Johnson who own 895 domain names, Procter & Gamble Co who own 857 and Volkswagen AG who own 651.

Study reveals consumer goods giant Unilever to own the web, possessing 1,181 domain names in total


Read next: This DataViz Shows Who Owns the Most Visited News Sites in the World
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1 out of 4 Android users might be a victim of this Malware

January 27, 2020, 7:00 am
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For any user, there’s nothing scarier than not being able to control your own phone after being attacked by malware.

Different companies try on a variety of software to block the attacks of such malware but after some time, the malware usually comes back in a more updated form.

There’s a new Android Malware named Xiny Trojan that removes bloatware apps without user knowledge at all.

Back in 2015, this Android Trojan was first spotted and now it is back after five years with more capabilities than ever.

This updated Android malware now easily uninstalls preloaded apps so that the malware can perform its own tasks on those spaces.

According to an analysis by Dr. Web, this Android.Xiny Trojan usually targets Android users with older software typically including Android 5.1 (AKA Lollipop) or below versions of it (including Jelly Bean and KitKat).

If you take a look at this malware as it only targets Android 5.1 or below users you might just not consider it as a big deal but according to the data shared by Google last year, more than 25 percent of Android devices are still running on Android 5 or earlier versions, which means 1 out of 4 Android users (or 625 million out of 2.5 Billion devices) are still exposed to the attack of Android.Xiny.

The updated version of this malware continues to have the same feature like of the previous version which includes installing of apps without user authorization but an extra feature this Android holds is the ability to obtain root access on the compromised Android devices which enables the malware to launch automatically even if the user boots the device. Android.Xiny does this trick by replacing the system files to /system/bin/debuggerd and /system/bin/ddexe and after that, the malware waits for the instructions from the server of commands and control.

The malware also sets some new rules in the library file lbs. to block the users from reinstalling the apps that malware has deleted.
The pre-loaded apps installed on Android devices can also be used by attackers to generate revenue based on the pay-per-install referral programs as well.

The reason behind deleting installed apps from the smartphones is usually to enable the malware with root access making it much harder for owners to remove the malware from their devices.

Usually, the attackers install tons of apps on the compromised devices to reduce its performance and making it impossible to use but you don’t have to worry anymore as there’s a way to remove this malware from your device.

The removal of the malware of Android.Xiny is a difficult thing to do as you can completely flash clean the ROM of your device and start as a new on your compromised device. In order to reflash your device, usually, backups are recommended but sometimes the removal of the Android.Xiny attacks can also result in the loss of all your precious data.

The second option to remove the malware is by reobtaining root access to your device. To gain root access you can rely on a variety of exploits implemented in the library files as the library code can’t be blocked by the Trojan or else you can use the component of Trojan that provides access to root to its other components.

625 million Android users might be a victim of this Malware
Photo: Getty

Read next: Beware of These 30 Selfie Apps in Google Play Store That Are Being Used To Collect Android Users Data With Malware
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The Latest In Physical Data Theft Threats (infographic)

January 27, 2020, 10:00 am
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Physical threats to your data may seem like a thing of the past, but nothing could be further from the truth. While hacking isn’t anything like you see in the movies - for starters there are no people being suspended from the ceiling by wires in most cases - there is still a component that makes it easier to achieve if you are in close physical proximity to a device with information you want. There are all kinds of physical threats to our digital security, but which ones are credible and which are not?

The single greatest threat to security comes from physical theft or loss of devices such as smartphones and laptops. A quarter of laptops are stolen out of cars, mainly because they are left in plain view and would-be thieves know there is a value to selling them on the black market. Once they fall into the wrong hands it can be extremely costly to undo the damage caused.

It costs an average of eight times the cost of a laptop to fix the problems created by its disappearance, whether from loss or theft. This is a best-case scenario, however. In 2006 a laptop and external hard drive were stolen from the home of someone who worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Between these devices 26.5 million names, social security numbers, and birth dates were lost along with the sensitive medical information and disability rating of 2.6 million veterans.

Only a quarter of these devices are ever recovered, and their loss constitutes serious damage to reputation along with the monetary loss.

Another common form of physical data theft comes from card skimmers, which are often attached to ATMs and gas pumps. These devices can capture the information in the magnetic strip of your credit or debit card. Until recently this was enough, but thanks to more stringent standards thieves now need your PIN code to be able to use your credit card number, and thanks to chip technology this combination will only work online.
But thieves have found a way to include tiny cameras with these devices that record you inputting your PIN. This is why gas pumps often have a sign warning you to protect your PIN with your hand - an attempt to foil would-be thieves’ plans.

Chip technology was supposed to spare us from all this, but because of the need to be able to use credit and debit cards online these scams are still successful, although becoming more rare. Between 2015 and 2018, merchants who made the switch to chip readers saw a 76% reduction in fraudulent payments, and nationwide the drop was 49%.

By this year all brick-and-mortar merchants will be required to use chip cards for transactions or they will be held liable for any resulting fraudulent purchases. As banks continually improve their security, this type of physical data theft will become a thing of the past.

Now there’s a new way to steal information from people via a physical connection, and that happens when you plug your smartphone or other portable electronic device into a public charging station. This is called “juice jacking” and most people don’t realize that the same port used to charge your device can also be used to load malware or steal information. In order to avoid this, use an AC charger whenever possible. If you do have to use a public charger, be sure your settings are set to charge only, and pay attention to any popups that indicate you are in data transfer mode.

Learn more about physical data theft threats from the infographic below.



Read next: 78 Percent People Forget Their Passwords And Then Go For Reset!
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Phishing Attacks Leave Several YouTubers Without Access to Their Own Channels

January 27, 2020, 1:00 pm
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Being a YouTuber can be a very rewarding career because of the fact that it allows you to stay truly creative as well as to make money while interacting with your fans directly which is the type of thing that can help you stay grounded as well as have a much more in depth relationship with your fans. However, there are a lot of situations in which YouTubers are left in the dust since there are many potential roadblocks that could end up putting their careers in serious jeopardy.

The latest incident to occur is one that has been plaguing YouTubers since last year, and it basically has to do with phishing. Several YouTubers have reported that they were offered a sponsorship opportunity by a software company and the email they received included a link that was ostensibly meant to be used to check out the products the company provided so that the sponsorship could be legitimate in every single way. The only problem was that once the YouTuber in question clicked on this link (which apparently looks ok, but in reality the page is evilly crafted to steal the creator's information) and sign in with their Google information, the result would be that their account would get hacked with ownership of the channel going to someone else entirely.

This has happened to several YouTubers so far with MacroStyle, Dmonty Gaming as well as numerous others reporting this occurrence. These phishing attacks have made YouTubers call for better regulation of account permissions, with them suggesting that transfer of ownership shouldn’t be able to happen without a password as well as two factor authentication. What’s truly frustrating for those that are affected by this is that they are unable to get any help from YouTube either which is just one example of the many ways in which YouTube is not giving creators the kind of help and support that they deserve given the amount of work they put into the platform.



Read next: YouTube Now Offering Facebook Page Style Channel Permissions for Creators
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Twitter messed up its advertising system after it tries to troubleshoot the Nazi-ad targeting problem

January 27, 2020, 5:30 pm
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Tech companies often find themselves in the midst of controversies and there is no exception for Twitter as well. From harassment cases, child abuse, to leaked account information – the micro-blogging network has faced, apologized, and rectified it all.

Now, it has another issue creeping on its back. And this one involves the advertisers.

Last week, BBC News revealed that anyone could pay to target the site’s most hateful users with ad campaigns. For example, ads targeted with keywords like ‘Islamophobia’ would reach thousands of Twitter users.

In their response, Twitter published an apology and claimed to rectify the issue as they gained awareness.

However, Gizmodo reports that the issue is not rectified. In fact, a quick test shows that it is relatively easy to target Twitteratis using a combination of keywords such as ‘men’s rights,’ ‘incels,’ and ‘8chan.’ Gizmodo also said that it was able to ‘boost’ a tweet using the keywords and reach nearly 2,000 Twitter users within three hours. And that too for only $2.20.

Similar results were also shown when ads using the keywords by BBC were used.

Media outlets reached out to Twitter again for a clarification who said that many of the search words listed are listed as ‘hateful content’ and prohibited. However, the company cannot stop the advertisers from throwing in the keywords in their ads. It will, of course, not register them as ‘targetable.’

Nevertheless, advertising experts remain confused as to how BBC and Gizmodo both were able to attract hundreds of viewers using the keywords suggested by BBC. It is also hard to decipher how Twitter calculates the potential audience you may be able to reach using the non-appropriate keywords.

Interestingly, Twitter did make some changes while it was rectifying the problem in question – it managed to throw in a tool that prevented us from running ads at all. In fact, Gizmodo ran six separate ad campaigns, using both – the offensive phrases and the kosher keywords like ‘cats’ but the result remained the same. The ads gave zero impressions while $0 was spent for the purpose as well.
Third-party advertisers also confirmed our findings and said that any ad campaign that is carried out after Twitter made amendments is garnering ‘ZERO’ results.

Twitter was again contacted to address the issue. However, their representative stated that they were working on the ad platform and refused to comment further.

On paper, at least, Twitter has offered its side of the story and said that it forbids the use of ‘sensitive’ keywords for ad targeting, especially those that are related to race, politics, religion, or sexual orientation.

In an official policy page, the company says that each and every advertiser has to follow their guidelines and thus, are requested to thoroughly go through the specified criteria.

Unfortunately, for Twitter, their platform attracts the ‘right’ people during the ‘right’ conversation. And talking about ‘Nazis’ or ‘inappropriate content’ is garnering the ‘wrong’ attention.



Read next: You Can Now React to Twitter DMs, Just Like Facebook
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Instagram may soon Allow you to Share Stories in which your Account is Mentioned!

January 27, 2020, 10:00 pm
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Instagram never ceases to amaze us, doesn’t it? The Facebook-owned media sharing service has been on a roll lately when it comes to introducing exciting features. Over the last year or so, Instagram has been emphasizing on its Story feature and for all the right reasons! Speaking about Stories, it looks like another cool feature might be on the horizon!

Renowned social media app researcher Matt Navarra recently tweeted about a new option he spotted while using Instagram. According to him, an “@” option has been added to Instagram’s “Create” mode. The purpose of the said option is to allow users to share Stories in which they find their accounts mentioned/tagged.

Navarra also attached a couple of screenshots with his tweet that help us understand the possibly new option better. As you can see, a “See All 3” button can be seen at the top, when you access the “@” option. Tapping on this button will show you a list of thumbnails of Stories that have your profile tagged at that point of time (Navarra's Instagram handle was mentioned in 3 stories when the screenshot was taken).

You can then select any Story from the list and share it.

Brands and Influencers can strongly benefit off of this option as it would make it easier for them to boast about the feedback they are receiving from the customers/audience.
Before you get all excited about using this feature, please note that it’s still unknown whether this option is available or meant for all Instagram users around the world, or it’s just in the testing phase for now and only a handful of users can access it. It could be that the feature is only being developed for business and creator accounts. The social media service in question has yet to issue a comment on the “@” option.

You are welcome to access your Instagram “Create” mode and confirm whether you have this feature or not. Stay tuned for further details regarding this story.



Read next: Advertisers Reluctant to Invest in Non-Newsfeed Instagram Ads, Cowen Reports
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Is YouTube Alienating Creators by Supporting False Copyright Claims?

January 28, 2020, 1:00 am
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The main purpose behind the copyright policy that YouTube adheres to has to do with numerous different aspects with preserving the artistic licenses of companies that create songs, movies and the like being perhaps the single biggest factor that would end up having a serious impact on this sort of thing at the end of the day. However, one common complaint that people have made about this copyright policy is that it really makes it difficult for YouTubers to do their job properly, something that can be seen in how often false copyright claims are supported.

Recently a company by the name of Studio 71 made a lot of false copyright claims on content that they did not own, and this resulted in many highly lucrative videos that several YouTubers had created being taken down for no good reason. Not only does this mean that YouTube failed to investigate the copyright claims that had been made, it is also failing to penalize companies that make fake claims even though it has an enormously negative impact on the livelihoods of the various creators that are just trying to find a way to make things work in their favor.




What YouTube needs to understand is that without its creators it wouldn’t be nearly as big of a platform as it is right now. One of the main reasons behind why people go to YouTube in the first place has to do with the content that these YouTubers actually make, and without the content it’s fair to say that Google-owned platform will lose its mojo. More work needs to be done in the area of copyright claims, and YouTube needs to start protecting its creators because at the end of the day these creators might very well end up abandoning this platform for another one that they find to be much more beneficial and secure for them all in all.

Read next: Big Brands Are Unintentionally Financing Climate Misinformation Through YouTube
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"Filters" are the Reason behind Your Instagram Selfies Receiving Lesser Likes; Latest Study Finds Out!

January 28, 2020, 5:30 am
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Are you among those who believe that applying selfie filters can get your post an increased number of likes? Well, it turns out that you have been following the flawed approach then! A recent study revealed that you are likely to receive lesser likes on your filtered selfies posted on Instagram as compared to the unfiltered ones.

It was also discovered that posts and photos packed with “social cues” garner more engagement. The social cues could be “relatable” things and even “flexing” about wealth.

For this study, researchers had to look up thousands of public Instagram posts using the hashtag “selfies”. Nearly 2,000 samples were finalized and for measuring every post’s performance, certain factors were taken into account. Number of followers and the maximum likes on normal posts were some of those factors.

As mentioned above, selfies rich in social cues e.g. luxurious items, professional backgrounds, trendy clothes etc. were found to be more successful. A potential reason behind the popularity of such posts is that they subtly express a desire to connect with others.

When it comes to filtered selfies, the study takes an interesting turn. Dog filters and flower crowns are among the most used filters on Instagram. The study in question has shown that heavily edited and filtered selfies give off vibes of hypocrisy or uselessness since they expose the selfie taker’s intention of only appearing as their ideal self.
The researchers ended by stating that selfie takers and social media users should practice caution while uploading selfies, if they would like their posts to bring in the expected results. Although, it is a recommended practice to add social cues in selfies, it’s also important to use the right types of social cues as these cues have the potential to be complete game changers.

The researchers also pointed out that further research in the said area was required and that the samples they used to conduct their study were mostly selfies of female Instagrammers.

If you want to access the study, you can find it published in the Science Direct online journal. A highly functional team consisting of researchers from numerous US universities was assembled for this task.

Want to go viral on social media? Stop taking Filtered selfies!

Read next: Instagram Can Become The Next Favorite Destination of Shopaholics - But The Start Is Slow
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Apple’s New Security Measures Make Location Based Ads Less Effective

January 28, 2020, 10:00 am
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One of the more controversial aspects of the modern internet have to do with things like location data being harvested for the purposes of giving you location specific ads. Advertising is pretty much the backbone of the modern internet with the vast majority of tech based companies using this data for the purposes of selling it to marketing agencies as well as brands and corporations, and this is something that people are often not comfortable with but the fact of the matter is that these big corporations pretty much run the internet which is a big part of the reason why we often can’t really do too much about what they are doing that we don’t like.

However, once in a while a big tech company might just do something or the other that is actually in favor of consumer rights, and the latest move by Apple may just be a prime example of something like this happening all in all. The latest version of iOS has privacy settings that can help prevent location data from being accessed, and this is very much in the vein of Apple giving you options in this regard for quite long period of time all in all.

The way this security feature works is that you would be asked before an app accesses your location and it is up to you what kind of permission you want to grant the app. You can either give the app one time permission, allow it to access your location only when you use the app or alternatively grant it permanent permission. This has already resulted in location based data being used far less often for advertising campaigns which is something that the average internet user would probably be very grateful for given the kind of mishaps that have happened in the past. According to a report published by Location Sciences, which is based on 2 billion background location events, since the introduction of Apple's iOS 13 the firm has observed a 68 percent decline in always-on location data.



Read next: How Smartphone Has Evolved Industries? The State Of Mobile In 2020 (Infographic)
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5 Reasons Why Mundane Micro-Influencer Content Is Insanely Popular [Infographic]

January 28, 2020, 1:00 pm
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None of us would ever admit to wasting time watching influencers pick out new throw cushions or boxing up their weekly meals. Yet most of us do just this, with half of us watching an hour of YouTube content each week.

The rise of micro-influencers — internet personalities with less than 50K followers in a niche topic — has perpetuated this, meaning more accounts are providing mundane “everyday” content for us to watch.

Why do we click on these types of videos? What makes us want to know the daily routines of strangers we’ve never met and are likely to never meet? Digital marketing agency, Exposure Ninja’s latest content asset A Day in the Life of Influencers, helps us to figure it out. (If you’re impatient and can’t wait to know the answer, skip through the blog and read the bold text to find the five reasons quickly).

We’ll share snippets of the graph throughout the text, and when you’re done reading this, you should go and play on the interactive chart for yourself. You’ll be able to instantly compare and filter the lives of twenty YouTube influencers, giving you an objective overview of the type of content you’re intrinsically attracted to.

For now, let’s turn to the most crucial part of any routine: what time influencers wake up.

1. Waking up with Influencers

Whether you’re listening to Lydia Elise Millen’s overly enthusiastic “Good morning guys” or the comparatively creepy greeting, “Hi, how are ya?” (courtesy of makeup mogul, Jeffree Star), one thing is certain — you’re waking up with influencers.

For some of us, watching YouTube in the morning is a daily ritual, allowing us to focus on our smartphones before getting adjusted to reality.

If this is true for you, then these catchphrases will often act as your first interaction of the day. Alarmingly, those first few clips of filming could also be an influencer’s first actions, before they bother to brush their teeth or even acknowledge their spouse. More so now that popular content tags such as “A Day in the Life” have been introduced as it’s not uncommon for short scenes with bleeping alarm clocks to feature in these videos.

While this shift towards recognizing the virtual before actual reality is worrying, it does give us access to some interesting data.

Do influencers follow the same strict schedule as most successful CEOs rising well before the sun? Or can internet stars afford to hit the snooze button?



As you can see above, most influencers have similar wake-up times to those working nine-to-five. While you might covet Kylie Jenner’s huge fortune or her enormous walk-in wardrobe, her wake-up time is less than desirable. Perhaps this is the very reason mundane content is so popular — it acts as a reference point in our own lives.

Maybe you shouldn’t feel so bad for your 7:30 am alarm if influencers — who you’re programmed to admire — have to wake up much earlier than you. Most of us find something relatable and comforting in this, knowing that even the super-rich gladly chug down a cup of coffee in the morning.

2. Being Social from the Sofa

Mundane social content often fulfills our basic need for friendship and interaction (or so it can be argued), explaining why most millennials have zero friends and less sex than their parents.

Mundane content, in particular, replicates the types of conversation that might have once taken place over coffee or in a pub.

It’s true, two friends discussing how great their new washing machine is isn’t so weird. It’s the type of thing you’d chat about, giving word of mouth recommendations in the process. So, why is it wrong to find fulfillment listening to influencers talk about the same things? After all, for many, this conversational exchange is reciprocal.



Viewers have plenty of ways to engage with content creators through comments, resharing, and emoji interactions. What’s more, six out of the twenty accounts surveyed didn’t seem to socialize throughout their Day in the Life video, meaning the social outcast label isn’t solely reserved for YouTube subscribers. Who’s to say that only viewers get their social fix through the platform? Maybe content creators also indulge in their own videos to fulfill Maslow’s concept of social belonging.

3. Watching People Work out

One of the most successful influencer categories is fitness.

Think of socially-driven brands like Gymshark (that has enjoyed a huge £150 million marketing success) and influencers like Robin Gallant. Both the brand and brand ambassador have easily surpassed micro-influencer status, yet they serve as a great example of why mundane micro-influencer content is insanely popular.
It’s helpful to watch other people being productive to stop yourself from procrastinating.



Alexis Ren’s 10-minute ab workout has amassed 20M views. Some of these hits might be a result of Ren’s success on the show Dancing with the Stars. Plenty of them are an excuse to feel some sort of false accomplishment by watching someone else do the dirty work. Even more of them are no doubt from people thinking that spending ten minutes following an influencer’s advice will make them appear more like the individual they idolize.

As such, active influencers love sharing their fitness routines as a key part of their content. Sometimes, it’s the focus of a channel — like ballet dancer Bella Klassen, who’s surveyed in the above graphic. Other times, it’s a small theme within a wider niche, like Heal Your Living’s account focused on holistic health. Funnily enough, this influencer provides a form of YouTube inception, where she shares herself watching another account perform a morning yoga routine.

At the very least, micro-influencers provide us with the gym partner we’re struggling to find and the reassuring voice we all need to hear when nervous about stepping into the gym.

4. Avoiding Road Rage

Is it a coincidence that vlog-style videos often take place behind the wheel or on a stroll home? This “empty” period is a convenient time to vlog, but sharing your commute might also be appealing to your audience.

While transportation can act as a nice transition in your vlog’s story ark and as a great opportunity for B-Roll, it’s more likely that people like to watch others on their way to an appointment and suffering on the subway because viewing this content is super relatable.



In turn, watching PaigeY’s treacherous journey to and from her lectures helps us to calm our road rage, reminding us that everyone has to contend with traffic, awkward journey times, and bad weather.

Similarly, seeing how Casey Neistat makes the best out of a bad situation — that being an insane amount of congestion in New York City — by turning to a fun ride on an electric skateboard can inspire us to approach life a little differently.

5. Spying on Celebrity Diets

There is so much misinformation about dieting, weight loss, and nutrition on the internet that you’d think consumers would have had enough of diet content that’s not backed by nutritionists. Wrong. Most people like to know what their favorite influencers and celebrities eat. In fact, this trend even inspired a content tag of its own, “What I Eat in a Day,” where accounts show every meal that’s supposedly representative of their average day.

Meals also share the spotlight in the “A Day in the Life” videos with dishes such as seafood spaghetti and sprinkled doughnuts showing up.



Some larger accounts — those who have major, not micro influence — don’t bother showing their eating habits at all, such as Kylie Jenner and PewDiePie. On the whole, sharing the contents of one’s lunchbox is commonplace.

This backs our fifth reason why micro-influencer content is popular — to justify and inform our eating habits. For the same reasons we watch stranger’s exercise routines, we spy on their diets.

These are only five of the reasons why the majority of us watch mundane micro-influencer content, and we didn’t even touch on some of the juiciest categories.

What about taking a look at how others spend their personal time? (Whether that’s getting botox or reading the bible). And the most anticipated subject when it comes to influencers, is of course, how they make their money. Well, don’t be too disheartened. You can instantly identify these activities as well as those we’ve mentioned throughout the blog in Exposure Ninja’s A Day in the Life of Influencers interactive graph.



Read next: James Charles, Felix Kjellberg, Jeffree Star: The 10 Biggest Social Media Influencers, Based on Google Search Data [infographic]
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70 Percent of All Web Domains Fail to Be Renewed One Year after Purchase

January 28, 2020, 5:30 pm
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It is more common than people might expect to devise a seemingly innovative idea for a new website, business, blog, marketing platform or eCommerce channel, make a rash purchase of a domain to support it and subsequently let the platform lapse just months later.

In fact, a staggering 70% of all web domains fail to be renewed after one year, according to new research into registration patterns across the most popular top-level domains (TLDs).

Upon analyzing a data sample, which covered one million domains registered across the eight leading TLDs, web hosting firm WhoIsHostingThis discovered that a mere 30% of all web domains are renewed after 12 months. This means that the true extent of the churn rate for domains across TLDs is 70%, which means that a massive 702,133 of the one million domains were dropped.

Of those domains which are not renewed, 41% are left to expire, while 29% go on to be snapped up and registered by other users to potentially benefit and profit from.

While it is difficult to ascertain whether domains fall by the wayside due to comparatively high second year hosting costs or people simply struggle to follow through with their ideas after an impulsive, speculative or optimistic registration, the data clearly shows that fewer than one in three domains are renewed and survive their first anniversary.

Richard Kershaw, at WhoIsHostingThis.com, said: “We wanted to delve deep and find out more about domain registration behavior. This is why we commissioned our study of one million domains. It turns out the churn rate for domains is much, much higher than I think many would expect.”

The research

WhoIsHostingThis.com was determined to understand more about user behavior around domain registrations, including how many are renewed, how many are re-registered and how many are left to expire and go back on sale.

To explore these avenues and uncover other trends, the business contacted Whois XML API, the leading domain Whois, DNS, IP and cyber threat intelligence data provider to Fortune 500 companies right through to government agencies and cybercrime units.

The sample data

Whois XML API diligently collected significant data on one million domains registered on the most popular eight TLDs by the number of domain registrations. All are gTLDs (generic) apart from the ccTLD .CN (People’s Republic of China).

The randomly selected sample comprised 796,501 .COM domains, 84,153 .NET domains, 53,691 .TOP domains, 35,844 .ORG domains, 17,655 .INFO domains, 7,111 .CN domains, 3,840 .XYZ domains and 1,205 .BIZ domains.

The total number of domain names registered to all TLDs, of which there are over 1,200, is 370,954,537. Of these, 185,065,885 belong to generic TLDs and 135,333,223 to country TLDs. The USA tops the list of registered domains with a total of 97,367,153, while China comes second with 30,249,710.

Whois XML API examined the sample number of unique domain names created since 2012. This was followed up by analyzing how many such domains were registered but did not renew in the first year. It also looked at how many domains were registered by an initial user who failed to commit and renew.

The findings

Of the one million domains making up the sample, only 29.79% were kept by registrants. 70.21% of domains were not renewed, either being left to expire (41.22%) or re-registered by others (28.99%).

Renewal rates varied significantly by TLD.

Interestingly, the TLDs that saw the highest percentage of domains kept after one year were .NET, .ORG and .INFO, with renewal rates of 46.31%, 44.24% and 34.56% respectively.

On the other hand, the TLDs with the lowest percentage of renewals were .TOP, .BIZ, and .CN, with rates of 22.22%, 16.60% and 1.72%.

The average churn rate for domains is over 70%

Registrants chose not to keep a huge 702,133 of the one million domains analyzed, equating to a high volume churn rate of 70.21%.

Looking at the TLDs with the highest churn rates, these were .CN (98.28%), .BIZ (83.40%) and .TOP (77.78%).

And those with the lowest churn rates are .INFO (65.44%), .ORG (55.76%) and .NET (53.69%).

The churn rate for .CN domains is over 98%

The churn rate for .CN domains is much much higher than the average, reaching an extremely high 98.28%.

Of those not kept, only 1.10% were re-registered by someone else. Just 1.72% of .CN domains were renewed.

Over two in five domains are left to expire each year

41.22% of the domains were abandoned altogether, with registrants allowing them to expire and become available to others.

The TLDs with the highest percentage of dropped domains were .CN with a huge 97.19%, .XYZ with 58.33% and .BIZ with 50.04%.

Those with the lowest portion of domains left to expire were .COM with 43.12%, .ORG with 28.85%, and .NET with 19.28%.

28.99% of domains are re-registered by other users

28.99% of the domains in the sample were not renewed and instead re-registered by another user.

.NET (34.41%), .TOP (33.75%), and .BIZ (33.36%) were the TLDs with the highest re-registration rates.

.XYZ (16.82%), .INFO (15.54%), and .CN (1.10%) saw the lowest re-registration rates.

.COM domain registrations

The .COM TLD is, not surprisingly, the most used TLD. Of the domains analyzed, 28.09% were kept and 71.91% dropped. Of those dropped, 28.79% were re-registered by other users, while the biggest percentage, 43.12%, were left to languish.

The methodology

To produce this report, WhoIsHostingThis.com commissioned Whois XML API to collect a sample of one million domains across eight TLDs by number of domain registrations per year.

The data was gathered in October 2019 for the sole purpose of preparing the report.

No personal information, for the purposes of GDPR, was processed for the study.

Alex Ronquillo, from WhoIS XML API, concluded: “Significant activity we've observed recently is likely due to trends in global entrepreneurship, but our clients are much more creative in analysis. I've learned that there is much more at play here, especially with new international privacy laws along with the prevalence of phishing and brand impersonation attacks.

“We believe that if the world's most critical researchers are unable to back their theories with reliable data, we all fail to extract the narratives required to produce a safer, smarter future."

STUDY: Which Domains Get Kept & Which Get Dropped? [New Data on .COM vs Everything Else]
Illustration: Freepik

Read next: Do you know how many domains exist today? Let’s take you on the memory lane of Websites
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Has Social Media Really Been Our Worst Enemy?

January 28, 2020, 10:00 pm
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What are the three things that you possibly can’t live without? The normal answer would be oxygen, water, and food right? However, this was only true before social media came into this world, as today the list also includes Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram for majority of the population.

However, the inclusion wasn’t always received well. It raised the debate of whether social media has a more positive impact on our lives or is it only becoming a reason of depression in our lives. And hence, as a result there have been more articles about how social media causes addiction, mental health issues, jealousy or insecurity than any of the positives to come out from it. But the point to ponder is, are the claims really true?

To get to know the answers in detail, Security.Org conducted a survey with 2,700+ Americans that was based on knowing the digital habits of the participants and how satisfied these people are with their lives.

Life Satisfaction

As per what respondents reported in the study, all top five social media platforms (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter) turned out to be a part of bullying, body image and the fear of missing out cases. But surprisingly on the other hand when it came to general effect that social media has had on the lives of similar people, 70.4% of the population said their life improved with it as well.

Everybody and their grandparents are on social media these days - for better or worse. A common complaint is that too much time on social media leads to addiction, alienation, and the fear of missing out. A team of researchers conducted a study to find out if there's truth to the narrative, or if it's possible that various demographics experience different levels of satisfaction with social media in their lives. They surveyed over 2,700 people to learn more. Some of their findings include: 84% of baby boomers report that social media improves their lives - more than younger generations. 1 in 3 millennials feel that social media worsens their lives (more than any generation). 44% of millennials would prefer a society in which social media didn't exist, compared to just 26.5% of boomers. Nearly 3 in 4 married couples reported greater life satisfaction because of social media, more than singles (69%) or unmarried couples (65%).
Study: 84% of baby boomers say social media improves their lives

Breaking down the research into the background of people, gender and political affiliations had very little impact in terms of differences. In fact, the only populations who thought that social media has made them more unsatisfied with life were millennials and the ones who were in a relationship, which also goes well in accordance with how young people have always struggled to deal with mental health issues arising because of social media and the need for social acceptance.

In the comparison above, you will also see that men, married, baby boomers, Republicans, people with associate degrees and the ones from the South were more inclined towards siding with social media improving their lives. Whereas women, millennials, Democrats, college dropouts and people from the Midwest were blunt about how social media gives them a tough time.

Another report by Pew Research Center shows that there are more women who use Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest as compared to men. The only exception where men won was when young adults were compared to those of 50 years for using similar apps.

Living Without Social Media

Despite all the statistics and criticism, the respondents weren’t also very much keen on the idea of a world without social media. 60% of them said no to eliminating social media from their lives. However, 43.9% millennials and 45% Republicans were the only ones who agreed that the world would be better without social media. Moreover, married people were more in the favor of removing social media completely than the ones who are not in a relationship.

As you might think that people who claimed that social media worsened their life satisfaction would vote for getting rid of social media once and for all, 36.6% of the similar group was against the idea of creating a void that social media has successfully filled. On the contrary, one-third of people who said social media improved their lives chose for a world without it as well - mostly because of the negative impacts it is having on the society.

The Level of Satisfaction In The South & Midwest

Be it negativity or societal pressure, when they arise, either of them usually affects the entire population. This is mostly because in the end we are humans and subject to the same trends. But where culture differs, the opinion differs as well. Such a scenario has been observed among people living in the South - who were more likely to believe that social media has made lives better and how in the Midwest women were the only ones to vote for the positives of social media (70.4% of women to 62.4% of Midwest men).

There hasn’t been any obvious reason of why people in the Midwest possess a more negative opinion of social media (especially men) and one can’t make a conclusion of associating the fact with worse quality of life as compared to other regions.

According to them, people from these areas have used social media to escape from reality only whenever they wanted to but some got indulged into it so much that they now want to escape from the world of social media. So, one can assume it’s subjective.

Yes, It Has Pros & Cons

Just like anything else social media has it’s pros and cons. However, we think cons only come when there is excessive usage or if the person gets more attached to the virtual world than the real one.

As a consequence, while these digital platforms were primarily invented to bring friends and family together, such people find societal pressure through the posts they see - yes, the unrealistic portrayal of personalities or lives on Instagram and Snapchat stories based on filters or special moments.

The highlight of course in all this situation is that with all the negatives being widespread, the same people are not willing to imagine a world without social media either as well.

P.S Will the inclusion of more privacy and support from the platforms help in improving the current situation for people who are finding social media to be the biggest negative in their lives? Only time will tell that.

Read next: Despite The Criticism and Competition, Americans Love Using YouTube & Facebook The Most - Stats Reveal!
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Facebook Ad Clicks Had Immense Growth, Expected To Produce Impressive Q4 Results

January 29, 2020, 12:09 am
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Facebook ads are getting more clicks from users than ever before, as shown by the Facebook tools for advertisers. The company is expected to reveal impressive results of the fourth-quarter today.

Advertisers use a Facebook tool, Audience Insight to gather data to target different demographics. Though the company is going through the antitrust investigations, but the ad clicks had a hike in the second quarter, last year.

The Q4 earnings report is expected to be better, noticing the increase in ad engagement, despite the four different antitrust focused investigations about Facebook were launched.

According to Audience Insights stats, the median number of Facebook ads’ clicks have increased from July 2019 to January 2020. Whereas, the median number of likes and comments have been almost the same as in the last six months.

The median engagement levels in the United Stated from July 2019 to January 2020 changed, the posted comments are consistent at 8 and the post likes remained at 13. However, the ads click increased from 17 to 19.



All over the world, the median change has almost the same patterns, post comments and likes remained the same at 5 and 13 respectively whereas the ads click increased from 11 to 12.

In the UK, the median changes were the same for post likes and comments, at 8 and 16 respectively. There too, the ad clicks rose, from 16 to 19.

Daniel Newman, principal analyst at Futurum Research said that Facebook has become a landing pace for millennials and baby boomers. Irrespective of the negative publicity of the social media platform, people still are active on it and advertisers are always ready to invest money here.

Facebook claims to have 1.62 billion users on a daily basis, and 2.8 billion monthly users who use its all services (including Messenger, Instagram and Whatsapp).

One of the most important elements behind the growth of Facebook is its Stories feature on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp that displays full-screen pictures for 24 hours. Last year in April, the Stories features of each platform of the company had above 500 million users daily, according to Facebook.

Read next: Facebook now Allows you to Adjust Your "Active Status" Settings, Messenger App Getting a "Face ID" Feature?
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These Are The 6 Biggest Visual Trends of 2020 (infographic)

January 29, 2020, 1:00 am
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One of the world’s biggest stock photography marketplaces, Depositphotos has put together a report on the visual trends for the coming year. The insightful project showcases what’s trending in visual communication and how designers, artists, and anyone working in the field can use the research and insights for their creative projects.

The report on creative trends of 2020 includes a PDF format that you can explore with thoughts and opinions from 12 creative agencies about the future of visual communication. This insightful report on creative trends was prepared in collaboration with B-Reel, MediaMonks, PIXIT, BBDO Warsaw, Perq Studio, MADCATS, Aimbulance, and Super an der Spree.

Have a quick read on the six main creative trends in this article, but don’t forget to read the Visual Trends 2020 infographic (featured below) for even more insights.

The main visual trends and inspiration for 2020:

The World of Tomorrow

2020 brings us new challenges with visualizing tech advancements and their implications.

Particularly in stock photography, there is a tendency to photograph according to all the latest demands of the market. Clients turn to stock photography websites to find images to illustrate their projects. It goes without saying that in 2020, there will be a spike in demand for tech-related topics.

As the world continues to awe over the latest technological advancements, stock photographers have to get on board with the search inquiries that are about to come flooding in. We’ll hear more about automation, robotics, security, connected world, 5G, AI, cybersport, Internet of Things, artificial neural networks, and cloud health.

With this in mind, there are lots of complex topics in technology to cover. If we’re going to be talking about them, we need a solid source to go to to help us visualize the things that are going to become an integral part of our lives.

Neon Dystopia

The cyberpunk aesthetic and neon color palettes add futuristic vibes to thematic projects.

Some notable TV shows have taken the world by storm. Black Mirror, Stranger Things, and Blade Runner are a few examples that inspired designs and artworks around the world. It could be that in 2020, the release of the anticipated game Cyberpunk 2077 will spark pop culture reinvestment into the sci-fi genre that focuses on AI overpowering humanity.

This is considered one of the most exciting creative trends for artists and designers to get on board with. From bold neon colors to imaginative utopian worlds - fuel your imagination with endless possibilities. The Neon Dystopia trend with cyberpunk roots will likely influence fashion and pave the road to futuristic undertones in other fields of art and design.

Brutalism and digital decay

The modernist movement stretches beyond architecture to break away designs from strict rules.

Brutalism made a huge comeback with growing popularity for the architectural style on Instagram. Fast forward to today, and it’s being interpreted in really creative ways for website designs and graphic design in general.

Experts say that brutalism is by far not an easy course to take. Brutalist design may have started with architecture, but the style has transitioned into the digital world a while ago. The appreciation for Brutalism evolved on Instagram, and today can be seen in unexpected places around the web.

The design trend with this “raw” aesthetic commands attention. It’s by far not an easy direction to take with website design (as an example), but can certainly help you tap into the minds and hearts of an audience that can appreciate the absence of perfectionist layouts, grids, and compositions.

Muted shades break

Muted colors in all their shades can be both subtle and attention-grabbing.

The colors that come to mind when we talk about muted shades is likely the popular Tranquil Dawn and Neo-mint from 2019. In a pool of bold designs and daring artistic choices, muted shades communicate a kind of sophistication that can only be achieved with a minimalist touch.

Pastel colors simply soothe the eye. Soft color palettes can also be extremely communicative. The sophistication of muted shades in designs provides a minimalist touch and a calmness we sometimes long for in the crowded online space of bold and daring designs.

But soft shades of our favorite colors aren’t just for design projects. Muted shades are a direct answer to balancing nature and tech to serve as the perfect break for your eyes and mind. First and foremost, color choices in line with this trend go back to the roots of minimalism. We need JOMO to make a comeback.

Organic motion graphics

Animation and videos that draw inspiration from organic forms tend to captivate us all.

With the right tools, artists and designers can create animations that seem out of this world. They’re mesmerizing and fun, especially when inspiration comes from nature and organic forms.

It’s also the best way to hold someone’s attention in an overcrowded space - with digital noise is captivating 3D design magic. We’re referencing animated designs that either define or defy the rules of gravity. Users feel drawn to mesmerizing designs showing soothing movement, fluid shapes, and deconstructed forms in constant movement.

This trend is as much about technology, art, design, and animation, as it is about fascination with organic forms and 3D elements. Set them in motion, and you’ve got a chance to stand out, but also make your projects more dynamic. This creative trend is also about investing in the skills and creativity it takes to put together complex animations like this one.

Honest close-ups

Details matter, especially with your choice of visuals if you aim to be authentic and open.

Brands are taking the honest route with images showcasing close-ups of products, focusing on the quality, and underlining the importance of being open with clients. Honest close-ups, especially with photography, is a creative trend that has re-emerged unexpectedly. And it’s all about details.

The advertising trend we noticed this year is the use of images that showcase products in extreme detail to focus on the things that matter the most. Brands are moving towards being more open and honest with images that really can’t lie.

As an extension of this trend, many are preferring minimal post-production with movements around the world that frown upon invasive tuning of an image. Expect to see less-post production with images in 2020 and more attention to the details that matter.

Visual Trends 2020 - infographic

To sum it up

Trends in visual communication are ever-evolving. The surprising spin on this year’s trends was the influence of technology on art and design and growing concerns with the implications of AI.

Although it’s hard to predict what’s really going to be the next big thing in visual communication, we must have come close. Based on thorough research and dozens of opinions from experts, we wanted to give you a more fun and well-rounded outlook on the visual trends that will be popular this year.

Read next: Technology Boom - What to Expect in the Next Decade
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Top 3 Formats for Your Resume in 2020

January 29, 2020, 1:29 am
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You just carefully crafted your dissertation or resignation letter, and now you have more grammar headaches, fonts, and sentences to wrestle with by creating a CV that will land you a dream job. Making a CV is notoriously tough because everyone seems to have an opinion on them, and to be honest, some aspects can be rather subjective.

One of the most difficult parts of making a CV is in the beginning when you come up with a structure, otherwise known as a format, for your CV. There are three main types of format that you should be using. Read on to learn about them and help you pick the best one for your profession.

What About Sending CVs Outside of the UK?

Before you go on to read about the most effective CV formats, you should know one crucial thing. Different countries have different expectations of what a CV should include and how it should be formatted. For example, in the UK and other Anglo-speaking countries nobody expects to see a passport photo attached to the CV, but in Germany and UAE pictures are commonly used.

If you want to create a well-made CV for the best jobs in Leeds, Liverpool, London or any other UK city, then follow the advice below. For jobs outside of the UK, the tips below may not always be applicable.

The Three Best CV Formats

Although there are more formats than the three below, most HR professionals and employers seem to agree that these are the best of the best:

1. (Reverse) Chronological

Reverse chronological CV formats are the most common as they list the individual’s working experience in reverse order, starting with the most recent position. These are effective when the candidate wants to demonstrate that they have achieved impressive career progression or if they want to match their experience with the role they are applying for. They should be avoided if the candidate has big career gaps as they will stand out and make employers question what you did for those unexplained months/years.

2. Functional

If you do have career gaps or a lack of identical experience, a functional CV may be the way to turn. These CVs list the individual’s skills (with evidence when applicable) rather than their past employers. A section can be devoted to working experiences but that is inserted lower down. With employers spending an average of fewer than seven seconds looking at a CV, you need to sell your best attributes early. It is unlikely that these types of CVs will help students or those with limited workplace experiences because they will not have evidence to back up any claims about skills.

3. Hybrid/Combination

The hybrid CV format is a mixture of the above. It begins with a summary statement of qualifications and a profile of the individual. This is then followed with a section on workplace experience and a section on skills and achievements. The order of these two sections is down to the individual but they should choose the section that highlights their abilities stronger to go first.

Use the right format to give you the edge on your job search!



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The owner of viral-video app TikTok might be recruiting game developers for its new app and here’s what we know about it

January 29, 2020, 3:00 am
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It looks like the Chinese tech giant ByteDance is now taking a major step into mobile gaming by courting European game developers and tech providers.

According to a recent report, the Chinese tech giant firm also sent a few of its executives to a Pocket Gamer Connects conference - an annual gathering of developers, publishers, and investors of mobiles games which was held in London on Monday.

According to the listing of a private-networking tool seen by Business Insider, the executives of the owner of TikTok met a variety of local developers, publishers and technology providers during the conference held in London.

According to inside by Business Insider, some of the executives included in the list of attendees of the conference were recently hired in the year 2020 which can only mean one thing that ByteDance of the viral-video app TikTok is now ramping up into games.

During the conference, the overseas director of the business department of ByteDance was seen speaking to some of the game developers regarding the revenue generation of mobile games through funded ads and also about the rise in the hypercasual games as well.

Even though there is no official statement from the overseas director but the hints he left pretty much state that the company is sure thinking about Instant game-style platform for its users as they are lightweight and can easily be opened directly inside another app without any issue at all.

We think the owner of TikTok is pretty much trying to also include instant games in its platforms as Snapchat also allows us to run games inside the app via Snap Games whereas the Instant Games of Facebook enable its users to play with the News Feed or the Messenger app.

When Van Dam was asked regarding TikTok’s aim to launch some Instant games within the app he declined to comment but also stated that other platforms involved in instant gaming have not done any good work with some efficient results so now years later, the company should come with better-improved versions of instant games for its users.

During the discussion regarding the regulatory issues of Chinese with Western developers, Van Dam also dropped some hint for its viewers that it's difficult for western developers to bring games to China as game companies are required to have licenses to launch its apps if their apps include some money-making methods in the game apps.

According to Van Dam, this type of restriction isn’t applicable to the hypercasual games which are ad-funded. This restriction is only limited to traditional developers with in-app purchases. He also stated that the western developers should focus on the hypercasual-gaming market and probably partner with someone in order to drive huge traffic on its hypercasual games.

Despite the decline by Van Dam of not being involved in advertising for ByteDance his statements pretty much revealed that ByteDance might help developers up their market of mobile games through its popular apps.

According to the reports from the industry, ByteDance might also be considering the involvement of lightweight instant apps into the viral-video sharing platform TikTok which means the users of this platform could easily play some lightweight casual games within the app without using any third-party app at all.

It is also heard that ByteDance is also planning to launch some standalone mobile games as well.

According to a 2019 report from an App Annie, for three quarters, the Chinese gamer consumers spent more than $30 billion on mobile games on app stores during 2018 whereas leading on the second with half that amount were the consumers of the US.

From all these statements and insights on ByteDance, it is pretty much clear that the Chinese tech giant wants to generate revenue in games but through its own in-app games without sharing any of its revenue to the services of apps of Apple or Google.


Photo: Imaginechina / AP

Read next: TikTok is testing Dark mode in the App, users can give a sigh of relief
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