Google’s Clever Cloud Sales Tactics; BuzzFeed’s Profitability Dreams Won’t Come True In 2020

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The Cloud Bundle

Google is forging major cloud infrastructure deals. In some cases, it’s attracting new business using classic tactics, like rolling out new features for Google Cloud Platform, The Wall Street Journal reports. But one interesting fact about the GCP toolkit: “Pricing varies per company depending on the use case.” Maybe that doesn’t sound scintillating on the surface, but it hints at an important gambit of Google’s. More than any other cloud provider (aka Amazon or Microsoft), Google will bundle disparate Alphabet units into comprehensive deals. Activision Blizzard signed a long-term GCP contract early this year and also named YouTube as its default livestreaming platform. Disney is a flagship GCP client, and Google Ad Manager is Disney’s exclusive SSP. Plus there’s Ads Data Hub, Google’s advertising identity platform (a must-have product for major Google advertisers), which, you guessed it, requires a GCP login.

BuzzFeed Tightens Its Belt

BuzzFeed expected to make about $30 million this year, finally, following a modest loss last year and the heady VC-funded early days when investors were happy with growth before profits. Now the digital media bellwether has shuttered overseas offices, furloughed and cut staff and, in total, trimmed $40 million. Despite these moves, BuzzFeed still expects to be in the red this year, CEO Jonah Peretti tells The Information. Though the business is stable, Peretti said BuzzFeed will invest conservatively for the foreseeable future. “It looks like there has been a pretty sharp recovery,” he said. “But I think some of the worst is still coming as the stimulus is expiring. That has really helped consumers continue to spend, so I am worried about when the stimulus starts drying up and the COVID numbers continue to rise nationally – what that means for the economy.”

In Hot Pursuit

People are trying TikTok alternatives as governments and companies begin to treat the app as a national security concern, Adweek reports. In the United States, people are picking up Byte, a short-form video app launched by Vine founder Dom Hofmann. Downloads of Byte skyrocketed 14,275% to 126,000 between Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, according to Sensor Tower, coinciding with the Trump Administration’s statement that TikTok might be banned from devices. In India, where TikTok was axed in June, people are flocking to Roposo, owned by InMobi, at the rate of 500,000 downloads an hour. The app expects to have 100 million users by the end of the month – almost doubling since the ban began. And Triller, a music video-sharing app, is seeking a big funding round as it gains traction.

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