ITV

Category: Social Media

  • Times Internet Launches M360 publishing platform to empower digital publishers

    Times Internet Launches M360 publishing platform to empower digital publishers

    MUMBAI:  To resolve rising complexities in digital publishing – both in terms of technology and monetization options, Times Internet has launched the M360 platform that will help Indian publishers navigate a dynamic digital media landscape with an end-to-end solution. M360 enables cross-platform publishing, content personalization, audience insights, and free-and-fair advertising at scale. This "Software-as-a-Service(SaaS)" platform is designed to integrate comprehensive publishing capabilities with a seamless experience and is now available at a competitive price along with a cost-efficient ad revenue share.

    As the most comprehensive publishing platform in the world,  M360’s Content Management System provides the convenience of being both simple and reliable and is integrated with major platforms like Google AMP, Facebook IA, and Apple News. It sports an intuitive Website Builder and an advanced Machine Learning-backed content intelligence engine that drives contextuality and provides every avenue of monetization under a single umbrella with seamless access to the Colombia Audience Network and Data Management Platform (DMP). This enables publishers to build unique audience profiles for precise targeting,  directly sell slots, and engage with premium programmatic revenue partners, or choose from a roster of quality ad-networks for their campaigns.

    Speaking about the launch, Times Internet COO Puneet Gupta said, “Technology has become an intricate part of publishing – from authoring to hosting, to personalized layouts, algorithms, faster load time and monetization – consuming disproportionate bandwidth of publishing teams and organizations. Built over the very same components that power The Times Of India Digital, M360 aims to bring these technology gains to the smallest of the publishers allowing them to focus on bringing great content to their readers. “

    M360 co-founder Arjun Satya added, “M360 is a world-class SaaS platform built in India that helps publishers develop engaging content through its CMS, grow traffic and drive personalized ad campaigns thereby increasing effective CPM. With the increase in ad revenue along with reduced engineering and IT costs, our publishers on M360 are seeing a 40-60 per cent increase in their operating profits than before.”

    M360 leverages Times Internet's premium ad network, Colombia, to monetize its publisher traffic. With more than 15 Bn personalized feeds across content and ads to over 470 Mn+ users across 110 publishers, the Colombia Audience Network has monetized 55% of digital news traffic in India for the last 2 years. It offers marketers the advantage of content recommendations, video, and native advertising to deliver a seamless and highly engaging content experience to its nearly half-a-billion loyal audience. M360's users also have access to a dedicated support team for rapid query-resolution and to help them make the most out of their monetization requirements.

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  • For #WorldMusicDay, singers take center stage on Twitter, churn out #MoodSongs using audio Tweets

    For #WorldMusicDay, singers take center stage on Twitter, churn out #MoodSongs using audio Tweets

    On #WorldMusicDay, some of India’s most beloved singers enthralled their fans on Twitter using voice Tweets. Armaan Malik (@ArmaanMalik22), Shilpa Rao (@shilparao11), Jonita Gandhi (@jonitamusic), Guru Randhawa (@GuruOfficial), Shirley Setia (@ShirleySetia), and Jassie Gill (@jassiegill) Tweeted out a song each using #MoodSongs to share what they are feeling. They also encouraged their fans to Tweet their #MoodSongs.

    Twitter recently introduced voice Tweets experiment to test a new way to start a conversation. On iOS, people can now Tweet with their voice by following a few simple steps: hit compose Tweet, record audio, and attach it to the Tweet, that’s it. This new test allows people to create a more human experience. Singer John Legend (@johnlegend) was one of the early adopters of the feature and soon after its launch shared a sneak preview of his new song, U Move, I Move.

    Today, Armaan Malik (@ArmaanMalik22), who recently released his debut English single Control, crooned a few lines from his latest song Next 2 Me.

    Commenting on the activity, Armaan Malik said, “Music has always been such a great emotional outlet for me and I’ve always been in awe of its power to connect the world, especially when the going is tough. On World Music Day, I’m looking forward to connecting with my fans on Twitter, sharing my feelings and singing my #MoodSongs – and hearing theirs. Twitter has been an important source of connectivity and solidarity in recent times and I’m happy for the opportunity to contribute to that feeling of togetherness and hope.”

    Shilpa Rao (@shilparao11), who’s lent her voice to Ghungroo, Bulleya and many other hits, sang Dashte Tanhai in her melodious voice for Twitter music enthusiasts.

    Jonita Gandhi (@jonitamusic) chose to sing a few lines from her latest release Dusk Stories.

    Guru Randhawa (@GuruOfficial), who’s got the country grooving to his tunes, sang his hit single Lahore, setting the mood up for a party on Twitter.

    Adding to the cheer and fun, Guru Randhawa went on to ask his contemporaries and fellow musicians, Neha Kakkar (@iAmNehaKakkar), Honey Singh (@asliyoyo) and Badshah (@Its_Badshah) to share their favourite #MoodSongs too.

    Jassie Gill (@jassiegill), known for hits like Gabbroo and Nakhre, added his Punjabi swagger to the day by voice Tweeting the song Ehna Chauni Aa. He dedicated this to his daughter while rejoicing his love for her on the occasion of Father’s Day.

    On the other hand, Shirley Sethia (@ShirleySetia) too used her voice Tweet to double up celebrations by dedicating Papa Kehti Hai to her father.

  • Bolo Indya makes big moves and redrafts several HR policies

    Bolo Indya makes big moves and redrafts several HR policies

    MUMBAI: With Work from Home (WFH) culture becoming the new norm during and post-Covid2019, Bolo Indya, a UGC short videos app has also come up with a new WFH model for all its employees even after lockdown ends. While maintaining full operations for the business, Bolo Indya ensures that employees are safe and well taken care of. The core leadership team will resume office from July, Bolo Indya has announced that a blanket ‘Work from Home’ policy will be granted for the rest of the team till September 2020. The enterprise has introduced multiple significant changes in the HR policies to take care of both work-related efficiency, and mental wellbeing as well as the physical health of all of the team members.

    Being a responsible employer, Bolo Indya is committed to support employees with the option to work from the comfort of their homes and takes continuous efforts to encourage their mental wellness amidst the ongoing crisis. Understanding employee’s liabilities and the efforts that they take to ensure the business is run smoothly. Bolo Indya has redrafted a new WFH policy which sponsors the work from home area at the employees’ house as per which it provides – work stations, wifi, back support sitting facility, this is going to be sponsored by the company. Employees need to ensure a dedicated work from home area away from the bedroom for the same. Also, the company will be taking care of operational expenses of AC in the work from home area of employees’ house. There will be mandatory 6 leaves in the quarter to ensure work balance and prevent over exhausting while working from home.

    Bolo Indya co-founder and CEO Varun Saxena said “We follow sports team culture at Bolo Indya, thus ensuring both the efficiency and holistic fitness of all our team members at all times. Our company wide motto is, “ESP – Execution, Speed, Perfection” and we trust our team members that they would not let anything compromise the company’s objectives and time bound goals irrespective of working from office or home.”

    Bolo Indya has continued its hiring activities even during lockdown and 3 new members have joined during the lockdown phase, while 2 more will be joining next month. Simultaneously, the company has aggressive hiring plans in technology team across Android, AI and ML roles for which remote interactions with multiple potential rockstars is going on.

    “We took lockdown and its consequences as an opportunity to interact with some extraordinary talents and explore the synergies to join us on our mission to enable Bharat to transform social capital to financial independence through short videos in regional languages. We did not do a single lay off, and continue to strengthen the team with the right fits who share the same passion, ambition, and motivation,” On hiring and the current job market scenario, Saxena added.

  • Want to tweet? Say it in your voice now

    Want to tweet? Say it in your voice now

    MUMBAI: “280 characters aren’t enough and some conversational nuances are lost in translation,” feels Twitter. The micro-blogging platform is testing a new feature that will add a more human touch to the way people tweet- by using their own voices- the blog says.

    “Tweeting with your voice is not too different from Tweeting with text.”

    So, how to go about it?  It’s easy- To start, open the Tweet composer and tap the new icon with wavelengths. There one can see their profile photo with the record button at the bottom – tap this to record the voice. 

    Each voice Tweet captures up to 140 seconds of audio. And if that’s not enough, then one can keep talking. Once you reach the time limit for a Tweet, a new voice Tweet starts automatically to create a thread. Once you’re done, tap the Done button to end your recording and go back to the composer screen to Tweet.

    “People will see your voice Tweet appear on their timeline alongside other Tweets. To listen, tap the image. On iOS only, playback will start in a new window docked at the bottom of your timeline and you can listen as you scroll. You can also keep listening while doing other things on your phone or on the go,” the blog read.

    Creating voice Tweets will be available to a limited group of people on Twitter for iOS to start but in the coming weeks everyone on iOS should be able to Tweet with their voice. Everyone will be able to see (hear) them and reply. 

    This is not the only feature that the platform has launched. Just a week back, the micro-blogging started it’s new feature – Fleets, a new way for users to have conversations, which disappear after 24 hours. 

  • 63% of enterprise professionals think employers will be better off a year from now

    63% of enterprise professionals think employers will be better off a year from now

    MUMBAI: LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, today announced the findings of the fifth edition of the LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index, a fortnightly pulse on the confidence of India’s workforce. Based on survey responses of 2,903 professionals in India, findings from the fortnight of 14 to 31 May reveal how executives with different professional backgrounds exhibit varied levels of confidence towards company outlook, personal finances, and remote working.

    This fortnight’s LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index shows that while India’s overall confidence remains steady with a composite score of +49, the country’s confidence in jobs is beginning to trend downward. The report also states that professionals from healthcare, manufacturing and corporate service industries are more likely to anticipate a decrease in personal spending and personal investments in the next six months.

    Findings of this fortnight also bisect India’s composite workforce confidence score into Individual Confidence Index (ICI) and Confidence in Employer Index (CIE). The Individual Confidence Index indicates how professionals feel about their ability to leverage economic opportunities available to them, and the Confidence In Employer Index points to how professionals feel about the future of their employers. This new addition comes at a time when India is beginning to ‘unlock’ and reboot its business landscape.

    Here are this fortnight’s key findings:

    ●    Enterprise professionals most confident about the future of their employers: 

    With a CIE score of +24, employees at large enterprises – companies with 10,000+ workers – are more confident about the future of their employers when compared to their peers from mid-market (+15) and SMB (+16) companies. Reaffirming this optimism, findings further show that 41 per cent of enterprise professionals think their companies will do better in the next six months, while 63 per cent think their companies will be better off one year from now. However, this confidence of professionals from larger enterprises fades when it comes to individual confidence, as ICI scores show that enterprise professionals (+42) are least confident about the future of their jobs, finances and careers, when compared to their SMB (+51) and mid-market (+50) peers.

    ●    Healthcare, manufacturing and corporate service industries least optimistic about personal finances: With India’s continued focus on social distancing, people are expected to control their discretionary spending, despite improved access to resources. Findings reaffirm this trend as two in five employees in manufacturing (38 per cent), corporate services (40 per cent) and healthcare (45 per cent) will decrease personal spending in the next six months. Findings also show that 52 per cent of healthcare, 48 per cent of corporate services, and 41 per cent of manufacturing professionals anticipate a decrease in investments in the next six months. 

    ●    40 per cent of the Indian workforce anticipates fewer jobs and interviews in the immediate future: As the Indian workforce navigates a shrinking job market, two in five (40 per cent) professionals believe that the number of jobs and scheduled interviews will decrease in the next two weeks. The news comes as bittersweet for Indian professionals, as more than one in three  Indian professionals state that they will now spend more time working on their resumes and preparing for interviews. Findings also show India’s consistent focus on upskilling as 67 per cent of the Indian workforce state that they will continue to increase time spent online learning.

    ●    Marketing, project management, and engineering professionals confident about the effectiveness of remote working: Over the past three months, many organisations have shifted to a remote working model to circumvent the pandemic and ensure business continuity. This fortnight’s findings show that three in five (61 per cent) marketing professionals feel confident about being effective when working remotely. They are joined by more than half of project management (56 per cent) and engineering (54 per cent) professionals, who are also confident about  the effectiveness of remote working. In contrast to this optimism, only 39 per cent of HR, 36 per cent of finance, and 31 per cent of education professionals think they would be effective when working remotely.

  • ByteDance to shut down Vigo apps in October

    ByteDance to shut down Vigo apps in October

    MUMBAI: Chinese colossal ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok has announced that it will shut down two of its apps in India Vigo Video, Vigo Lite. By 31 October, the apps will shut down in India while those have already shut operations in Brazil and Middle East.

    "Users will be informed about the app shutting via in-app notifications with detailed instruction on downloading their personal data or deleting their account permanently, including videos, personal information, chat history, and favorite list," the app said while mentioning that users can export their account to TikTok.

    While the company has not stated any reason behind the shutdown, it is being speculated that the company wants to focus on TikTok in the country which has a humongous base compared to Vigo. 

  • Google’s new tool helps keep a tab on rising TV users

    Google’s new tool helps keep a tab on rising TV users

    MUMBAI: Google recently launched a series of tools in Display And Video 360. It comes as a sigh of relief for digital media buyers as it makes it easier for them to discover and secure ad inventory on high-quality streaming content. 

    According to data, Display and Video 360's connected TV available inventory surged by 75 per cent in April from the previous year.

    "This doesn't include YouTube and YouTube TV, which over 100 million people watch on their TV screens each month in the US. Even now, as stay-at-home restrictions are being lifted, connected TV usage remains well above pre-Covid2019 levels," Google said in a statement. 

    The platform had created a dedicated TV section in the maketplace specifically for publishers and inventory that let them reach TV audiences across devices.

    People can easily discover deals with available publisher inventory. 

    "Additional filter options let you search by geo or streaming device type to quickly find the right partner for your campaigns," informed Google.

    One can send request for proposals (RFP) to publishers directly from the dedicated space. 

    "We'll be rolling out this new interface throughout the next few weeks. In the future we will also be adding national linear TV broadcast and cable networks as well as local TV stations to this section in Marketplace," informed Google.

    The platform also mentioned that it is making YouTube Select's dedicated streaming TV lineup available to Display and Video 360 buyers in the US.

  • Twitter tests disappearing messages through ‘fleets’

    Twitter tests disappearing messages through ‘fleets’

    MUMBAI: Twitter in India is testing out a new way to have conversations about your fleeting thoughts on the service – fleets. They disappear after 24 hours and there aren't any likes, retweets or public replies. The company said, "We learned from research that people don’t tweet because tweets are public, feel permanent, and display the number of retweets and likes. We hope fleets will empower many more people to express themselves more freely. India is the third market globally after Brazil and Italy where Twitter is rolling out this feature to test."

    For Twitter to serve the public conversation, which is its mission, more people need to feel comfortable having conversations. There need to be more ways to have conversations on Twitter with less pressure and various controls. Fleets are fast and familiar. People can tap on their own avatar to start, add text or media and hit send. 

    Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari said, “India is important for Twitter since it is one of our largest and fastest-growing audience markets globally. We are excited to bring the Fleets experiment to India and make it one of the first three countries in the world to experience this new product. From the test in India, we’ll learn how adding a new mode of conversation changes the way Indians engage on Twitter. It’ll also be interesting to see if it further amplifies the diversity of usage by allowing people to share what they’re thinking in a way that is light-touch and light-hearted.”

    Fleets from the accounts one follows are always right on top of one’s timeline. People can see who’s seen their fleet by looking underneath a post. They can tap on someone’s avatar to see what the person has shared since they last were on Twitter. Alternatively, one can also find an account’s fleets by looking on their profile page.

    To create a new fleet, follow these simple steps:

    ●       Tap the avatar on the top left of your profile to create a new fleet

    ●       Start typing or tap a media icon to add photo/s or video/s

    ●       Tap ‘fleet’ to post

    To view someone’s fleet:

    ●       Tap an avatar to see their latest fleets

    ●       Swipe down to see newer fleets and up to see older fleets

    ●       Swipe left or right to see fleets from other accounts you follow

    To engage with your followers on fleets:

    ●       Buttons to reply and react are available when direct messages (DMs) are open

    ●       Followers can reply privately via DM or quickly react with an emoji, and continue the conversation privately in DMs

    ●       Replies and reactions will appear in DMs along with the fleet they are responding to

    People can also report a fleet using the ‘…’ menu

    Twitter group product manager Mo Al Adham said, “Twitter is where people go to see and talk about what’s happening. We want people to be able to have conversations on Twitter in different ways, with less pressure and more control. That’s why we’re testing a way to share their fleeting thoughts.”

    Since starting to test fleets in Brazil, Twitter has seen people become more comfortable sharing what’s on their minds. People who don’t usually tweet are starting more conversations and sending both fleets and tweets. When people send a fleet, they often share a number of thoughts rapidly.

    Fleets will be available for everyone in India on Twitter for iOS and Android in the coming days in updated app versions. 

  • It’s #BackToThe90s with Twitter’s new #90sNostalgia Emoji and the Decade’s Stars!

    It’s #BackToThe90s with Twitter’s new #90sNostalgia Emoji and the Decade’s Stars!

    In the ’90s Indian pop-culture (and walkman) ruled! Short-listing music for cassettes and making time for television shows and films that were not available on-demand were arguably some of the most important tasks on people’s to-do lists. Since the lockdown, warm feelings and fond memories of those simpler times are flooding people with nostalgia. We have seen people confess their love for this wonderful decade and elements of its popular culture with throwback Tweets.

    To celebrate these conversations and add a dash of ’90s colour to them, Twitter has launched an all-new emoji that is sure to remind everyone of the ’90s pop-soul that resides within them. The emoji can be activated by using three hashtags – #BackToThe90s, #90sLove, #90sNostalgia.

    That’s not all! Twitter is also planning an elaborate ’90s nostalgia party.

    On Saturday, May 16, Netflix (@NetflixIndia) will join Twitter in this throwback and host an Andaz Apna Apna watch party for fans of the classic film. Next week, iconic Indian rapper Baba Sehgal (@OnlyBabaSehgal) will go live on Twitter to get people grooving to some of his best sing-along ’90s songs. Cricket enthusiasts will have their share of the treat too as ace cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) will join in the ’90s nostalgia to talk about some of the most memorable moments from the world of cricket. There’s something for everyone, just like in the ’90s.

    As the excitement around nostalgia continues to unfold on Twitter, Bollywood’s ’90s sweetheart, Kajol (@itsKajolD) joined in to showcase her love for the beloved decade in a Tweet to Twitter India (@TwitterIndia). She also tagged superstars – Aamir Khan (@aamir_khan), Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn), Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk), director Karan Johar (@karanjohar), as well as, her sister Tanishaa Mukerji (@TanishaaMukerji) and asked them to share their favourite ’90s movies.

  • Helo partners with Bollywood Music Project to create virtual content

    Helo partners with Bollywood Music Project to create virtual content

    MUMBAI: Helo, a social networking app recently partnered with Bollywood Music Project (BMP) to create virtual content for their app. BMP featured, on its Helo app handle BollywoodMusicProjectLive virtual chat sessions and short impromptu performances of 11 leading Bollywood vocalists of our country and viewers of Helo had the opportunity to view and engage with unique content. The week-long series was a resounding success, with over 5.5 lakh unique viewers combined.

    Known for coming up with unique, effective and impactful IPs for brands, Event Capitalalong with Truly Musical conceptualized and executed the initiative, taking on-board well known artists, creating separate individual slots and increasing user engagement, all whilst driving massive viewership and engagement on the platform. The initiative had over 10,000 concurrent live users and had an average engagement rate of 5 per cent. With many digital players going online to create content, their aim was to stand out from the clutter and create highly targeted entertainment.

    Mega music stars like Amit Trivedi, Vishal Bhardwaj, Rekha Bhardwaj, Hariharan, Aditya Narayan, Sukhwinder Singh, Shefali Alvares, Mohammed Irfan, Divya Kumar and Anusha Mani & Sangeet Haldipur performed and interacted at the virtual event. Each artist was given a 30-minute time slot to entertain the audiences not only through live signing but also live Q&A. The artists also took this opportunity to guide the audience with safety measures and precautions during the on-going global pandemic.

    Cultivating ecosystems and communities out of IP’s, Event Capital’s efforts are focused on creating sustainable journeys for brands. Starting of primarily in events, the company has grown into a 360-degree content and branded entertainment solutions provider.

    Branded Entertainment, Event Capital  business head and COO Shyam Chhabria said, “Event Capital has grown into one of the most trusted brand partners today in the experiential marketing industry. We realized in order for Helo to connect with and be relevant to their consumers, it was imperative to engage viewers taking into account the current scenario. With the springing up of numerous live and virtual sessions, we felt it was necessary to streamline and create relevant content for our partners and were overwhelmed with the response we got on the partnership; the spike in the reach stands testimony to the success of the event.”

    TM Truly Musical partner Alaap Gosher said commented: "People are constantly glued to different platforms and are experimenting with things they have never done before. To create an engaging and memorable experience at times like this, it's important to understand and use different mediums, which help create a similar experience & emotions as a live gig. The virtual experience allowed us to infuse newer elements like, actual fan interaction with the musicians. The activity turned out to be a success not just for the brand but also for us as a new way to create sustainable & meaningful brand relationships with consumers.”