The 10 things in advertising you need to know today
1. Here's how a Google glitch propelled BuzzFeed to become a $1.5 billion company. BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti explained that a bug in Google that de-indexed the website from search "actually caused us to go all in on social."
2. Peretti also also revealed that Snapchat generates 21% of BuzzFeed's total traffic. That's astounding considering BuzzFeed only joined Snapchat's "Discover" feature in late July
3. News Corp has acquired Unruly Media for $90 million. News Corp will also pay up to $86 million more if the UK-based video ad tech company meets certain performance goals.
4. Billion-dollar fantasy sports startup DraftKings blew through around $20 million in just one week. Since August 1, DraftKings has spent $81 million on 22,000 TV ad spots.
5. Budweiser maker Anheuser-Busch InBev wants to buy Miller maker SABMiller, in what could be one of the top six corporate takeovers in history. It would create a merged group with a value of around $275 billion.
6. Some prison inmates are outraged by former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle's plea deal for the child-pornography charges against him. Two felons have written letters to the judge who will decide Fogle's fate, saying the plea deal is "ludicrous," and that he deserves a longer prison sentence.
7. Here's a look at Facebook's plan to kill Slack. Facebook for Work won't have ads, but may appeal to lots of advertising agencies and marketers.
8. French telecoms giant Altice is reportedly lining up a $18 billion acquisition of Cablevision. It would give Altice a meaningful stake in the US market.
9. SAP CEO Bill McDermott lost his eye in a freak accident that almost killed him. He's been working through his recovery and is expected return to SAP's headquarters in Germany when doctors to allow him to fly in October.
10. Google has hired a bunch of engineers from Amazon's Lab126 for a new wearable tech initiative. It's called "Project Aura."