This week is a veritable festive treat; from the most-read articles this FWD year, how product names are now based on Google ‘problem’ searches, to an AI to ensure you won’t be lonely this Christmas. Please share anything you spot over the seasonal period via #OMDFWD
HEADLINES
- Facebook is to trial users blocking certain ad content types from their newsfeed
- Ikea has renamed their products based on Google ‘problem’ searches (handily, the products also solve them)
- AirBnb is looking to expand into offering flights on their platform.
INSIGHTS
- How Pokémon is more popular than Trump – Google showcase their trends overview for 2016
- There is future in sharing. Twitter tests new designs to ‘share’ on the platform, moving away from the current retweet option
- Is Vine back from the brink? The app is to relaunch as ‘Vine Camera’ in January, without community support.
COOL
- One big positive in 2016 – here is a novel way for technology to deliver a pint quicker than the average bar
- Unwanted Christmas gift? Burger King will trade it for a Whopper
- It won’t be lonely this Christmas (but it may be unsettling), with a very friendly AI from Gatebox
DEEP READS
- How tweeting when you are ill is helping to map out the spread of germs
- Introducing Waymo – how a self-driving Google project is now its own Alphabet entity
- Trendwatching have identified their top trends for 2017
… AND THE FWD TOP 3 FOR 2016
- The Deloitte Mobile Report – There’s no place like Phone
- How Facebook announced its live video format would sit at the top of the Newsfeed
- KitKat, who have lost their EU trademark on the four-finger shape just before Christmas, gave students a break from revision by launching fetching holograms of a popular boyband.
See you in 2017!
