We need to find a fairer way of providing Goods and Services to the rest of the people on Earth.Cryptocurrencies and/or Gold Standard of money....maybe the answer to fight hyperinflation caused by too much printing of paper/fiat currencies by Governments and Central Banks all over the World. (https://nomorefiatmoneyplease.blogspot.com)
People on bicycles look at Alcala streetThomson Reuters
MADRID (Reuters) - Madrid said on Wednesday all privately-owned cars with even-numbered registration plates will be banned from the Spanish capital's roads on Thursday to curb rising air pollution.
The move follows a dry, sunny stretch of weather which sent levels of nitrogen oxide, a poisonous gas which can cause respiratory problems such as asthma, soaring above European-Union-set limits.
The restriction could alternate between odd and even number plates for as long as high levels of contamination persist, the city government said. Applicable restrictions for Friday will be announced by midday on Thursday.
Madrid has been later than other European cities in applying anti-pollution measures. London introduced a congestion charge more than 10 years ago while Paris has taken steps to pedestrianise some of its central roads.
"Every day, the city pumps out a great deal of emissions in to the atmosphere, but it blows away...the current thermal pressure is impeding that ventilation," environment head for the city council, Paz Valiente, said.
On Wednesday, the city placed a temporary ban on parking in the center by non-resident car owners and restricted speed limits on the Madrid's main circular road to 70 kmh (43 mph) from 90 kmh to reduce exhaust emissions.
The region of Madrid, which includes the capital and surrounding neighborhoods, has almost 4 million cars, or one for every two people, plus about a million trucks, vans and motorcycles.
The restrictions will be in place between 0630 and 2100
and drivers caught flouting them will face fines of up to 90 euros.
(Reporting by Maria Vega, Writing by Paul Day, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2016. Follow Reuters on Twitter.
The consequence in being more transparent than before, however, is that advertisers are now paying a lot more attention to the accuracy of Facebook's numbers, and those numbers may not be as good as advertisers were expecting.
Speaking on a Nomura conference call about Internet advertising trends earlier this month, Drew Huening, director of Omnicom's digital ad buying trading desk Accuen, said (according to a transcript provided by Nomura): "Facebook ads are far less viewable than people [advertisers] were expecting."
Viewability is the advertising metric that determines whether an ad served on a webpage or in an app actually had the ability to be seen. The industry standard for viewability, as set out by trade body The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is that 50% of an ad's pixels should be visible in the browser window for 1 second. For larger-sized ads only 30% of the ad's pixels need to be visible, and for video ads, 50% of the pixels must be visible for a continuous 2 seconds.
Third-party analysis of Facebook ad metrics show "some really interesting numbers ... not all of which look great for Facebook"
Huening said that allowing Integral Ad Science measurement has seen "some really interesting numbers coming out of that, not all of which look great for Facebook, and I think people have been surprised by that."
While caveating that it's still early days, Huening explained that Integral Ad Science's viewability criteria — which requires that a display ad needs to be visible for longer than 1 second — appears not to look kindly on Facebook.
Huening said: "So, while I think Facebook has done an excellent job of building a system in which everything is viewed by human eyes, especially in mobile, people are scrolling very quickly, and so they’re not reaching that one-second threshold."
Huening's comments refer to the static ads you see in the Facebook news feed, rather than video, or on the Facebook Audience Network (which lets advertisers buy Facebook ads on third-party sites and apps that are not owned by Facebook), which he expects "will be contributing pretty substantially to [Facebook's] bottom line, a couple percentage points potentially" in its fourth quarter.
He added that he doesn't think this viewability metric will lead to a dent in advertiser spend — ultimately, if advertisers are happy with the results they are getting from ads that have been viewed for just milliseconds, that's all that matters —but he said it "does require recalibration from an advertiser perspective."
Facebook was not immediately available to comment.
Facebook's view is that not all platforms should be viewed the same — even if that makes life easier for ad buyers
Earlier this month, at Business Insider's IGNITION conference in New York, I asked Andrew Bosworth, Facebook's VP of ads and business platform about the company's recent measurement efforts.
I mentioned that every time I ask ad buyers to name the one thing Facebook could improve, it always comes back to measurement. And the key issue seems to be that they can't drop their own tags (pieces of code used to track ads) to target and measure Facebook ads in the same way they do with other online ads across the web. And even though Facebook works with third-party measurement firms, often the data ad buyers receive back is unique-to-Facebook data that can't be compared apples-to-apples to their other online advertising spend.
Bosworth explained that user data is "sacrosanct" to Facebook and advertisers being able to attach tags is the exact type of data leakage that "frankly represents a real risk to the security of the information that users are trusting us with."
He added: "We're not trying to be obstinate, we were not trying to be obstructionist ... it's honestly a commitment we have that, the nature of the platform, the platform can't exist without that commitment that we have given to people."
Bosworth said he believes Facebook is offering marketers ample tools to "measure, iterate, and get better on the platform, and we are committed to doing more and more," adding that its move to create a measurement council — made up of marketers, agency partners, and executives from measurement firms who will provide feedback each quarter on what Facebook is doing well and what Facebook can do better — will be a "huge help" on that front.
And as far as web-wide ad standards are concerned — such as the definition of a viewable ad impression — Bosworth said he believes they are not always helpful.
Bosworth said:
"Bear in mind these platforms are different. As much as we wish that a YouTube, and a Snapchat, and a Facebook video were all just interchangeable, they're not. They're different platforms, they're different consumer behaviors, and trying to pretend that they're the same platform may be convenient [for media buyers] ... but it's good until it's not. It looks good, it makes life easier, but does it help them provide the best content? Is it going to be the best return on investment? Maybe not. So I think there's a degree to which we need to recognize that different platforms are different, even if some of the pieces look similar. But having said that, I think certainly on things like 'what's an impression', 'who's a real person', I think we can make real progress in this industry."
Facebook's definition of an ad impression: Seen by a real person for more than zero seconds
I asked Bosworth what Facebook defines as an impression.
He responded: "For us an impression is seen by a real person. That means it has to enter the view stream, it has to have been there for more than zero seconds, and has to be a human on the other side of it."
North of zero seconds seems a lot lower than the 1-second IAB industry standard — and could well be why advertisers were surprised, as Accuen's Huening referred to in the Nomura call, at Facebook's viewability metrics.
When pressed on exactly what "more than zero" means, Bosworth responded: "No seriously, you'd think this would be not controversial in the industry we work in. More than zero pixels, more than zero seconds. [A] very good place to start for what's an impression. It is not a universally-held opinion of what's an impression."
He added: "Some people have a standard that's higher than that, a lot of people in his room are buying on places that maybe have a standard that's lower than that, and you should look into that."
Here, Bosworth appeared to be referring to the swathes of unchecked online ads marketers buy that are never actually seen by a real person. The ad may be "served" through the website's ad server but it could have appeared at the bottom of a page, or hidden in some other way, meaning a pair of human eyes never had the chance to look at it. Nevertheless, some advertisers still prioritize buying volumes of impressions at cheap prices, rather than quality impressions that are guaranteed to be seen, but come at a higher price point.
So even though Facebook's viewability metrics may not "look great," according to some advertisers, it's important to take into account the wider picture. Accuen's Huening did also concede in the conference call that there is still some value in "ads that aren’t even clicked that slowly, over time, increase awareness, consideration, that sort of thing." And marketers have lots of different buying options on Facebook, including "100%-in-view impressions".
Viewability is certainly an important metric for advertisers to consider when measuring the impact of their online ads and the quality of the platforms they are advertising on. It makes zero sense to pay for an ad that wasn't viewed by a human. But ultimately, the most important metrics for advertisers to consider is whether their online ad campaigns — be they on Facebook, or elsewhere on the web — actually had an impact on their businesses.
A logo of Alibaba Group is pictured at its headquarters in HangzhouThomson Reuters
BEIJING (Reuters) - Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group, the entertainment affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd , plans to invest more than 50 billion yuan ($7.2 billion) over the next three years, the affiliate's chief executive said.
In an internal email seen by Reuters and confirmed by an Alibaba group spokeswoman, the affiliate's new CEO Yu Yongfu pledged to invest in content, saying "he didn't come to play."
Alibaba's entertainment business underwent a major reorganization in October, marking a total consolidation of the company's media assets.
At the same time, Yu, former CEO of Alibaba unit UCWeb Inc, became the chairman and chief executive of the new operation.
It was not immediately clear whether the 50 billion yuan figure includes a previously disclosed a 10 billion yuan fund for new projects in the unit.
The Alibaba group spokeswoman declined to give more specific details on the affiliate's investments.
(Reporting by Cate Cadell; Editing by Mark Potter)
Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2016. Follow Reuters on Twitter.
SEJONG, South Korea (Reuters) - South Korea's antitrust regulator said on Wednesday it fined US chipmaker Qualcomm Inc 1.03 trillion won ($854 million, £695 million), a record for the country, ruling its business practices of patent licensing and smartphone modem chip sales hindered competition.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission said Qualcomm abused its dominant market position and forced handset makers to pay royalties for an unnecessarily broad set of patents as part of sales of its modem chips.
The US firm also hindered competition by refusing or limiting licensing of its standard essential patents for modem chips to rival chipmakers, the regulator said.
Qualcomm in February 2015 agreed to pay a $975 million (£793.5 million) fine in China following an antitrust probe, while the European Union in late 2015 charged the firm with anticompetitive behaviour. Regulators in other jurisdictions, including the United States and Taiwan, are also investigating the chipmaker. ($1 = 1,206.4700 won)
(Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2016. Follow Reuters on Twitter.
Toshiba shares crashed 20% after it warned about a multibillion writedown
Makiko Yamazaki, Greg Roumeliotis, and Ayai Tomisawa, Reuters
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Toshiba Corp President and CEO Satoshi Tsunakawa attends a news conference at the company's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, December 27, 2016.REUTERS/Toru Hanai
TOKYO (Reuters) - Shares in chips-to-construction group Toshiba Corp tumbled 20% on Wednesday, hitting the Tokyo exchange's daily downward limit after the company said it could face a multi-billion dollar charge on a US nuclear power business bought last year.
The Japanese group said cost overruns at US power projects handled by the CB&I Stone & Webster business it acquired last December from Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I) would be much greater than initially expected, potentially requiring a huge writedown.
Toshiba's announcement came as its Westinghouse Electric subsidiary is engaged in a legal and accounting row with CB&I, which has argued in court that it expected a relatively small payment from Westinghouse of only $161 million (£131 million) when the deal closed on the understanding that the latter was taking on a challenged business.Markets Insider
Toshiba's latest writedown would be another slap in the face for a sprawling conglomerate hoping to recover from a $1.3 billion (£1 billion) accounting scandal, as well as a writedown of more than $2 billion (£1.6 billion) for its nuclear business in the last financial year.
"This will come as an additional shock to Toshiba's institutional investors that may further undermine confidence in company management, as well as significantly weakening its international nuclear credentials," said Tom O'Sullivan, founder of energy consultancy Mathyos Japan.
Addressing reporters late on Tuesday, Toshiba executives declined to provide further details on the hit, adding the sum would be finalised by mid-February.
Satoshi Tsunakawa, who took the helm in June after his predecessor embarked on a series of restructuring steps to clean up Toshiba's books, said Toshiba was considering options to bolster its capital base, which could fall close to zero if Toshiba logs significant losses. It will also meet its banks to seek support.
Toshiba has been on the Tokyo bourse's watch list since the 2015 scandal, due to concerns about internal controls.
(Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Sam Holmes)
Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2016. Follow Reuters on Twitter.
Panasonic will invest more than 30 billion yen ($256 million) in a New York production facility of Elon Musk's Tesla Motors to make photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, deepening a partnership of the two companies.
Japan's Panasonic, which has been retreating from low-margin consumer electronics to focus more on automotive components and other businesses targeting corporate clients, will make the investment in Tesla's factory in Buffalo, New York.
The U.S. electric car maker is making a long-term purchase commitment from Panasonic as part of the deal, besides providing factory buildings and infrastructure.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, the two companies said they plan to start production of PV modules in the summer of 2017 and increase to one gigawatt of module production by 2019.
The plan is part of the solar partnership that the two companies first announced in October, but which did not disclose investment details.
Tesla is working exclusively with longtime partner Panasonic to supply batteries for its upcoming Model 3, the company's first mass-market car. Panasonic is also the exclusive supplier of batteries to Tesla's Model S and Model X. ($1 = 117.2500 yen)
Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2016. Follow Reuters on Twitter.
