Amazon, Twitter, and HBO Max are all dealing with fraud: Spam and fakery are affecting multiple facets of the digital economy.

Shopify broadens the services it offers merchants: It partnered with YouTube to allow creators and merchants to sell products on their channels and bolstered its logistics platform by buying Deliverr.

AI startups target corporate fear: Mounting recession anxiety is infusing accounting AI startups with cash. Long-term investor interest in AI applications will remain diverse, but startups may have to pivot.

On today's episode, we discuss what to make of Elon Musk trying to pull out of the Twitter deal, the ramifications for both parties, and how advertisers will likely view the platform going forward. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Jasmine Enberg.

The layoff-hiring puzzle: In what seems like a paradox, scores of layoffs coincide with hiring growth. Tech moves away from broad expansion plans while still needing software innovation to stay afloat.

Twitter up in arms: The social media company is fighting for its life and going after Elon Musk for disrupting its operations, destroying stockholder value, and walking away.

Twitter’s value topples: Elon Musk withdraws from the $43.4B deal and causes a $2.5B drop in Twitter’s market value. A lawsuit could produce a range of possible outcomes for both parties.

Twitter teetering as acquisition deal likely canceled: Twitter lays off 30% of its talent acquisition team as the company is seemingly in limbo.

In the US, Twitter will lose 1.4 million monthly users between 2022 and 2026. Many of those defectors will be people who joined in the initial years of the pandemic—for updates on COVID-19 and the 2020 presidential election—but are leaving out of news fatigue or in pursuit of other content.

On today's episode, we discuss how Twitter could reinvent itself to become a new social network model, what its current to-do list looks like, and whether it would make sense to can some of its more recent initiatives. "In Other News," we talk about what Sheryl Sandberg leaving Meta means for the company and the significance of a YouTube Shorts milestone. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Debra Aho Williamson.

In April, Elon Musk entered an agreement with Twitter to buy the platform for roughly $44 billion.

Energy independence undermined: A group is using propaganda to keep other countries dependent on rare-earth minerals from China. As more disinformation looms, social media companies could help stop it.

In this report, we look at the most important updates among the leading social platforms in Q2 and how those changes will impact marketers.

This year, 4.0 million Gen Zers (born between 1997 and 2012) will become social network users, up 8.4% over 2021.

Cannes notebook: Social media platforms discussed new products, the metaverse, and creators at the June festival.

The outspoken business magnate outlined his visions for the Big Tech in a company all-hands.

US social network user growth has slowed to a crawl, and that means the social platforms will compete fiercely for users and engagement. Marketers should optimize their spending to take advantage of shifting consumer behaviors.

Total time spent with media is more than 10 hours daily on average in Canada this year. In the years ahead, total time will shrink slightly, but digital formats will continue to steal time away from traditional media.

Tech’s reshuffling makes spending tough for marketers: The industry is refocusing on advertising, which is still shaky from a year of changes.