Cloudflare launches a tool that aims to block bots from scraping websites for AI training data, available free for all customers (Kyle Wiggers/TechCrunch)

Mediagazer: Cloudflare launches a tool that aims to block bots from scraping websites for AI training data, available free for all customers (Kyle Wiggers/TechCrunch)

Top News:

CNN:

ABC News plans to air an interview with President Biden “in its entirety as a primetime special”, at 8pm ET on July 5; a transcript will also be available— The ABC News interview with President Joe Biden will now air “in its entirety as a primetime special” …
Discussion:

Brian Steinberg /
Variety: ABC News Moves Biden-Stephanopoulos Interview to Friday Primetime Fox News: CNN media analyst says Biden's upcoming ABC interview not ‘enough,’ needs multiple ‘unscripted’ appearances

Hadas Gold /
@hadas_gold: Good of ABC to move up airing whole Biden interview to Friday. A lot can happen in two days (orig was gonna air clips Friday with whole thing Sunday) also importantly they say “a transcript of the unedited interview will be made available the same day, Friday, July 5.”

Dominic Patten /
Deadline: Joe Biden Sit-Down With George Stephanopoulos Moves To Friday Primetime As Pressure On POTUS Increases From Debate Debacle

Hugh Dougherty /
The Daily Beast: Biden's Interview With Stephanopoulos Could Be Over in Just 15 Minutes

Sahil Kapur /
@sahilkapur: 🚨 Very important change. If the interview was cut up and packaged it risked failing to change minds — diehards wonder if his best parts were left out, skeptical allies wonder about the full picture, foes wonder if he's being protected. Air it in its entirety and you avoid that.

David Gilmour /
Mediaite: Schedule Shake-Up Sees Biden's High-Stakes ABC Interview Air as Primetime Special July 5

Isabel Keane /
New York Post: Crucial Biden ABC interview — hosted by ex-Clinton official — moved up as prez desperately tries to prove he can stay in race

Rob Quinn /
Newser: ABC Is Airing Biden Interview Early

Brian Stelter /
@brianstelter: BIG change to ABC's Biden interview rollout plan: It “will air in its entirety as a primetime special, Friday, July 5, at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.” Additionally, “a transcript of the unedited interview will be made available the same day.”

Brian Stelter /
@brianstelter: ABC was originally planning to air just a clip of the Biden interview on Friday evening, then televise other parts over the weekend. This is a much better, more transparent plan.

Michael M. Grynbaum /
New York Times: Biden Will Sit for Interview on Friday With ABC News ABC News: President Joe Biden to sit down with ABC News on Friday for first TV interview since debate

William Hughes /
The A.V. Club: ABC News abruptly flop-sweats Biden interview to primetime on Friday night

Rebecca Falconer /
Axios: ABC News shifts Biden's Stephanopoulos interview to Friday primetime dgepress.com: ABC News Announces George Stephanopoulos Has Exclusive, First Television Interview With President Joe Biden Since the Debate

Ryan Schwartz /
TVLine: Joe Biden Agrees to ABC News Interview Following First Presidential Debate — Find Out When It Airs

RELATED:

CNN:

White House reporters say Biden's mental fitness could have been better covered pre-debate, particularly after the release of Robert Hur's report in February— President Joe Biden's White House repeatedly and aggressively shot down reports on the president's age and any possible limitations …

Discussion:

Brian Stelter /
Vox: Did the media botch the Biden age story?

Kelly McBride /
Poynter: After the debate, plenty of insider texts but little transparency among political reporters

Fox News:
WH reporters admit being ‘turned off’ from exposing Biden's mental decline because of ‘right-wing media’ hype

Robby Soave /
Reason: Why Didn't the Media Notice Joe Biden's ‘Jet Lag’ Sooner? Bangor Daily News: Why was it a surprise? Biden's debate problems leave some wondering if the press missed the story

Josh Hersh /
Columbia Journalism Review: What did we know and when? Alex Thompson on investigating Biden's mental decline

Axios:

Analysis: Biden has held fewer press conferences and media interviews than any of the last seven US presidents at this point in their terms— - Biden's media engagement is especially contrasted with former President Trump, who despite demonizing the press, was often willing to talk.

Dow Jones Newswires:

Netflix, Disney, and other US streaming companies ask a Canadian court to block imposition of a fee of 5% of sales to help finance local news and other content— OTTAWA—Netflix, Walt Disney and other U.S. streaming companies have asked a Canadian court to stop plans by authorities to force …

Discussion:
Agence France-Presse, Al Jazeera, Globe and Mail, CBC News, @fagstein, Cartt.ca, @mgeist, @hertzbarry, @paulvieira, The Desk and Bloomberg

Discussion:

Marie Woolf /
Globe and Mail: Streaming platforms launch multiple legal challenges to Bill C-11 payments in Canada

Jenna Benchetrit /
CBC News: Foreign streamers must pay into fund to boost Canadian content, CRTC says

Steve Faguy /
@fagstein: Considering how much money is at stake, it's unsurprising the foreign streaming giants are throwing whatever their lawyers can come up with at the courts trying to overturn the CRTC.

Ahmad Hathout /
Cartt.ca: Amazon, Apple join chorus of foreign streamers challenging CRTC's contribution decision

Michael Geist /
@mgeist: The battle over the CRTC's mandated 5% payment is heating up. The video streamers led by @MPACanada asking federal court to quash payments for news in Bill C-11 ruling. Argue CRTC acted unreasonably in compelling news payments and provided inadequate reasons for doing so. [image]

Barry Hertz /
@hertzbarry: BREAKING: @MPACanada, which represents major Hollywood studios and streaming services, files applications to appeal CRTC's recent Bill C-11 move to compel foreign streamers to pay percentage of Canadian revenues to support local news. C-11 levies set to come into effect Sept. 1 [image]

Paul Vieira /
@paulvieira: Netflix, Walt Disney and other U.S. streaming companies have asked a Canadian court to stop plans by authorities to force them to fork over 5% of their sales in the country to help finance local broadcast news and other domestic content. https://www.morningstar.com/ ...

Randy Thanthong-Knight /
Bloomberg: Netflix and Disney Caught by Canada's New Media Funding Rules

BBC:

Investigation: a fake news network tied to an ex-Florida sheriff, now in Moscow, appears to be targeting US and UK voters; some Congress members shared posts— A network of Russia-based websites masquerading as local American newspapers is pumping out fake stories as part of an AI-powered operation …

Discussion:
@barbmcquade, @1shyla, @jayinkyiv, @ehunterchristie, @laobserved, @jessphoenix2018, MEDIANAMA, Nina Jankowicz on LinkedIn, @seesyous, @anelsona, @shayan86, @tylerknowsnothing …, Michael McKibben on LinkedIn, Ian Ragsdale on LinkedIn, SentinelOne on LinkedIn, Dave Byrne on LinkedIn and Caoimhe Donnelly on LinkedIn

Discussion:

Barb McQuade /
@barbmcquade: Great piece by ⁦@BBC⁩ exposing Russian disinformation. Beware of fake news sites with real-sounding names like Houston Post and DC Weekly. One fake story that Ukrainian officials bought yachts with US military aid was repeated by members of Congress. https://www.bbc.com/...

Shyla La'Sha /
@1shyla: I suggest you have a list of known neutral, reputable, and trustworthy news sources that you use to verify anything read on social media. #AI can make stuff up and it will sound legit. A Bugatti car, a First Lady, and the fake stories aimed at Americans https://www.bbc.com/... @jayinkyiv: Americans pushing disinformation for the Russian government is the growth industry none of us saw coming. https://www.bbc.com/...

Edward Hunter Christie /
@ehunterchristie: The Houston Post is “one of dozens of sites with American-sounding names which are in reality run from Moscow”. It alleged, falsely, that the FBI illegally wiretapped Donald Trump's Florida resort. https://www.bbc.com/...

Kevin Roderick /
@laobserved: Quite an investigation by the BBC. Websites in Russia named to sound like American newspapers are pumping fake pro-Trump news at American voters, often using X. https://www.bbc.com/... @jessphoenix2018: Check your sources on this dumpster fire site, people. Chances are high someone is trying to play you for a fool. https://www.bbc.com/...

Nina Jankowicz /
Nina Jankowicz on LinkedIn: Was happy to provide commentary for this story and the BBC World News coverage of it last night. Couple interesting notes: … @seesyous: OMG!! Literally EVERY *news* post starts with *Here is a short title...* Some even have stuff like *Here is a short title for the body of the article generated*. EXCEPT for the one about Zelenska and the Bugatti These are AI gen articles and somebody left the *Here is..*😂😂😂 [image]

Anne Nelson /
@anelsona: 1). Essential reading: Putin's information warfare.

Shayan Sardarizadeh /
@shayan86: A viral story that alleges Ukraine's Olena Zelenska recently bought a rare Bugatti car in Paris is the work of an AI-powered disinformation operation, run by an ex-Florida cop now based in Moscow, that pumps out fake news websites aimed at Americans. https://www.bbc.com/...

Tyler K. Nothing /
@tylerknowsnothing@mastodon.social: @Mediagazer Too many Americans are lapping this up like hyenas snacking on the carcass of a fresh kill. A Canadian friend of mine whom I've been very close to for 20+ years even repeats some of this back to me trying to gauge my reaction. …

Michael McKibben /
Michael McKibben on LinkedIn: A network of Russia-based websites masquerading as local American newspapers is pumping out fake stories as part of an AI-powered operation …

Ian Ragsdale /
Ian Ragsdale on LinkedIn: As much as I benefit from using GenAI responsibly at work, I'm extremely worried about how AI is disrupting content on the internet. … SentinelOne on LinkedIn: 🗞 In BBC News: “'Russia will be involved in the US 2024 election, as will others,' said SentinelOne's Chris Krebs …

Dave Byrne /
Dave Byrne on LinkedIn: When one entity can generate thousands of articles, through dozens of fake websites, simply labeling or removing individual pieces of content is not enough …

TechCrunch:

Cloudflare launches a tool that aims to block bots from scraping websites for AI training data, available free for all customers— Cloudflare, the publicly traded cloud service provider, has launched a new, free tool to prevent bots from scraping websites hosted on its platform for data to train AI models.

Discussion:
The Cloudflare Blog, Computerworld, The Verge, Dataconomy, Hackaday, TechSpot, @rami_bball_fan, @theobsguy, @jenstirrup, @digitalbizweb, @alex, @rustybrick, @nfergu, @cloudflare, @carlhendy, @mattfthompson, @gergelyorosz, @scottkrauss, @drale2k, @iliedaboutcake, @gergelyorosz, @youraimarketer, Decrypt, SiliconANGLE, Engadget, TechRadar, CMU and The Register, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:
The Cloudflare Blog: Declare your AIndependence: block AI bots, scrapers and crawlers with a single click

Paul Barker /
Computerworld: Cloudflare offers simpler way to stop AI bots

Richard Lawler /
The Verge: From ChatGPT to Gemini: how AI is rewriting the internet

Eray Eliaçık /
Dataconomy: Cloudflare will block AI bots with this free tool

Alfonso Maruccia /
TechSpot: Cloudflare offers one-click solution to block AI bots

Rami Sufian /
@rami_bball_fan: @Cloudflare I'm impressed by Cloudflare's proactive move to protect content creators from AI bots! This easy button solution is a game-changer, especially with the rising concerns about AI-generated content. @theobsguy: Kudos to Cloudflare for this. The AI companies need to act responsibly and ethically. Hoovering up terabytes of data from the public web without the consent of content-creators does not constitute fair use. #cloudflare #llms #Ai https://blog.cloudflare.com/ ... @jenstirrup: Cloudflare has launched a new feature allowing customers to block AI bots, scrapers, and crawlers. Decision-makers must now consider how this could affect the quality and breadth of AI training data, potentially impacting future #AI tools. https://blog.cloudflare.com/ ... @digitalbizweb: Watch @Cloudflare become the most valuable company in the world. I am activating this feature right away. @thatkatieberry and friends you need to see this. https://blog.cloudflare.com/ ...

Barry Schwartz /
@rustybrick: Ooo - @Cloudflare lets you block AI crawlers with one click https://blog.cloudflare.com/ ... [image]

Neil Ferguson /
@nfergu: @Cloudflare Seems like a nice feature but I'm skeptical about this claim. How would you know if you got a false negative if you don't know the ground truth? [image] @cloudflare: To help preserve a safe Internet for content creators, we've just launched a brand new “easy button” to block all AI bots. It's available for all customers, including those on our free tier. Read our blog post for more details: https://blog.cloudflare.com/ ...

Carl Hendy /
@carlhendy: Cloudflare has launched a new feature to block AI bots, scrapers, and crawlers with a single click, and it's free. As AI crawlers continue to swallow up web content, this tool helps protect your content from being used without consent. Many AI crawlers ignore robots txt [video]

Matt F. Thompson /
@mattfthompson: As robots.txt is increasingly ignored, Cloudfare launches functionality to block all AI bots. https://blog.cloudflare.com/ ...

Gergely Orosz /
@gergelyorosz: Notice how many companies w creatives or creators as paying customers have misread what those customers want from AI. They attempt to train their own AIs on their paying customers' work, without seeking opt-in (and enraging customers.) Cloudflare, again, showing how it's done.

Gergely Orosz /
@gergelyorosz: I've decided to move my blog as well over to Cloudflare - I block AI crawlers in robots.txt, but clearly this is not respected. Almost all AI crawlers are a parasocial relationship, where they offer no value to any website: it's extraction in exchange for nothing (by design.)

Scott Krauss /
@scottkrauss: Two things: 1. There's absolute explosion of bots crawling the web due to GenAI tools. If you want to drive revenue from these platforms you need to ensure bots can find your content 2. I think the wholesale blocking of all GenAI platforms is a mistake https://blog.cloudflare.com/ ...

Drazen /
@drale2k: Interesting chart from Cloudflare. The top 3 AI crawlers are from Bytedance (TikTok), OpenAI and Anthropic. You can now block them with a single toggle using Cloudflare https://blog.cloudflare.com/ ... [image] @iliedaboutcake: @Cloudflare Awesome, was doing this manually via WAF for ChatGPT, but this is easier :) [image]

Gergely Orosz /
@gergelyorosz: A company that “gets” its customers: Cloudflare offers functionality to block AI crawlers, which give zero value to any site (in fact, take away value: the more they crawl, the less traffic the site will later get!) They also consume resources (bandwidth, CPU, etc.) Great move: @youraimarketer: Bytespider, Amazonbot, ClaudeBot, and GPTBot Top four AI web crawlers... Some of these AI scrapers do not respect the robots.txt file and scrape all your content. To prevent this, Cloudflare has launched a new free tool to block AI bots from scraping your website. You can [image]

Jose Antonio Lanz /
Decrypt: Blocking AI Bots From Scraping Websites Gets Boost From Cloudflare

Maria Deutscher /
SiliconANGLE: Cloudflare rolls out feature for blocking AI companies' web scrapers

Anna Washenko /
Engadget: Cloudflare is taking a stand against AI website scrapers

Thomas Claburn /
The Register: Cloudflare debuts one-click nuke of web-scraping AI

The Guardian:

One expert says UK political parties were on track to spend £1M on Meta and £250K on Google for election day online ads, as Ofcom rules only limit broadcast ads— Digital campaigning gets round media blackout rule restricting broadcasters' coverage while polls are open

Discussion:
@jimwaterson, @stuart_wilson19 and @jimwaterson

Discussion:

Jim Waterson /
@jimwaterson: The campaigning is definitely still going on but a large chunk of the media can't report on the campaigning which used to be fine because the campaigning had stopped because the media couldn't report on it but then the internet happened and here we are.

Stuart Wilson /
@stuart_wilson19: @jimwaterson Even more ironical that Parliament could have resolved that issue but they weren't (aren't?) competent so to do.

Jim Waterson /
@jimwaterson: The polling day ‘blackout’ is a bit of a mess -Political parties to spend £1m on online ads today, more than in *entire* 2015 election -No TV/radio coverage due to 1950s rule -I can write this on Guardian website but the BBC couldn't put it on its website https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

CNN:

ElevenLabs will use AI-generated voices of dead actors like Judy Garland and Burt Reynolds in its Reader app, thanks to deals with the actors' estates— Actress Judy Garland never recorded her voice to read an audiobook of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but you'll soon be able to hear …

Discussion:
Engadget, @ammaar, @drewmcweeny, Luke Ryan on LinkedIn, Yung Spielburg on LinkedIn, @soleio, @elevenlabsio, @thescrewballgrl, @bkrewind, @ammaar, @bengal_art, Digital Trends, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, ElevenLabs Blog, The A.V. Club, VentureBeat and Variety, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Sarah Fielding /
Engadget: You can now get AI Judy Garland or James Dean to read you the news

Ammaar Reshi /
@ammaar: One week later, we're officially bringing famous voices to the ElevenLabs iOS app! Starting with Hollywood icons like James Dean, Judy Garland, Burt Reynolds, and Sir Laurence Olivier. Check out it below! 🚀 [video] @drewmcweeny: I hate it, but I doubly hate that the estates are playing along with this shit. Never touching anything ElevenLabs works on.

Luke Ryan /
Luke Ryan on LinkedIn: This is wild. Eleven Labs just launched “Iconic Voices.” By partnering with the estates of Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds …

Yung Spielburg /
Yung Spielburg on LinkedIn: ElevenLabs partnering with these LEGENDARY estates is a milestone imho, and a blueprint many music AI companies dream of and are working hard to realize. … @soleio: Dear @AmazonKindle, Please pay @elevenlabsio so I can listen to ALL my kindle books with their narrators thx! @elevenlabsio: Introducing ElevenLabs Iconic Voices. Listen to your favorite books and articles voiced by Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds and Sir Laurence Olivier on our Reader App. The app is completely free to download and use. Get it here: https://elevenlabs.io/... [video]

@elevenlabsio:
We're thrilled to partner with their estates to make the voices of these legendary stars available to you as we advance our mission of making content accessible in any language and voice. Read the full announcement here: https://elevenlabs.io/...

Dr. Olympia Kiriakou /
@thescrewballgrl: Judy Garland was exploited throughout her life, and now again in death by her own family. Everything about this is grim. @bkrewind: In what world am I expected to believe that Liza Minnelli said the sentence, “Through the spectacular new technology offered by ElevenLabs, our family believes that this will bring new fans to Mama”

Ammaar Reshi /
@ammaar: And in terms of how we're providing these voices, we're thrilled to partner with their estates to make the voices of these legendary stars available to you!  More details on our blog: https://elevenlabs.io/... @bengal_art: Does anyone have the Deathnote? I would like to list elevenlabs in it please. Even for money, I don't understand how you can be that much of a vulture. Beyond revolting. [image]

Andrew Tarantola /
Digital Trends: This AI app just brought Hollywood icons back from the dead to read you PDFs

Eric Hal Schwartz /
TechRadar: How you can get (AI versions of) Judy Garland or Burt Reynolds to read to you

Ryan Morrison /
Tom's Guide: ElevenLabs brings iconic voices to its Reader app — now the AI Judy Garland can read you the Wizard of Oz ElevenLabs Blog: Listen to your favorite books and articles voiced by Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds and Sir Laurence Olivier

Shubham Sharma /
VentureBeat: ElevenLabs adds AI voice of celebs to new digital narrator — but is it safe?

William Earl /
Variety: AI Firm ElevenLabs Sets Audio Reader Pact With Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds and Laurence Olivier Estates

Deadline:

Australia raises its Location Offset tax rebate for TV and film productions shooting in the country from the previous 16.5% to 30%— The Australian screen industry is celebrating after the country's Location Offset scheme was raised to 30%. — The legislation, which was announced in May …

Discussion:
IF Magazine and The Hollywood Reporter

Discussion:

Brendan Swift /
IF Magazine: Location Offset increase finally passed after long delay

Notes From Poland:

Polish media protests lawmakers' rejection of an amendment guaranteeing state mediation if an outlet and tech firm fail to agree on compensation for content— Over 350 Polish media outlets, including many of the country's biggest titles, are jointly protesting today against changes …

Discussion:
@notesfrompoland and Politico

Discussion:
@notesfrompoland: Over 350 Polish media outlets are jointly protesting today against a proposed copyright law - implementing an EU directive - that they say would benefit tech giants who can “use our content free of charge and with impunity, and transfer the profits abroad” https://notesfrompoland.com/ ...

Csongor Körömi /
Politico: Polish media outlets protest ‘threat of domination’ by Big Tech

SparkToro:

Datos: 58.5% of Google searches in the US and 59.7% in the EU result in no clicks; for 1,000 searches, 360 clicks go to the open web in the US and 374 in the EU— Over the past decade, I've done several reports with multiple clickstream panels analyzing Google search behavior at scale.

Discussion:
Andrew Limn on LinkedIn, @gfiorelli1, @brodieseo, @randfish and @pedrodias

Discussion:

Andrew Limn /
Andrew Limn on LinkedIn: Here's a great update to Rand Fishkin's Google search zero-click study for 2024. — If you're a brand experiencing less traffic …

Gianluca Fiorelli /
@gfiorelli1: I have a more nuanced vision of 0 Click SERPs, because I tend to think in search sessions instead of “single search > click”, and because that 21.4% of them"another search" ends in a click to the open web. However, this research my @randfish is equally very important to read ⬇️

Brodie Clark /
@brodieseo: Excellent read if you work in SEO. New research that compares the US vs. EU for Google searches, the rollout impact of AI overviews, zero-click searches & much more. -> 2024 Zero-Click Search Study: US vs. EU by @randfish via @sparktoro https://sparktoro.com/... [image]

Rand Fishkin /
@randfish: NEW research: https://sparktoro.com/... - Zero click searches in 2024 - EU and US compared - Searches per searcher over time - Clicks per search over time - Impact of May's AI Overviews on searches & clicks It's all there. Sharing much appreciated 📉🤩😎 [image]

New York Times:

Rob Stone, a founder of influential music magazine The Fader, which focuses on hip-hop and alternative rock, died on June 24 at age 55— A founder of the influential music magazine The Fader, he also bridged the worlds of hip-hop and the Fortune 500 with his innovative marketing agency.

Discussion:
Justin Thomas Kay on LinkedIn and Melanie Samarasinghe on LinkedIn

Discussion:

Justin Thomas Kay /
Justin Thomas Kay on LinkedIn: I feel blessed to have spent a few years contributing to the legacy of what Rob and Jon Cohen built and countless others contributed to. …

Platformer:

Q&A with Adam Mosseri on Threads' first year, not leaning into political content, driving engagement, focusing on real time content, fediverse, and more— Programming note: With this post, we now go on a short summer break. See you back here July 15. — A year ago this week, Meta introduced Threads to the world.

Discussion:
Engadget, Music Ally, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Media Voices, The Information, TechRadar, @rolle@mementomori.social, One Man & His Blog, @mosseri@threads.net, @kurtwag8@threads.net, @drewharwell@threads.net, @willoremus@threads.net, @crumbler@threads.net, @J_aa_p@mastodon.social, @tchambers@indieweb.social, @ricmac@mastodon.social, Fast Company and Bloomberg

Discussion:

Karissa Bell /
Engadget: What Meta should change about Threads, one year in

Stuart Dredge /
Music Ally: Instagram's Threads app now has more than 175m active users

Kaya Yurieff /
The Information: Why Mary Meeker and Chamath Palihapitiya Are Bullish on the Creator Economy

Jacob Krol /
TechRadar: Threads is celebrating its birthday with a hidden cake giving away cool new icons

Roni Laukkarinen /
@rolle@mementomori.social: Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram and Threads about the integration to the Fediverse: — “So everything has become at least three, if not six, or seven times more difficult than we thought. But we're committed to it, and we're making progress. We have some announcements coming soon. …

Adam Mosseri /
@mosseri@threads.net: It's hard to believe it's been a year... a huge props to the Threads team for shipping improvements week after week, and an even bigger thanks to the Threads community for being here. Everyone has something valuable to say — and we aim to build a place where anyone can comfortably share their ideas.

Kurt Wagner /
@kurtwag8@threads.net: New: Threads has more than 175m monthly users, up from 150m three months ago. Threads also plans to run ads “sooner rather than later.” I chatted with @mosseri about ads, politics, and how they want to differentiate Threads from X one year after launch https://www.bloomberg.com/...

Drew Harwell /
@drewharwell@threads.net: So Threads will be a place for news and takes from people you don't follow for everything *except* for politics and social issues. Even though they can have a giant impact on people's lives.

Will Oremus /
@willoremus@threads.net: Threads turns 1 this week. We interviewed @mosseri and wrote about how far it has come (175m active users), how far it still has to go to catch X (pretty far tbh), and whether its refusal to embrace hard news, politics or even “social issues” will help or hinder it in getting there. …

Casey Newton /
@crumbler@threads.net: On the occasion of Threads' first birthday, I talked to @mosseri about growing the team, leaning into real-time conversation, and the challenges of the Fediverse. We also talked about news and politics on the app: https://www.platformer.news/ ...

Jaap /
@J_aa_p@mastodon.social: With more than 175 million monthly users, Meta has its sights set on overtaking Twitter — https://www.platformer.news/ ... #Twitter #Threads #Platformer

Tim Chambers /
@tchambers@indieweb.social: The Fediverse gets a shout out here: — https://www.platformer.news/ ... [image]

Richard MacManus /
@ricmac@mastodon.social: Adam Mosseri is tamping down #fediverse expectations for Threads. As a UK user, I've certainly noticed that things haven't happened very fast! But I also sense frustration on their part re European rules especially -> “The fediverse is a long-term bet. It isn't driving a lot of Threads growth. …

Steven Melendez /
Fast Company: One year of Threads: How is Meta's X rival really doing?

Kurt Wagner /
Bloomberg: Meta's Threads Considers Ads as Rivalry With X Approaches First Anniversary

RELATED:

The Verge:
Mark Zuckerberg says Threads has 175M+ MAUs, up from 150M in April, ahead of its one-year anniversary on July 5; source: Meta may turn on ads in Threads in 2025

Discussion:
@zuck@threads.net, @pernillet@mastodon.online, BGR, The Overspill, @walthickey, @maxwelltani, @willoremus, 9to5Mac, MediaPost, PhoneArena, Garbage Day, Reuters, MobileSyrup, Neowin, Android Headlines, @alexheath@threads.net, @mattnavarra@threads.net, @technicallymims@threads.net, @benedictevans@threads.net, @documentingmeta@threads.net, @carnage4life@threads.net, Axios, @kevinrothrock@infosec …, The Information, Washington Post and TechCrunch

Discussion:

Mark Zuckerberg /
@zuck@threads.net: Threads now has more than 175M monthly actives. What a year.

Pernille Tranberg /
@pernillet@mastodon.online: So strange that so many people love being tracked, profiled and predicted by Meta. Everybody must know this by now. If you want to leave X, you could chose Mastodon where you are in control of your own life https://www.theverge.com/...

Charlesarthur /
The Overspill: Start Up No.2248: Japan wins war on floppy disks, China and the US get big on wind, Threads hits a year and 175 million, and more

Walter Hickey /
@walthickey: Threads has 175 million users https://sherwood.news/...

Will Oremus /
@willoremus: Threads turns 1 this week. We interviewed @mosseri and wrote about how far it has come (175m users), how far it still has to go to catch X (pretty far), and whether its refusal to embrace hard news, politics or even “social issues” will help or hinder it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

Filipe Espósito /
9to5Mac: Threads reaches 175 million active users; celebrates first anniversary with custom icons

Colin Kirkland /
MediaPost: Threads Reaches 175M Active Users In Its First Year, Outlines Future Goals

Ryan Broderick /
Garbage Day: Some diatribe about wokeness — You can find audio versions of Garbage Day on every major podcasting app. Reuters: Mark Zuckerberg boasts Threads breaks 175M active monthly users ahead of 1-year anniversary

Bradly Shankar /
MobileSyrup: Threads has reached 175 million users in its first year

John Callaham /
Neowin: Threads now has more than 175 million monthly active users nearly a year after its launch

Alex Heath /
@alexheath@threads.net: have heard this app is still getting a lot of flyby traffic from its hooks in Instagram, but it's still not nothing to launch a new app and have it grow like this. monetization (ads) maybe coming next year now and there's focus on growing in key markets for X now (e.g. Japan)

Matt Navarra /
@mattnavarra@threads.net: Meta Plans To Bring Ads To Threads “Sooner Rather Than Later” @Mosseri said “I would love to do it sooner rather than later. It's just really a question of opportunity cost. Is that the best way to drive business versus making Instagram ads a little bit better on any given month? …

Christopher Mims /
@technicallymims@threads.net: just want to thank Threads for connecting me with more PMs at Meta than I ever would have imagined existed

Benedict Evans /
@benedictevans@threads.net: Yes, but how many user seconds is that? 🙃 @documentingmeta@threads.net: The way that a new text based app has been launched and grown to 175M users in a year despite established incumbents in the space, is nothing short of a miracle and should be studied in business schools. What a year it has been for the app and for this account! Phew. Thanks Elon!

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life@threads.net: Threads launched a year ago and has hit a bunch of key milestones in recent weeks. - 175M monthly active users - There is now a free API for publishing posts and managing content. - Fediverse interoperability now includes viewing & liking comments on your posts from Mastodon.

Kevin Rothrock /
@kevinrothrock@infosec.exchange: One year and 175 million users later, and it's still impossible to find any Russia experts or journalists regularly posting on Threads. — https://www.theverge.com/... [image]

Sylvia Varnham O'Regan /
The Information: Meta's Threads App Hits 175 Million Monthly Active Users

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Skydance reached a preliminary deal to pay $1.75B for National Amusements and agreed to a 45-day period where other Paramount bidders can make offers— Skydance would pay $1.75 billion for National Amusements under the preliminary deal — David Ellison's production company …

Discussion:
@xpangler, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, CNBC, Reuters, TechRadar, Sports Media Watch, The Guardian, Broadband TV News, The Streamable, Variety, @rfaughnder, Radio & Television …, @sherman4949, @richlightshed, @sherman4949, Fortune, Cord Cutters News, The Hollywood Reporter, The Desk, Advanced Television, Variety, Financial Times, Jessica Toonkel on LinkedIn, Media Play News, New York Post, Fast Company, Awful Announcing, The Information, The Wrap, Deadline, IndieWire, @paulconstant.com, Forbes and New York Times

Discussion:

Todd Spangler /
@xpangler: The renewed Skydance-NAI discussions are “extremely serious” but there's still no certainty a sale will make it to the finish line, ⁦@Variety_Cynthia⁩ reports https://variety.com/...

Meg James /
Los Angeles Times: So the Paramount and Skydance deal is back on track. What happened and what's next?

Amelia Schwanke /
TechRadar: Paramount and Skydance could be the next big streaming giant - here's what that might mean for Paramount Plus

Callum Jones /
The Guardian: Paramount and Skydance squeak closer to merger deal

Julian Clover /
Broadband TV News: Paramount agrees new Skydance bid

David Satin /
The Streamable: Ownership Stunner: Skydance, Paramount Agree to Preliminary Merger Deal Terms After Talks Resume

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Paramount Stock Rises on New Skydance Merger Offer

Ryan Faughnder /
@rfaughnder: Guess it's too late to leak that I'm also interested in bidding for National Amusements. Oh well

Adam Jacobson /
Radio & Television Business Report: Paramount Shares Rise On Word of ‘Revived’ Skydance Deal

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: @RichLightShed Yes! That's not mutually exclusive here. They can invest in P+ with another service. @richlightshed: @sherman4949 Well see, but our reporting has been consistent that they want to invest heavily in Paramount+ to compete with Netflix

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: BTW If Skydance does reach a deal with Paramount, as I reported yesterday, the Skydance team is also interested in merging Paramount+ with another streaming service. https://www.cnbc.com/...

Michelle F. Davis /
Fortune: Paramount merger with Skydance back on under new terms following collapse of talks Advanced Television: Paramount / Skydance back on? — Paramount has resumed merger talks with Skydance Media …

Cynthia Littleton /
Variety: Skydance Media and National Amusements Inc. Reach New Merger Agreement for Paramount Global

Jessica Toonkel /
Jessica Toonkel on LinkedIn: Just weeks after walking away, Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Paramount, has reached a deal with Skydance to sell her family company. …

Erik Gruenwedel /
Media Play News: David Ellison's Skydance Media Reportedly Inks New Preliminary Deal to Buy Paramount Global Holding Company National Amusements

Josh Kosman /
New York Post: Shari Redstone reaches preliminary deal to sell controlling stake in Paramount to Skydance Media for $1.75B

Chris Morris /
Fast Company: Skydance-Paramount merger is reportedly back on after Barry Diller expresses interest

Andrew Bucholtz /
Awful Announcing: After Paramount Global bid failed, Skydance is now trying to buy it through National Amusements

Martin Peers /
The Information: Amazon's Stock Record as Jassy Approaches Three-Year CEO Anniversary

Deadline:
Back In Business: Skydance And Shari Redstone Reach Terms On New Merger Proposal For Paramount

Paul Constant /
@paulconstant.com: Perhaps I died and am in purgatory. That would explain why the news has been regurgitating “Biden is old” and “Paramount might sell to Skydance” stories like a skipping record for the past three months. [embedded post]

Antonio Pequeño IV /
Forbes: Paramount Reaches Tentative Merger Deal With Skydance—Stock Spikes 8%

New York Times:
Sources: talks between Skydance and Shari Redstone's National Amusements resume, just weeks after the parties called off initial negotiations

RELATED:
The Wrap: Paramount shares rose ~7% after news that Skydance and National Amusements had reached a tentative deal; source: the deal could be done as soon as this weekend

Discussion:
Seeking Alpha, Reuters, The Information, Los Angeles Times and Ad Age

Discussion:

Joshua Fineman /
Seeking Alpha: Paramount deal with Skydance expected to be completed by weekend - CNBC

Dawn Chmielewski /
Reuters: Skydance Media's deal to gain control of Paramount could be sealed this weekend, sources say

Sahil Patel /
The Information: David Ellison's Skydance Reaches New Deal to Buy Paramount Global Owner

Meg James /