An almost certainly apocryphal parable from the terminal stage of the Soviet Union goes like this: Joseph Stalin, in poor health and cognizent that Nikita Khrushchev would likely succeed him as the Secretary of the Communist Party, summoned Khrushchev to a meeting. Stalin presented Khrushchev with two sealed letters and told him that they contained insights into leadership. Khrushchev was instructed to open the first letter when conditions became dire, and the second if that happened again. Khrushchev eventually encountered challenges and opened the first letter, which read: “Blame everythin ..read more

Pinterest released its Q1 2024 earnings results this week: Pinterest's stock jumped by roughly 18% in after-hours trading following the release on Wednesday and has remained elevated. Pinterest's Q1 results contrast with those from Q4, which were mixed -- revenue fell short of expectations, MAU beat -- and led the company's stock to decline by roughly 12% […] This content is only available to subscribers. If you are already a subscriber, please log in to view this content. If you are not a subscriber, subscriptions start at just $8.99 per month. The post Pinterest Q1 2024 earni ..read more

Alphabet reported earnings for Q1 2024 last week. The company saw overall advertising revenue increase by 13% year over year to $61.7BN, with 21% revenue growth in the YouTube business unit and 14% in Search. Google's Network business declined by 1%. The Google Network business extended its decline to seven consecutive quarters in Q1. Google's […] This content is only available to subscribers. If you are already a subscriber, please log in to view this content. If you are not a subscriber, subscriptions start at just $8.99 per month. The post Google’s Network business is vestigial appear ..read more

In this episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast, I speak with ⁠Alan Chapell⁠, an attorney who specializes in digital privacy through his law firm and consultancy, ⁠Chapell & Associates⁠, about the recently proposed American Data Privacy and Protection Act (APRA). Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington, and Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, unveiled the APRA last month — the draft legislation presents consumers with broad digital privacy protections and features many similarities and several noteworthy distinctions from the ADPPA, a previous data privacy bill that ..read more

Meta released its Q1 2024 earnings results yesterday: Meta beat analyst expectations on both a top line ($36.5 billion vs. $36.2 billion expected) and bottom line ($4.71 EPS vs. $4.32 expected) basis. But the company issued revenue guidance for Q2 of between $36.5BN to $39BN that fell short of analyst expectations of $37.8BN at the midpoint. This, […] This content is only available to subscribers. If you are already a subscriber, please log in to view this content. If you are not a subscriber, subscriptions start at just $8.99 per month. The post Meta Q1 2024 earnings: ad reven ..read more

The Financial Times reports that Revolut, the neobank and fintech company, is planning to launch an advertising platform (emphasis mine): Revolut is exploring plans to monetise customer data through sharing it with advertising partners, as the fintech seeks new sources of revenue while its application for a UK banking licence remains in limbo ... One […] This content is only available to subscribers. If you are already a subscriber, please log in to view this content. If you are not a subscriber, subscriptions start at just $8.99 per month. The post Everything is an ad network. Attention ..read more

My guest on this episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast is Mikołaj Barczentewicz, a law professor at, and the research director of, the Law and Technology Hub at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. Mikołaj also publishes a very informative Substack. In this episode of the podcast, Mikolaj and I discuss the EDPB’s recently published opinion on the use of the Pay or Okay model by “large online platforms.” Mikolaj most recently joined the podcast in December of last year to speak with me about Meta’s introduction of the Pay or Okay model. In this episode, we cover the ..read more

Netflix released its Q1 2024 earnings results last Thursday, beating analyst estimates on subscriber and revenue growth: Despite the healthy quarter and surprising subscriber growth -- Netflix's net subscription additions for the quarter were nearly three times analyst expectations -- the company's stock sank after earnings on weaker-than-expected revenue guidance for Q2 2024, as well as in reaction to […] This content is only available to subscribers. If you are already a subscriber, please log in to view this content. If you are not a subscriber, subscriptions start a ..read more

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) yesterday adopted an opinion on the valid use of the “Pay or Okay” model by, what it calls, “large online platforms.” The EDPB determines in its opinion that large online platforms, “in most cases,” will not comply with the GDPR in implementing a Pay or Okay model. It should be noted that the opinion isn’t a legal judgment or enforcement action and merely invites further consideration. The Norwegian DPA wants the EDPB to provide guidance on the "pay or okay" model — which is used by several newspapers in the EU — following Meta's adoption of the mod ..read more

MDM Canon is a new podcast series from Mobile Dev Memo in which co-hosts Eric Seufert and Stewart Johnson select an article from the Mobile Dev Memo archive and discuss it at length. This episode focuses on an article titled The perilous mythology of Brand Marketing for digital products⁠, first published in November 2021. The episode proposes a taxonomy of performance marketing tactics, distinguishing between Direct Response, Delayed Response, and Brand marketing. It also outlines a framework for how all three can fit together into a unified strategy. Thanks to the sponsor of this week’s epi ..read more