LOS ANGELES — The major online pot shop directory and cannabis marketplace Weedmaps announced Wednesday that it will no longer allow black-market businesses to advertise on its site, a decision that could boost California's efforts to rein in its vast illegal market. State regulators and licensed businesses had been pressuring...
New Tool Will Stop Ads from Following You on Facebook
SAN FRANCISCO — Soon, you could get fewer familiar ads following you around the internet — or at least on Facebook. Facebook is launching a long-promised tool that lets you block the social network from gathering information about you on outside websites and apps. The company said Tuesday that it...
New Tool Will Stop Ads from Following You on Facebook
SAN FRANCISCO — Soon, you could get fewer familiar ads following you around the internet — or at least on Facebook. Facebook is launching a long-promised tool that lets you block the social network from gathering information about you on outside websites and apps. The company said Tuesday that it...
A Beaming 50 Cent, Tough Questions Part of TV Critics Event
BEVERLY HILLS — After the TV industry unveils its new-season schedules and series to advertisers in New York each May, it takes the show on the road to a swank Southern California hotel ballroom to coax attention from television-centric news reporters and critics. The annual summer meeting of the Television...
Twitter Reports Strong User Growth
SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter reported surprisingly strong second-quarter user numbers and revenue Friday, as it works to make the platform more user friendly and eliminate robotic and fake accounts on its platform. On that front, the social media messaging service said instances of suspicious behavior and spam dropped by 18%...
Facebook to Make Ads for Jobs, Loans, Credit Cards Searchable
BOSTON — Facebook says it will make advertisements for jobs, loans and credit card offers searchable for all U.S. users following a legal settlement designed to eliminate discrimination on its platform. The plan disclosed in an internal report Sunday voluntarily expands on a commitment the social medial giant made in March when it...
Which Fresno Athletes Are in National Biofreeze TV Ad?
The pain-relief medication Biofreeze features tennis star Sloane Stephens and professional slam dunk artist Jonathan Clark in its latest national advertising campaign. Stephens, the winner of the 2017 U.S. Open and six other World Tennis Association titles, grew up in Fresno before moving to Florida as a teenager to train...
YouTube Suspends Comments on Videos of Kids
SAN FRANCISCO — YouTube said Thursday it will turn off comments on nearly all videos featuring kids — potentially affecting millions of posts on the site — after reports last week that pedophiles were leaving inappropriate comments on innocuous videos of children. The change comes as YouTube grapples with moderating...
When Marketing Flops: 5 Super Bowl Ads That Backfired
NEW YORK — Advertisers that spend millions of dollars on the Super Bowl are trying to avoid what the Ram truck company did with a Martin Luther King speech or what Groupon did spoofing promos for charities. Though such messages can get attention, it's the wrong kind of attention. Groupon got buzz...
Papa John's Founder Will Disappear From Ads
NEW YORK — Papa John's, which has featured founder John Schnatter in logos and TV ads, is pulling his image from its marketing after reports he used a racial slur. His face was off at least some materials by late morning Friday, though the company said the details and exact...