The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

Get smarter about the day’s news in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.

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Recent Editions

Art by Tom Dotan.

YouTube Creators Near Their Audience Limits

By Tom Dotan · Jan 13, 2015 10:00am PST

The world of YouTube creators is reaching maturity, revealing an interesting pattern. For a medium that has threatened to replace television, the YouTube audience has started to look TV-like. Different channels are approaching different subscriber ceilings based on their genres. And that pattern could make online video more appealing to... The world of YouTube creators is reaching maturity, revealing an interesting pattern. For a...

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Photo by Bloomberg

Cloud Giants’ Strength Is Their Achilles Heel

By Steve Nellis · Jan 13, 2015 7:00am PST

The conventional wisdom is that the biggest cloud computing providers like Amazon, Microsoft and Google have an unstoppable lead because they’re big enough to buy superior custom hardware straight from suppliers. But some are beginning to question how durable the big players’ hardware advantages really are. Some investors and entrepreneurs argue... The conventional wisdom is that the biggest cloud computing providers like Amazon, Microsoft and...

Art by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

Native Advertising: A Convenient Pitch I’m Not Buying

By Sam Lessin · Jan 12, 2015 11:08am PST · 4 comments

There is a lot of attention around native advertising these days. Up-and-coming media companies like BuzzFeed and Vice are hauling in huge valuations against business models around branded content, namely writing content for advertisers that resembles stories on their sites. Venerable media houses like The New York Times, with its “T Brand... There is a lot of attention around native advertising these days. Up-and-coming media companies...

Global Race For Real Estate Ad Dollars Heats Up

By Martin Peers · Jan 12, 2015 7:00am PST

Global Race For Real Estate Ad Dollars Heats Up

By Martin Peers · Jan 12, 2015 7:00am PST

In the next month or so, the Federal Trade Commission is expected to decide whether to allow online real estate hubs Zillow and Trulia to complete their $3.5 billion merger. The decision will send ripples through a multi-billion dollar ad market involving everyone from Google to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and possibly even Facebook. While Zillow... In the next month or so, the Federal Trade Commission is expected to decide whether to allow...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

By Matt Vascellaro · Jan 9, 2015 11:54am PST

Don’t Be Fooled by Boatloads of Cash

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 9, 2015 7:01am PST

You hear it a lot in the technology sector these days. Company X is flailing, but don’t worry: “They have a lot of cash. They’ll figure it out.” Cash in the bank, the theory goes, can reverse a company’s fortunes by helping it buy its way to relevance. And tech companies have plenty of it, even deducting the stockpiles stuck overseas they aren’t... You hear it a lot in the technology sector these days. Company X is flailing, but don’t worry: “...

Samsung’s mobile CEO J.K. Shin. Photo by Bloomberg.

Samsung’s Mobile Moment of Truth

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 8, 2015 11:14am PST · 1 comment

This week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas often felt like the Samsung Electronics Show. The world’s largest consumer electronics company showed off a giant television, a slew of “Internet of Things” connected devices and an oven that cooks two dishes at once. (Don’t all ovens do that?) But the spectacle was all a sideshow for what... This week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas often felt like the Samsung Electronics Show....

Zenefits CEO Parker Conrad. Photo by Bloomberg

Selling Outside the Startup Box

By Steve Nellis · Jan 8, 2015 7:01am PST · 2 comments

Zenefits CEO Parker Conrad. Photo by Bloomberg

Selling Outside the Startup Box

By Steve Nellis · Jan 8, 2015 7:01am PST · 2 comments

Last spring, HR automation platform Zenefits realized it had a problem: It was too reliant on other young tech companies as customers to keep up its growth rate. Not wanting to be typecast as a service provider for startups, Zenefits deliberately looked outside of tech for new business. While finding non-tech firms harder to sign up than... Last spring, HR automation platform Zenefits realized it had a problem: It was too reliant on...

Illustration by Matt Vascellaro

Q&A

The Cloud Hanging Over VMWare

By Steve Nellis · Jan 7, 2015 10:03am PST · 1 comment

Before the public cloud, there were hypervisors, and VMware was nearly synonymous with the technology. Now VMware is facing multiple threats to its business. VMware rose to prominence, and its eventual acquisition by storage giant EMC in 2004 for $625 million, by selling hypervisors that helped big companies make more efficient use of their... Before the public cloud, there were hypervisors, and VMware was nearly synonymous with the...

The cast of FX's "The Americans." Photo by Associated Press.

The Pitfalls of TV’s Mixed-Up App World

By Tom Dotan · Jan 7, 2015 7:00am PST · 6 comments

The unbundling of cable and the rise of Internet-enabled streaming was supposed to be the promised land for consumers. While it’s still early in the life of over-the-top video content, the current era is marked more by chaos than a clear view of the future. Thanks to complicated rights agreements, different technical standards and poor... The unbundling of cable and the rise of Internet-enabled streaming was supposed to be the...

Warner Bros chief Kevin Tsujihara; photo by Bloomberg

Hollywood’s Flawed Home Entertainment Numbers

By Martin Peers · Jan 6, 2015 10:00am PST · 2 comments

The final tally on how much consumers spent on home entertainment in 2014 released Tuesday showed a downtick of a couple of percentage points, which given the sharp declines in DVD sales could be seen as hopeful. But the true picture is much worse. That’s because the numbers, released by the industry-funded Digital Entertainment Group to... The final tally on how much consumers spent on home entertainment in 2014 released Tuesday showed...

ARM CEO Simon Segars. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon, Facebook Eye New Chips for Servers

By Steve Nellis · Jan 6, 2015 7:00am PST

ARM CEO Simon Segars. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon, Facebook Eye New Chips for Servers

By Steve Nellis · Jan 6, 2015 7:00am PST

Amazon.com, Google and Facebook are gaining expertise in a closely watched area of the server and microprocessor business, in a potential challenge to Intel. For years, tech giants have built data centers comprised of larger servers that run x86 chips, the same microprocessors that run PCs and are mostly made by Intel. But new types of servers... Amazon.com, Google and Facebook are gaining expertise in a closely watched area of the server and...

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer; photo by AP

Yahoo Prepares Major Mobile Ad Push

By Tom Dotan · Jan 5, 2015 7:00am PST

For some time Marissa Mayer has been hinting that her strategy for turning around Yahoo hinged on bringing mobile expertise into the company. Now she’s about to show her cards on the advertising side. In the past few months, the company has been aggressively hiring for its mobile ads team ahead of a planned revamp of its ad products in the... For some time Marissa Mayer has been hinting that her strategy for turning around Yahoo hinged on...

The Information’s 2015 Book List

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 2, 2015 10:40am PST · 1 comment

The Information subscribers love a good read. So just as we did last year (2014 selections reprised at the end), we asked some of you to suggest the best books you read in 2014. You generated an eclectic list with recommendations on everything from graphic memoirs to management tomes to cookbooks. Here’s the group with notes from the... The Information subscribers love a good read. So just as we did last year (2014 selections...

photo by Bloomberg

Apple No Longer Means Easy To Use

By Martin Peers · Jan 1, 2015 7:01am PST

I recently had what felt like a magical experience activating my new smartphone. After typing in my email address, all my apps automatically downloaded and the phone connected to my home wifi network without needing the password. It’s a reminder of how great technology can be when it works. But, in what may surprise the technopiles out there,... I recently had what felt like a magical experience activating my new smartphone. After typing in...

Tech’s Year of Contemplative Thinking

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 31, 2014 10:00am PST · 1 comment

A Year of Information Exclusives

Tech’s Year of Contemplative Thinking

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 31, 2014 10:00am PST · 1 comment

Something weird happened to tech companies in 2014. They became obsessed with what they want to be when they grow up. Of course, tech giants have always been long-term thinkers. But 2014 saw a far deeper array of soul-searching than years past—and for good reason. Technology companies big and small are at a crossroads; they face greater... Something weird happened to tech companies in 2014. They became obsessed with what they want to...

An episode of HBO's "True Detective." Photo by HBO via Associated Press.

Television’s Great Tech Debate

By Martin Peers and Tom Dotan · Dec 31, 2014 7:00am PST

TV executives are finally embracing the business potential of digital streaming. Now they have to grapple with the next challenge: whether to build the technology internally or outsource it. HBO’s decision to outsource development of its planned over-the-top streaming service to MLB Advanced Media highlights a view among some media... TV executives are finally embracing the business potential of digital streaming. Now they have to...

Photo by Associated Press.

2015 Predictions

An All-In-One Subscription for On-Demand Services

By Jessica Stark · Dec 30, 2014 10:15am PST · 3 comments

The possibilities of the on-demand economy are limitless—limitless in Silicon Valley, anyway, where it feels like thirty new apps or services become available every week. But there’s only so much time, and money, that I want to spend on these services and others that I haven’t tried yet. So, I predict that someone will launch... The possibilities of the on-demand economy are limitless—limitless in Silicon Valley,...

Tencent president Martin Lau. Photo by Bloomberg.

2015 Predictions

Chinese Internet Giants Grow Their Own Data Tools

By Steve Nellis · Dec 30, 2014 7:01am PST

Smart observers have stopped thinking about Chinese tech firms as copycats. Microsoft executive Qi Lu, who oversees Microsoft Office and Skype, recently said he thinks WeChat-maker Tencent is the best product company in the world, not just China. And it won’t be long before Chinese firms’ back-end services are as advanced as those of... Smart observers have stopped thinking about Chinese tech firms as copycats. Microsoft executive...

Art by Sam Lessin.

My 2020 Predictions: A Reality Check

By Sam Lessin · Dec 29, 2014 11:45am PST · 2 comments

Art by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

My 2020 Predictions: A Reality Check

By Sam Lessin · Dec 29, 2014 11:45am PST · 2 comments

On the eve of New Year 2010, I published a set of predictions about what the technology industry would look like a decade later, in 2020. Since we are now halfway through that decade, I thought it would be a good time to check in to learn some lessons from how they are shaping up. I had some big misses. I thought that data and platforms... On the eve of New Year 2010, I published a set of predictions about what the technology...