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There is no denying the fact that <keyword id="12724312" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="quick-commerce" source="Orion">quick commerce</keyword> platforms like <keyword id="19939135" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swiggy-Instamart" source="keywords">Swiggy Instamart</keyword>, <keyword id="20069203" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Blinkit" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Blinkit" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Blinkit">Blinkit</keyword> and <keyword id="19939134" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zepto" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Zepto" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Zepto">Zepto</keyword> have made life easier for us all. Be it planning a last-minute party or restocking your kitchen with regular <keyword id="20191825" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="groceries" source="keywords">groceries</keyword>, you can get almost anything on these platforms within minutes. The three platforms offer similar items but there is a slight difference in prices. <br /><br /> So, if you are a regular shopper from any of these platforms and use them for buying groceries, here is some news for you. We compared the prices of a few grocery items on all three platforms and found out which one is offering items for a relatively cheaper price. Curious to know more? Well, read on!<br /> <h2>The grocery list <br /></h2><br /> First thing’s first, here is the full list of items that were used to compare prices across all three platforms:<br /><br /> 1.Onion – 1 kg<br /> 2.Tomato – 1 kg<br /> 3.Potato – 1 kg<br /> 4.Milk – 1 litre<br /> 5.Butter – 500 grams<br /> 6.Eggs – Pack of 10<br /> 7.Bread – 1 packet<br /> 8.Cheese slices – Pack of 10<br /> 9.Ghee – 1 litre<br /> 10.Whole-wheat flour – 5 kg<br /><br /> Also, it is to be noted that the location where these items were beingordered from is Rohini, New Delhi at 7:00 pm on August 27. Hence, the price of the items might vary depending on the region that you are living in.<br /> <h2>Swiggy, Zepto or Blinkit: A price comparison<br /></h2><br /> Now, coming to comparing the final bill of all three platforms.<br /><br /> In Swiggy Instamart, the final bill (with Swiggy One membership) amounted to Rs 1,761 whereas on Zepto, the amount turned out to be Rs 1748.  Blinkit, turned out to be the cheapest choice with bill amounting to Rs 1,740.<br /><br />            <div type="image" title="Zepto (1)" msid="112862904" hostid="261"></div><br /><br /> We found out that the price of veggies was very similar in all three platforms and milk and bread costs exactly the same in all scenarios. Overall, there is not a lot of difference in prices but Blinkit stands the cheapest option out of all three. <br /><br /> <strong><h2>Here is a detailed look at what costs what on the three platforms:<br /></h2></strong><br /> <table style="border-collapse:collapse;border:none;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook:1184;mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" class="redcator-table-advance"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width:42.3pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> S.No<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:138.0pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left:none;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Item name and quantity<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:90.15pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left:none;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Zepto<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:104.95pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left:none;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Swiggy Instamart<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:75.4pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left:none;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Blinkit<br /><br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:42.3pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> 1<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:138.0pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Onion – 1 kg<br /><br /> <br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:90.15pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 59<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:104.95pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 58<br /> </td> <td style="width:75.4pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 59<br /><br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:42.3pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> 2<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:138.0pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Tomato – 1 kg<br /><br /> <br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:90.15pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 64<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:104.95pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 64<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:75.4pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 64<br /><br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:42.3pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> 3<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:138.0pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Potato – 1 kg<br /><br /> <br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:90.15pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 46<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:104.95pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 46<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:75.4pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 45<br /><br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:42.3pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> 4<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:138.0pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Milk – 1 litre<br /><br /> <br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:90.15pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 68<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:104.95pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 68<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:75.4pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 68<br /><br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:42.3pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> 5<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:138.0pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Butter – 500 grams<br /><br /> <br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:90.15pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 262<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:104.95pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 285<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:75.4pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 285<br /><br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:42.3pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> 6<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:138.0pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Eggs – Pack of 10<br /><br /> <br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:90.15pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 114<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:104.95pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 107<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:75.4pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 107<br /><br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:42.3pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> 7<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:138.0pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Bread – 1 packet<br /><br /> <br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:90.15pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 50<br /> </td> <td style="width:104.95pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 50<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:75.4pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 50<br /><br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:42.3pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> 8<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:138.0pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Cheese slices – Pack of 10<br /><br /> <br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:90.15pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 141<br /> </td> <td style="width:104.95pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 159<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:75.4pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 136<br /><br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:42.3pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> 9<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:138.0pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Ghee – 1 litre<br /><br /> <br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:90.15pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 626<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:104.95pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 619<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:75.4pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 618<br /><br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:42.3pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> 10<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:138.0pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Whole-wheat flour – 5 kg<br /><br /> <br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:90.15pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 308<br /> </td> <td style="width:104.95pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 298<br /><br /> </td> <td style="width:75.4pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt"> Rs 287<br /><br /> </td> </tr> </tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table><br /> So, the next time you go grocery shopping on any of these platforms, you have an idea of how to plan things in a smarter way. Keep watching this space for more such stories.<br />

Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, or Zomato's Blinkit: Which Quick commerce platform is offering cheapest grocery options right now

Indian e-commerce is booming and grocery is the hottest segment within that. While everyone from Amazon and JioMart to DMart and Grofers use discounts as the primary luure, a recent research report says that BigBasket is leading the pack despite offering lesser discounts compared to most other players.<br /><br />This would be music to the ears of executives at the Tata Group, which bought BigBasket in May 2021 for an <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/tata-says-acquired-a-majority-stake-in-online-grocery-bigbasket/articleshow/83029366.cms">undisclosed amount</a>, with the goal of adding it to its up and coming super app Tata Neu.<br /><br />According to the report, BigBasket has about 9 million monthly active users, compared to JioMart and DMart’s 5 million each. Though the company has a discount rate of about 14%. <br /><br />JioMart and DMart, on the other hand, offer discounts at a good 17-18%. <br /><br />Other e-grocers — Amazon, Grofers, Flipkart — offer a discount rate of 10%.<br /><br /><table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Category<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Number<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Unit<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">MRP<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">BigBasket<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">JioMart<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">DMart<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Amul Milk<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">12<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1 liter<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹840 <br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹804 <br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹756 <br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹756<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Aashirvaad Atta<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10 kg<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹450 <br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹387<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹379<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹379<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maggi Noodles<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">420 gms<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹144 <br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹129<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹120<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹120<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Red Label Tea<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">500 gms<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹265<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹265<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹265<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹263<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Lux Jasmine Spal<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">3<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">150 gms<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹149 <br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹109 <br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹96 <br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹96 <br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Olay Natural Cream<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">50 gms<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹365 <br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹284<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹339<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹292<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: Jefferies report<br /><br />Jefferies noted that it has the highest discounts in packaged foods, beverages and home care whereas JioMart is best suited for dairy, basic staples and personal care.<br />The report noted that DMart and JioMart’s discounts have remained steady since January 2021, Grofers has noticed a decrease and BigBasket witnessed a spike in discounts.<br /><br />    <div type="Video" msid="87011977" hostid="261" title="DMart and JioMart are offering deep discounts to catch up with BigBasket" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=87011977"></div><br />DMart, which has made a name for itself for offering one of the most competitive prices at its stores, seems to be gunning for that title in online retail as well. <br /><br />This would have been necessitated by the fact that 80% of the company’s stores were affected by the second wave of the pandemic leaving the $37 billion retailer to put its onus on online supplies. <br /><br />The shares of Avenue Supermarts, the company which operates DMart chain of stores, have gained 53% this year so far.<br /><br />        <div type="image" title="Shares of DMart" msid="86750848" hostid="261"></div><br />BigBasket — founded in 2011 by Hari Menon, Vipul Parekh, VS Ramesh, Abhinay Choudhari and VS Sudhakar — found itself at the center of the online grocery revolution last year as the country stepped into the lockdown. <br /><br />There was a week-long waiting on platforms like Grofers and BigBasket during the nationwide lockdown, and this led to several new players like Snapdeal, Zomato and others entering the segment temporarily. Meanwhile, DMart, JioMart, Amazon and Flipkart expanded their operations. <br /><br />The Indian online grocery segment clocked $3 billion sales in the calendar year 2020. Overall, groceries segment grew 80% in the financial year 2021, from the anticipated 40%. BigBasket, on the other hand, claims to have recorded gross sale of <a href="https://m.economictimes.com/tech/startups/bigbasket-clocks-1-1-billion-gross-sales-as-pandemic-fuels-online-grocery/articleshow/82778110.cms">₹8,000 crore ($1.1 billion) </a>in FY21. <br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/supreme-court-says-a-death-certificate-need-not-mention-covid-19-to-claim-governments-50000-ex-gratia/articleshow/86750225.cms">Supreme Court says a death certificate need not mention COVID-19 to claim government's ₹50,000 ex gratia</a><br /></strong><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/murali-divi-the-billionaire-scientist-behind-divis-labs-is-richer-by-6-billion-and-counting-since-the-pandemic/articleshow/86749881.cms"><strong>Murali Divi, the billionaire scientist behind Divi’s Labs, is richer by $6 billion and counting since the pandemic</strong></a><br />

DMart and JioMart are offering deep discounts to catch up with BigBasket

<p class="source"><span>kate_sept2004/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">The author is not pictured.</p> <ul class="summary-list"><li>I love buying <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/costco-better-than-amazon-why-2019-3">affordable food and home goods from Costco</a>, but my favorite membership perk is low-cost <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cheap-car-rental-tips-to-save-money-2018-5">car rentals</a>.</li><li>Costco's travel system looks through deals from a variety of major car rental companies, including Avis and Alamo, then applies a membership discount to the best deal.</li><li>Even though I've found cheaper rentals on Priceline, I prefer Costco because I always know which company I'm renting from (unlike with Priceline), Costco has the best customer service, and I get car rental insurance for free when I use my Costco Anywhere Visa.</li><li>You can use the <a href="https://thepointsguy.com/card-details/costco-anywhere-visa-card-by-citi/?utm_campaign=bi_022020_ko_costco-car-rental&amp;utm_source=referral" rel="nofollow">Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi</a> to earn 2% back on eligible in-store and online purchases.</li></ul><p>Most <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thought-wasnt-costco-person-until-friend-changed-my-mind">people use Costco</a> to buy toilet paper, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-costco-helped-me-lose-weight-spend-less-money">snack foods</a>, and meat in bulk. While my husband and I are among those who use Costco to stock up on our favorite <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shopping-at-costco-saves-me-over-500-year-personal-care-products">household and grocery items at a lower cost</a>, we also love one of its lesser-known benefits: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cheap-car-rental-tips-to-save-money-2018-5">car rentals</a>. My husband gets discounts on car rentals through his employer, but even with that perk, renting a car through Costco is typically cheaper.</p><p>When looking for car rental options, Costco automatically searches several companies to find the best deal and then applies its membership discount to the lowest rate; we have gotten cars from Alamo and Avis through the <a href="https://www.costcotravel.com/">Costco Travel site</a>. </p><p>Although I always recommend shopping around for deals, we've found that because of the added Costco membership benefit, Costco's rates typically end up being cheaper than booking directly through the car rental company. </p><h2>Using Costco to book rental cars</h2><p>In 2016, we used Costco to book two rental cars. The first was a Chevrolet Suburban that we picked up on February 25 and dropped back off on February 29. The total rental price was $332.76, including $81.52 of taxes and fees. That comes out to $83.19/day.</p><p>The second car we rented through Costco was a Ford Fiesta. We picked up the vehicle on March 14 and dropped it back off on March 19. The total cost us $256.22, which included $44.81 of taxes and fees, or $51.44/day. </p><p>Both of these rentals were automatic transmission, had air conditioning, and allowed us to rack up unlimited miles, which essentially meant there was no cap on how many miles we could put on the rental car. </p><p>We rented those cars a few years back, but for comparison's sake I recently ran a quick search to look at the cost difference between Costco's platform, the options on Kayak, and the cost of renting with my husband's discount. I chose February 20 to 23 as the dates, and set the pickup and drop-off location as the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. </p><p>To rent a minivan (we've expanded our family since 2016!) it would cost $169.89 at Alamo, $163.97 at Avis, $140.44 through Costco's website (from Budget), $135.90 through Priceline, and $149.53 through my husband's company. </p><h2>Why I'd still choose Costco even though it's not always the cheapest option</h2><p>Although Priceline is the cheapest option, I would still choose to use Costco. In the past, I've had great customer service through Costco, and I like that Costco tells you which car rental company you're booking through up front (unlike Priceline, which withholds that information until you pay for the rental). </p><p>Another added bonus of renting a car from Costco: If you use your <a href="https://thepointsguy.com/card-details/costco-anywhere-visa-card-by-citi/?utm_campaign=bi_022020_ko_costco-car-rental&amp;utm_source=referral" rel="nofollow nofollow">Costco Anywhere Visa credit card</a> to book the rental, the card automatically provides you with travel accident insurance, car rental insurance, and travel and emergency assistance.</p><p><em><strong>The <a href="https://thepointsguy.com/card-details/costco-anywhere-visa-card-by-citi/?utm_campaign=bi_022020_ko_costco-car-rental&amp;utm_source=referral" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Costco Anywhere Visa</a> earns 2% cash back on in-store and online purchases and has no annual fee. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/costco-anywhere-visa-card-review">See Business Insider's review of the Costco Anywhere Visa card for more</a> »</strong></em></p><p>Car rental companies typically try to get you to add on rental insurance even if you're already covered. <a href="https://www.thesimpledollar.com/insurance/auto/rental-car-insurance/">According to The Simple Dollar</a>, it can easily cost upwards of $30/day for rental car insurance. There are some reasons why you should go for the additional rental car insurance coverage, such as if you don't have insurance to begin with, you are traveling abroad, or if you're traveling for business. However, the coverage you get through a credit card, such as Costco's, is usually enough for most car rental companies. </p><p>While I wouldn't purchase a Costco membership just to use the Costco Travel discount site, it is a nice perk of the $60 membership fee. Being a Costco member also offers other travel benefits, such as discounted hotel rooms and cruise ship vacations. And, if you use your Costco credit card to pay for gas at a Costco location while traveling, you get 4% cash back.</p><p>There are many reasons why people should join Costco, and having access to its travel rewards site should be considered another great reason to sign up.</p><h3><strong>Earn 2% back on eligible Costco purchases: <a href="https://thepointsguy.com/card-details/costco-anywhere-visa-card-by-citi/?utm_campaign=bi_022020_ko_costco-car-rental&amp;utm_source=referral" rel="nofollow">Click here to learn more about the Costco Anywhere Visa »</a></strong></h3><ul class="read-more-links"><li>More <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/credit-cards">credit card</a> coverage</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-airline-credit-card-comparison-delta-united-american">What's the best airline credit card?</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-cash-back-credit-cards">The best cash-back credit cards</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/southwest-credit-card-comparison-which-to-get">Southwest credit card review</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-rewards-credit-cards">Best rewards credit cards</a></li></ul> <p style="font-size:14px;"><em>Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Personal Finance Insider team. We occasionally highlight financial products and services that can help you make smarter decisions with your money. We do not give investment advice or encourage you to adopt a certain investment strategy. If you take action based on one of our recommendations, we get a small share of the revenue from our commerce partners. This does not influence whether we feature a financial product or service. We operate independently from our advertising sales team.</em></p><p style="font-size:14px;"><em>Business Insider may receive a commission from The Points Guy Affiliate Network, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.</em></p><p style="font-size:14px;"><em>Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.</em></p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pixar-disney-toy-story-4-how-animated-start-finish-2019-7">Pixar's 'Toy Story 4' won the Oscar for best animated feature. Take a closer look at how the movie was animated from start to finish.</a></h3>

Renting a car through Costco isn't always the cheapest option, but there are 3 reasons I wouldn't rent from anywhere else

<ul class="summary-list"><li>I spent a weekend by myself <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-traveling-to-new-york-city">in New York City</a> and ended up spending $250, including accommodations.</li><li>I found a ton of free events and cheap food on both Saturday and Sunday.</li></ul><p>As someone who takes pride in being able to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/techniques-from-financial-planner-save-money-on-travel-2023-7">travel on a budget</a>, I set out to spend a fall weekend in New York City for $250.</p><p>I live in Philadelphia and decided to take a bus to the city, but I didn't count that as part of my budget.</p><p>To start, I spent $106 booking one night in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/hostel-things-you-should-never-do-frequent-solo-traveler">four-dorm hostel</a>, which was a great deal considering I spent more than half my summer travel budget on hotels.</p><p>Here's everything I did with the other $144 — and why I wouldn't travel to the city on this kind of budget again even though I had a nice time.</p><h2>I started with a cheap breakfast and a stroll through Central Park</h2><div type="image" title="green, red, orange and brown trees along a body of water in central park" height="1346" width="1795" msid="105880486" hostid="261" sizebytes="521424"></div><p>Once I arrived from Philly, my Saturday breakfast was a muffin and coffee from a food truck for $4.50.</p><p>For my first morning activity, I found a <a target="_blank" href="https://assets.centralparknyc.org/media/documents/CPCWeb_Downloadablemaps_2022_CPFallFoliageMap_Final.pdf">fall foliage map</a> on the Central Park Conservancy website and headed to the famous park on the upper part of Manhattan.</p><p>Walking through the lush park and using the map to identify the warm-colored leaves was delightful. Plus, it was free.</p><p>I took the subway throughout my trip — at $2.90 a ride, it was the cheapest form of transportation besides walking, which I also did a lot of.</p><h2>I found a free event to attend before lunch</h2><div type="image" title="tary talking a photo with a wheel of cheese at Murray cheese shop in nyc" height="3060" width="4080" msid="105880488" hostid="261" sizebytes="532780"></div><p>I found a free event at Murray's Cheese in Greenwich on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/nyc_forfree/?hl=en">NYC for Free Instagram page</a>, which shares free events and giveaways across the city.</p><p>My curiosity got the best of me, so I stopped by and watched employees cut a 200-pound wheel of Emmentaler cheese while enjoying some free samples and fondue.</p><p>Then I made my way to a nearby restaurant, Tue Thai, where I got a lunch special of noodles, dumplings, and a salad for $12</p><h2>The city seemed to be filled with free and cheap activities</h2><div type="image" title="johnny chess playing chess in washington square park in nyc" height="823" width="1646" msid="105880490" hostid="261" sizebytes="111432"></div><p>While passing through Washington Square Park, I encountered some chess players, and one of them persuaded me to pay $10 for a<strong> </strong>lesson.</p><p>He was very animated, so I was entertained while I got my refresher on the game.</p><p>Then I made my way to Smalls, my favorite NYC jazz club. It hosts free jam sessions on Saturday afternoons with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/best-and-worst-cocktails-to-order-at-bar-2021-8">a one-drink minimum</a>, which I satisfied with an $8 cider.</p><p>It was hard to leave, but I also needed my NYC art fix. I headed down to Chelsea to explore a row of free galleries, including the Gagosian and the International Print Center.</p><p>I explored them for an hour before they all closed at 6 p.m.</p><div type="image" title="interior shot of the international print gallery in nyc" height="3648" width="4864" msid="105880491" hostid="261" sizebytes="234002"></div><p>For dinner that night, I had a $10 plate of chicken and lamb over rice <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-food-trucks-work-from-home-economy-vendor-carts-postpandemic-2021-7">from a food truck</a>.</p><p>At times, it was hard walking past a charming restaurant, but I knew its menu would drain my budget. Plus, I think the food I was eating was just as good.</p><h2>Sunday, my last day, was just as cheap and eventful</h2><div type="image" title="people walking along the highline in fall in nyc" height="3648" width="4864" msid="105880562" hostid="261" sizebytes="1313458"></div><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/best-fast-food-breakfast-to-get-reviewed-photos-2021-7">For breakfast</a> on Sunday, I had a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich and a coffee at my hostel for $7.95.</p><p>Then I kicked off the morning with more free activities: walking the High Line park and seeing the Vessel at Hudson Yards.</p><p>While I was out and about, the pastry display case at La Bergomat tempted me. I splurged on an $8.50 chocolate and hazelnut dessert and a $3 coffee.</p><p>A little later, lunch was a $12 vermicelli salad with tofu and vegetables at Pasteur in Chinatown.</p><p>I had a few more cheap snacks and treats throughout the day, including coffee, soda, and a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/meghan-markle-pizza-place-new-york-city-rubirosa-taste-test-2023-1">slice of pizza</a>.</p><h2>One of my favorite cheap activities was a trip to Governors Island</h2><div type="image" title="fall trees and leaves blooming on governers island in nyc" height="1396" width="1861" msid="105880563" hostid="261" sizebytes="797106"></div><p>Later that afternoon,<strong> </strong>I headed to the Battery Maritime Building to catch the ferry to Governors Island, a 172-acre island off of Lower Manhattan.</p><p>The ferry is free on the weekends before noon, but I arrived after, so I paid the $4 roundtrip fare.</p><p>On the island, I did a free <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/split-time-denver-lisbon-portugal-inconvenient-lonely-isolating-2023-11">walking tour</a>, learned about the island's history, saw more fall foliage, and strolled through the crisp air.</p><p>The island looked and felt completely different from the city, but the breathtaking views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline were reminders that I wasn't far.</p><p>I cut the tour short and made my way to Brooklyn Heights before it got dark so I could do a self-guided brownstone walking tour.</p><h2>My evening was also full of free events</h2><div type="image" title="exterior shot of sahadi's grocery store in NYC" height="1360" width="1813" msid="105880564" hostid="261" sizebytes="252588"></div><p>I stopped at Sahadi's grocery store in Brooklyn for dinner and got two veggie dolmas, grilled veggies, baklava, a cashew-and-pistachio crunch, and an Americano for just $11.</p><p>A bit before 7 p.m., I hurried off to catch a free comedy show in Soho that I found on Eventbrite. The event-management platform is often used for paid events, but plenty of free ones are usually listed, too.</p><p>Then the night took me to Groove, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brandys-piano-bar-pandemic-gofundme-dedicated-talented-broadway-staffers-2021-11">a live-music venue</a> in Greenwich Village, to see its house band, Black Soul Experience, for free. It was an awesome hour of singing and dancing to soul and funk covers, and it made for a perfect ending to the weekend.</p><p>I wish I could have stayed longer, but I was catching an 11 p.m. bus <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/philadelphia-what-to-know-about-visiting-from-a-local-2023-10">back to Philly</a>.</p><h2>I enjoyed my time, but I wouldn't do it again on such a strict budget</h2><p>Ultimately, I went slightly over budget and spent $258, including taxes, tips, and subway rides.</p><p>I enjoyed my time and was surprised by how much I was able to pack into the weekend with my <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/things-to-skip-in-italy-arent-worth-it-2023-10">time and budget constraints</a>.</p><p>NYC is a great spot to find cheap and free fun, but the city just has so much to offer. I would've liked to enhance my experience with tickets to the symphony or an interesting exhibit and a meal at a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/michelin-star-casa-enrique-review-new-york-city-menu-prices-2023-2">Michelin-starred restaurant</a>.</p><p>Next time, I'll leave more wiggle room in my budget.</p>

I spent a weekend in New York City for $250. I found cheap accommodations and did so much for free — but I'd rather pay more for a better trip. 

<ul><li>There is an increased demand for Korean noodles and more sellers are joining the platform.</li><li>India’s South Korean ramen imports rose from ₹10.44 crore in 2020 to ₹30.63 crore in 2021.</li><li>The surging demand is mainly from Tier 1&amp;2 cities.<br /></li></ul>There is something new on the plate for <keyword id="2884394" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="instant-noodle" source="Orion">instant noodle</keyword> lovers in India – ramen from Korea. Long used to the comfort of Maggi and Yippee, Indian consumers are warming up to the spicier noodle options offered by Korean brands like Nongshim, Samyang, <keyword id="14761789" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="paldo" source="Orion">Paldo</keyword> and more as the Korean wave sweeps the nation.<br /><br />Korean ramen is also the latest viral food on Instagram. Influencers are posting reels on social media, reviewing them and jumping on the <em>hallyu </em>which means the Korean wave. GenZs and Millennials cannot get enough of these K-noodles, just like their love for K-dramas and K-pop.<br /><br />“Korean noodles have grown more than the instant noodles category. Most of the demand is coming from the Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities,” said Seshu Kumar Tirumala, national head-buying and merchandising at Bigbasket. However, it is to be noted that Korean instant noodles have a very low base in India, with Nestle’s Maggi and ITC’s Yippee dominating the Indian instant noodles market.<br /><br />  <div type="image" title="Korean Noodles" msid="93663312" hostid="261" sizebytes="171884"></div><br />However, imports of noodles are growing slowly but steadily. India’s South Korean ramen imports rose from ₹10.44 crore in 2020 to ₹30.63 crore in 2021, according to an Economic Times <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/prime/consumer/riding-the-hallyu-wave-how-korean-packaged-food-is-making-its-way-into-indian-homes/primearticleshow/86045707.cms">report</a>.<br /><br />“Korean noodles have seen a growth of 140% over the last year in the Indian market and ramen noodles are contributing to 90% of the overall category on Bigbasket,” said Tirumala.<br /><br />Most of the demand for these niche products seems to be coming from quick commerce players or grocery delivery services as opposed to the traditional <em>kiranas</em>. Apart from quick commerce, specialised K-stores like Seelamart in Delhi, and Korean online retailer korikart.com cater to the buyers in the segment. <br /><br />“Nongshim, Paldo and Samyang are the top Korean ramen sellers in the Indian market,” said Akhil Jetly, assistant manager at Seelamart. <br /><br />A <keyword id="12724311" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="blinkit" source="Orion">Blinkit</keyword> spokesperson says that there has been an increased demand for global cuisine in general and Korean noodles in particular.<br /><br />“Just a year ago, there was hardly any interest in this category but now, the business has been growing about 20% month-on-month. More sellers are joining the platform, and since the market has turned competitive, prices are low,” said Blinkit’s spokesperson.<br /><br />Korean noodles however are pricier than their Indian counterparts – in some cases by as much as 10 times. The cheapest Korean noodles pack costs around ₹50, and goes as high as ₹200. Most of them are in the ₹100-150 range, according to data from wholesalers and retailers. <br /><br />Yet, that hasn’t prevented those who have acquired the taste of K-noodles from digging in and expanding their palate. <br /><br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO :<br /><br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/tiktoks-in-app-browser-on-ios-includes-code-that-can-monitor-your-keystrokes-and-taps/articleshow/93662878.cms">TikTok’s in-app browser on iOS includes code that can monitor your keystrokes and taps</a><br /><br /></strong><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/there-is-a-yawning-gap-between-the-confidence-of-consumers-and-businesses/articleshow/93662752.cms"><strong>There is a yawning gap between the confidence of consumers and businesses</strong></a>

Beyond the squid game: Indian taste seekers are warming up to K-noodles

She spent her inheritance sending money to TikTok Livestreamers. What started as a game turned into addiction.  

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Hollis Johnson</span></p><p class="caption">Amazon is 13% cheaper than its online rivals, according to a new Profitero study.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>A new study revealed that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/amazon">Amazon</a> is, on average, the cheapest of all the major online retailers in the United States. </strong></li><li><strong>Amazon beat out <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/best-buy">Best Buy</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/wayfair">Wayfair</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/dicks-sporting-goods">Dick's Sporting Goods</a> to be crowned the most affordable place to buy appliances, electronics, furniture, and sporting goods.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/walmart">Walmart</a>'s website followed closely behind Amazon as the second most affordable option. </strong></li></ul><p><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/amzn-stock">Amazon</a> has been crowned the cheapest of all leading online retailers in the United States.</p><p>A new study by Profitero, an online analytics platform, revealed that, on average, Amazon is 13% less expensive than its competitors.</p><p><span>For the study, Profitero analyzed daily prices across 16 leading online retailers between April 1 and June 30, 2018. The study compares prices collected on the same day and does not include Amazon </span><span>Fresh or Prime Now products.</span></p><p>Amazon beat out <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/bby-stock">Best Buy</a>, Wayfair, and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/dks-stock">Dick's Sporting Goods</a> to be named the most affordable place to buy appliances, electronics, furniture, and sporting goods. When it comes to home furniture and baby products, Amazon lost out only to Walmart's website. </p><p>Walmart.com had the second most competitive prices after Amazon, beating Target and its own sister subsidiary, Jet.com.</p><p>Walmart has been doubling down on its bid to fight back against Amazon and reassert its status as the most powerful force in American <keyword id="6354851" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="retail">retail</keyword>. To do so, it has lowered prices to be more competitive. According to Profitero, grocery prices at Jet have dropped by 5% since February. </p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-and-jet-com-comparison-prices-shopping-experience-2018-5">We compared Amazon and Walmart-owned Jet.com to see which site was easier to shop, and the winner was clear for a key reason</a></em></p><p><span>Jet is also offering daily deals and free two-day shipping without membership fees to try and lure customers away from Amazon. </span></p><p><span>Last year, it launched its private-label brand known as "</span><a href="https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=EHFxW6yx8Uo&amp;mid=41098&amp;murl=https%3A%2F%2Fjet.com%2Fc%2Fbrands%2Funiquely-j%2F45900151" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Uniquely J</a><span>," which is designed </span>to attract millennial shoppers.</p><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/future-of-retail-ai?IR=T&amp;utm_source=businessinsider&amp;utm_medium=ctgr&amp;utm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_content=ecommerce_ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_campaign=ecommerce_ctgr_leadgen_future-of-retail-ai"></a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/target-effect-how-retailer-gets-you-spend-more-money-2018-10">Target has a few sneaky ways it gets customers to spend more money</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Amazon is triggering a battle for rock-bottom prices

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP/Elaine Thompson</span></p><p class="caption">Amazon's Echo devices are smart speakers powered by Alexa.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/amazon">Amazon</a>'s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/amazon-alexa">Alexa</a> voice platform allows customers to shop on Amazon with voice commands rather than browsing and selecting.</strong></li><li><strong>Amazon has been making it easier to shop using voice with Alexa, but the company's focus now seems to increasingly be turning to using the voice assistant as a platform to trial digital subscriptions like music and video streaming.</strong></li><li><strong>In its most recent earnings call, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/amzn-stock">Amazon</a> executives hinted that the company would focus more on selling services, like Amazon's unlimited music-streaming service, to go along with its Alexa devices.</strong></li></ul><p>Amazon's Alexa voice assistant is maturing, and so is its path to monetization.</p><p>In Amazon's quarterly earnings call on July 26, the company's head of investor relations, Dave Fildes, said that people were "enjoying" the company's Alexa-powered devices, but didn't directly address its role as a voice-shopping service.</p><p>"I think we're having a lot of success with devices and customers are enjoying those," Fildes said in response to an analyst's question about the impact that Alexa is having on Amazon's <keyword id="6354851" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="retail">retail</keyword> business.</p><p>He continued: "Coming out of Prime Day, [we] had some good success and happy customers enjoying some of the devices there. The focus now is really having a good and exciting roadmap of recent revises and more to come ahead, and getting those into customers' hands."</p><p>Amazon has made improvements to Alexa shopping with new initiatives like integrating it with Whole Foods delivery through Prime Now, but the company has shared few specific details about how customers are actually shopping with their voices.</p><p>Taking that in a vacuum, you might think that the voice-shopping future that Amazon heralded with Alexa's debut has not yet arrived.</p><p>However, Amazon has yet to throw down its ace in the hole: digital services made better by Alexa. Amazon's services - like audiobooks, grocery, and music streaming - have stayed in the 50% growth range since at least the first quarter of 2017.</p><p>Amazon has experienced success with its Amazon Music Unlimited service, noting that it has tens of millions of paid customers. Fildes said on the earnings call that "it continues to grow very quickly," and that Prime members with an Alexa device tend to first use the more limited, but already-included, Prime Music service before graduating to the $8-a-month and more feature-rich Unlimited one.</p><p>Since they can get users in the habit of cuing up music with voice commands, Alexa-enabled devices like the Echo speakers have the potential to convince those who don't already have premium digital music subscriptions to buy them. </p><p>At $7.99 a month for Prime members, Amazon Music Unlimited is cheaper than the $9.99 a month Spotify and Apple Music charge for their digital music services. Amazon also offers device-only subscriptions for Unlimited for $3.99 a month. </p><h2>Video could be the next big thing for Alexa</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Amazon</span></p><p class="caption">The Amazon Fire TV Cube.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>But Amazon has been shifting away from audio-only devices, making Echo devices with screens and debuting <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-fire-tv-cube-review-pros-cons-apple-tv-2018-7">the Amazon Fire TV Cube,</a> an Alexa-powered entertainment and home technology hub. The Fire TV Cube marries the listening abilities of an Echo with the TV-controlling power of a Fire TV.</p><p>The Alexa-enabled Fire TV Stick was a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-day-top-selling-items-so-far-2018-7">top-selling item on Prime Day</a>, when it was at its cheapest-ever price of $20, or 50% off its usual price.</p><p>Fildes said that Amazon is "really pleased" with the growth it's seeing from the company's channel offerings, which provide a way to buy discrete memberships to premium digital channels like HBO, Starz, and Showtime.</p><p>That could pave the way for bundling channels in a way that cord-cutting competitors already do. When asked about that possibility, Fildes said he "can't speculate on what we might do in the future."</p><p>"We've seen some good channels come online over the last few quarters, and seen some good traction there. So we'll keep focusing on building out even better selection, because it's clear to us that customers want that option to be able to add that content as part of their Prime memberships," he said.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trying-burger-king-menu-in-japan-2018-5">We tried Burger King in Japan - where you can order hot dogs and beer</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Amazon is hinting it has a new plan to make boatloads of money from Alexa

<p class="source"><span>GoFundMe</span></p><p>Almost half of the money raised on crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe and YouCaring is going toward medical expenses. </p><p>Medical campaigns make up $930 million of the $2 billion raised on GoFundMe, <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/medical-debt-crowdfunding-bankruptcy/">according to NerdWallet</a>. Almost half of the $800 million raised on YouCaring, another crowdfunding platform, went towards medical expenses, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-12/america-s-health-care-crisis-is-a-gold-mine-for-crowdfunding">Bloomberg reports</a>. </p><p>The reasons people cite for turning to crowdfunding vary from trying to fill in gaps in Medicare to hitting deductibles ( the amount of money a person needs to pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in) to just generally hoping to make ends meet. </p><p>Under the American Health Care Act, the Obamacare replacement bill that passed the House in May, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cbo-score-house-gop-healthcare-bill-ahca-macarthur-upton-amendments-2017-5">23 million more Americans</a> could become uninsured by 2026, leaving millions more on the hook to pay for medical expenses out of pocket. </p><p><span>"Whether it's Obamacare or Trumpcare, the weight of health-care costs on consumers will only increase," GoFundMe CEO Dan Saper <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-12/america-s-health-care-crisis-is-a-gold-mine-for-crowdfunding">told Bloomberg</a>. </span></p><h2><span>Covering routine health expenses</span></h2><p>Crowdfunding seems to be particularly popular for covering prescription drug costs. While crowdfunding is mainly used for emergency medical costs, many still turn to sites like GoFundMe for costly prescriptions, including insulin, a life-saving diabetes medication that's seen its list prices <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/insulin-prices-increase-2016-9">increase an average of 300% over the last decade</a>.</p><p>A search for "prescription" on GoFundMe bought up more than 14,700 results of past and current funding pages. For insulin - both for insulin pumps and the medication itself - there were more than 6,300 results.</p><p>Lonnie Cucinitti, a 76-year-old Texan who launched a GoFundMe page in January, gets choked up when he thinks about all the people in his life who chipped in when he needed money for his four prescriptions.</p><p>He shared the fundraiser on his Facebook page, and he started receiving small donations, a few from people he didn't know. Most came from friends he had made while he was in the Navy, whom he'd met more than 50 years ago. </p><p>"It makes me very emotional to think that people I met 50 years ago would care enough to send $50," he told Business Insider.  </p><p>For Cucinitti, who lives on $1,024 a month, the $120 he needed to cover three months worth of pills was more than he could afford. He said he's noticed his prescriptions have "gone up like crazy," which is when he started shopping around for the cheapest prices. He was paying roughly $100 more for his prescriptions before switching to Kroger grocery stores.</p><h2>The consequences of crowdfunding medical expenses</h2><p>In a March article in the <a href="http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2613723">Journal of American Medical Association</a> that looked at crowdfunding for medical expenses, the authors noted there's little regulation about how crowdfunding is reported. That means there's not much data on how frequently people use it to pay for medical expenses. The authors called research based on this data "long overdue."</p><p><span>"The rise of medical crowdfunding carries the promise of more efficiently matching potential donors with unmet needs in ways that may increase overall giving, mirroring emerging technologies in other industries such as ride-hailing and retail services that aim to more efficiently match supply and demand," the authors wrote. </span></p><p><span>At the same time, there are ethical and legal questions that may come up, especially if people are raising money for experimental treatments. The article also brought up concerns about how doctors should interact with the sites if their patients are using them.</span></p><p><span>For Cucinitti, the process was relatively smooth sailing. He raised $140, which was enough to cover the prescriptions after GoFundMe took out its percentage. Afterward, his brother chipped in another $200, which should cover his prescriptions for a while. Cucinitti said he plans on using GoFundMe to raise funds again next year. </span> </p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/psychology-science-behind-long-happy-relationships-2017-5">Science says lasting relationships come down to 3 basic traits</a></h3>                                    Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Almost half of all money raised through crowdfunding is going toward medical expenses

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Nissan</span></p><p class="caption">The 50th anniversary 370Z sports two liveries, both of which has special Brock Racing Enterprises, or BRE, elements.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/renault-nissan-alliance">Nissan</a> 370Z is an aging sports car that's still brilliant at one thing: being a driver's car.</li><li>I tested a $37,605 50th Anniversary edition of the Nissan 370Z.</li><li>A peppy V6 engine combined with a six-speed manual transmission and rear-wheel-drive makes for a throwback that can improve your skills behind the wheels.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>I've spent the past few months complaining to anyone who will listen that I'm sick of over-muscled cars. Since the beginning of the year, I've driven numerous vehicles that conjoin horsepower with technology to create machines that are both hard to fully embrace in everyday driving and rather distracting from an enthusiast standpoint.</p><p>Don't get me wrong: if you want plenty of beef under the hood and are willing to pay up, good on ya. And if you desire glistening digital instrument clusters and tricked-out driver-assist features, please shell out for those options and be happy.</p><p>But if you simply desire a solid rear-wheel-drive two-door with a robust V6 and a slick-shifting six-speed manual, the roughly $38,000 Nissan 370Z 50th Anniversary Edition is absolutely, positively your bag.</p><p>It's certainly my bag. Over the past few years, I've driven assorted versions of this iconic coupé, which in its current iteration has been around for a decade. No one who reviews the Z car fails to note that Nissan hasn't updated it since Obama took office. And there, I did likewise.</p><p>But I'm frankly <em>glad</em> there hasn't been an update. The car is perfect. </p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/review-nissan-370z-nismo-tech-2016-10">The Nissan 370Z Nismo Tech is the definition of predictable excellence in a sports car</a></em></p><h2>The best, most boring car money can buy</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Nissan</span></p><p class="caption">The Datsun 240Z.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Yes, perfection often carries with it an embedded flaw; because the 370Z can't effectively be improved as a driver's car, the vehicle bores the market. The Porsche 911 also runs this risk, but Porsche makes sure buyers see frequent updates and have dozens of trim levels to choose from. Such is the way if you hope to sell a design from the 1960s for upwards of six figures.</p><p>The cheapest 911 you can buy would set you back about $99,000 (that's for the new 911 Carrera 992). So, basically, you could go that route, or flip for a 370Z and have enough left over to buy a pair of backup 370Zs. Sure, the 911's twin-turbo flat-six motor makes about 50 more horsepower than the Z's all-motor V6, but the Z's engine is up front, where it belongs, and the Z lacks the 911's nominal back seat, which is great for carrying a windbreaker and a backpack but little else and certainly not grown humans.</p><p>The 911, the 370, and the Mazda Miata are the three automobiles that I always feel utterly confident driving at their limits in the real world. I have to drop the Miata from that trio because its four-cylinder engine gives up so much power. That leaves me with the Porsche and the Nissan, and honestly, it all depends on which car I last drove as to choosing the one I love most.</p><p>After a week with the Z, I'm re-enamored of Nissan's masterpiece, which dates all the way back to the Datsun Fairlady Z/240Z of 1969. That car proved several things: that the burgeoning Japanese auto industry could produce a stylish Euro-style sportster; that said sportster could deliver stupendous race-track performance; and that Americans would not just buy such a car but transform it into an icon.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Nissan</span></p><p class="caption">The 370Z 50th is also available in a second BRE livery.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Cool, BRE liveries that evoke racing heritage</h2><p>My 2020 370Z was a special 50th Anniversary edition of the vehicle, with a base price of $34,820, upped to a still very reasonable $37,605 with the addition of some big-five-oh extras, including a livery that evoked <span>Brock Racing Enterprises (Peter Brock was a car designer who gained fame in the 1960s for his Corvette styling and his eponymous racing team, which ran Datsuns in the early 1970s). My BRE car was silver-and-black, but it could also be had in red-and-white.</span></p><p><span>The racing heritage is meaningful. For me, the 370Z is one of those cars that makes for an ideal weekend track warrior platform. It's relatively cheap, but its 3.7-liter V6, making 332 horsepower with 270 pound-feet of torque, is bulletproof. The six-speed manual transmission is smooth shifting, the clutch is crisp without being heavy, the steering is purposeful, and the car is nicely balanced but with a distinct preference for oversteer (there's also a convenient rev-matching feature that makes for more precise downshifting - but it can be disabled if you want to practice your heel-toe shifting techniques).</span></p><p><span>Of course, for all that trackworthiness, the 370Z is also a perfectly docile daily driver. True, there's no back seat. But the hatchback cargo area is large enough to swallow luggage and groceries, so as long as you aren't using the car for family duty, you should find that it can handle basic <keyword id="34991" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="transportation">transportation</keyword>.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Nissan</span></p><p class="caption">The big five-oh.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>OK, the design is severely dated, but at this juncture, I think of the 370Z's look as more-or-less classic. I know that the loyalists would dearly love to see an all-new Z, an idea that always seems to be trapped at the drawing-board stage. Understandable, given that Nissan hasn't sold more than 10,000 Z-cars annually since 2010; in 2018, sales hit a decade-low of less than 3,500 units. That might sound alarming, but it's useful to note that those sales are effectively no-cost for Nissan. The few thousand folks who want a Z get their car, and Nissan doesn't have to spend millions to update or market the design.</span></p><p><span>In my tester, this meant an interior that got some cool 50th Anniversary wreath graphics on the seats and a few other nods to the Z's history - but a no-screen infotainment system that would have been right at home on a 1990s dashboard. There's nothing wrong with that! Part of me is sick of the elaborate infotainment interfaces that now show up even on el-cheapo cars. There are times when an AM/FM radio are all you want, and besides, the lack of a screen means that Nissan can stick a weird smartphone storage hatch in the middle of the dash.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Nissan</span></p><p class="caption">Drive it while the driving is good.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><h2><span>The 370Z makes you a better driver</span></h2><p><span>I think that cars like this make one a better driver. The 0-60 mph time is respectable at just over five seconds, but that sprint is hardly head-snapping. The real action with the Z comes from learning the ballet of throttle, shifting, rev-matching, and braking, ideally on a long and winding road. Again and again, you can carry speed into a curve, downshift and rev-match, then get on the throttle to power out, feeling that touch of rear-end slide, maybe dabbing some opposition steering into the equation, and feel the car bond with both yourself and the asphalt.</span></p><p><span>Not for nothing, with a mere 332 horsepower, delivered fluidly, you can get into everything the motor has to offer without leaving literally hundreds of ponies untapped, as you would in a 500-600 horsepower beast on a normal thoroughfare where the legal speed limit is far, far from 100 mph.</span></p><p><span>This is what driving is all about, and regrettably, there are fewer and fewer cars these days that put as little as possible between you and the joyful experience. The operating system of the 370Z might be echt-early-2000s, but it's a teaching machine. A week with the car enabled me to shed months' worth of bad habits induced by perfectly good cars that nonetheless provided far too much in the way of driver assistance. </span></p><p><span>Yes, that's a dinosaur attitude. But let's face facts: sports cars don't have a boffo future, so we might as well relish the truly great ones while while the relishing is good.</span></p>

The Nissan 370Z is barebones and old - but the 50th Anniversary edition of this sports-car legend is among the best cars I've driven all year

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="7086137" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jeep-gladiator">Jeep Gladiator</keyword> is a Wrangler-based pickup truck, which starts at $33,545 and has seven trim options. The most expensive version starts at $51,745.</li><li>Every trim features a Pentastar V6 with 285 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, and most feature the choice of either a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic transmission.</li><li>The Gladiator is really great at off-roading and hauling, but it's not the best highway cruiser.</li><li>My loaner came out to a total MSRP of $62,020.</li></ul><p>When the nice media fleet people kindly dropped the 2020 <keyword id="161559" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="jeep">Jeep</keyword> Gladiator off in front of my Brooklyn apartment, I had to laugh. Contrasted sharply against the gray concrete and the similarly gray cars typically parked here, the orange Jeep was garish, lurid, and rude. A punchline straight to the eyes.</p><p>But it wasn't just the color. There was presence. The Gladiator stands tall; it has beefy, all-terrain tires. Swaths of blocky, black trim. Squared-off fenders that stick out inches from the body. A design composed of straight lines and right angles.</p><p><div type="image" title="2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon107" height="1333" width="2000" msid="76323132" hostid="261"></div>The good news is that the Jeep Gladiator's look will likely age well; straight lines and 90-degree angles don't exactly go out of fashion.</p><h2>The 2020 Jeep Gladiator: Jeep went wild on the optional features </h2><p>The Gladiator is Jeep's take on the highly lucrative midsize pickup truck market. Designed to compete against the likes of the Honda Ridgeline, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Nissan Frontier, Ford Ranger, and Toyota Tacoma, the Gladiator offers four-wheel drive, a five-foot bed, off-roading prowess, and Jeepish looks. </p><p>In fact, if you were to eye it straight in the familiar seven-slot grille-face, you wouldn't be able to tell there's a pickup bed attached back there at all. From the side, too, its front half is a Jeep Wrangler. Its back half is a rectangle. </p><p><div type="image" title="2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon96" height="3000" width="2000" msid="76323134" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Jeep offers <a href="https://www.jeep.com/bmo.gladiator.2020.html#/models/2020/gladiator?app=bmo&amp;vehicle=gladiator&amp;year=2020ear=2020">seven trims</a> for the 2020 Gladiator. The cheapest is the Sport, which starts at $33,545. The most expensive is the High Altitude, which starts at $51,745. For the purpose of my review, Jeep loaned me the Gladiator Rubicon — tied for the second most expensive in the lineup.</p><p><div type="image" title="Jeep Gladiator trims" height="769" width="1400" msid="76323138" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Rubicon Gladiators come with trimmings like an available forward-facing off-road camera, LED headlights and fog lights, protective cab and cargo-bed rock rails, two-piece body-color fender flares with black insert, 33-inch tires as standard, and a fancy Rock-Trac 4x4 system, good for scaling over obstacles while traversing off road. </p><p>My loaner was also outfitted with seemingly all of these options: leather-trimmed bucket seats ($1,495), a premium audio system ($1,695), a roll-up <a href="https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/r/advice/car-truck-mods/tonneau-cover">tonneau cover</a> ($595), adaptive cruise control ($795), an eight-speed automatic 850RE transmission ($2,000), a body-color three-piece hardtop ($2,295), a winch-capable steel front bumper ($795), 17-inch polished black aluminum wheels ($995), and the forward-facing trail camera ($595).</p><p><div type="image" title="2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon88" height="1333" width="2000" msid="76323140" hostid="261"></div></p><p>In all, the total price of the vehicle came to a whopping $62,020. </p><p>Show me the person who would realistically option their Gladiator in such a fashion, because I cannot imagine them. $62,000 is a lot of money for a midsize pickup! The options Jeep gave its press car were appreciated, but they didn't really add or detract from the truck's primary job, which is being a truck.</p><h2>Details and safety ratings: Built for off-roading, but not for fuel economy</h2><p>Powered by a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine, the Gladiator makes a claimed 285 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed manual comes standard, but an eight-speed automatic is optional.</p><p><div type="image" title="2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon99" height="1333" width="2000" msid="76323144" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The engine is designed to produce low-range torque — meaning that it's best-suited for low speeds and doing low-speed things, such as off-roading, driving during harsh conditions, hauling cargo, or towing something. </p><p>The Gladiator is based on the same platform as the current Wrangler and utilizes a body-on-frame design: the vehicle's frame and body are two different pieces. True, it means the Gladiator is perhaps heavier and less fuel-efficient than something with a unibody construction — where frame and body are combined into one piece. </p><p>But it also means that the Gladiator was designed from the ground up as something intended for off-roading and transporting heavy loads. Body-on-frame vehicles are generally cheaper to build, too.</p><p><div type="image" title="2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon93" height="1333" width="2000" msid="76323148" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Rubicon-trim Gladiators also wear a Jeep Trail Rated badge, which means that they have added ground clearance, big tires, 30 inches of water fording ability, and up to 7,650 pounds of towing capacity. </p><p>Although the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not yet given the 2020 Gladiator an overall safety rating, it did <a href="https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2020/JEEP/GLADIATOR/PU%25252FCC/4WD#safety-ratings-frontal" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">award the truck</a> four out of five stars for overall frontal crashworthiness. The front driver side earned four stars, while the front passenger side earned five stars. Side crash hasn't been rated, but rollover scored a mere three stars. The agency reported a 26.7% risk of rollover.</p><h2>What stands out: The thing is a god in its off-roading element</h2><p>Despite its fearsome and rugged looks, the Gladiator is actually a comfortable place to spend a few hours during long commutes. There's abundant room in the cabin for four passengers, and even the rear seats are roomy. Plenty of headroom and legroom. </p><p><div type="image" title="2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon97" height="3000" width="2000" msid="76323152" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The bed, for us, hauled two suitcases, two backpacks, bags of groceries, electronics, a purse, a laundry hamper, and two large director's chairs. Jeep provided a tonneau cover and that came in very handy, as it kept all of our stuff dry. </p><p>Some light off-roading later, it was clear to me the big Jeep was in its element. Trundling up and down grassy knolls and through the woods, the Gladiator happily bumped, tilted, and thumped across the uneven terrain, always solidly planted. </p><p>The off-roading suspension drank in the turbulence — not so much soaking it up completely so that you, the driver, would be numb to it — but rather in a way that was pliable and inspired confidence. </p><p><div type="image" title="2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon115" height="1333" width="2000" msid="76323155" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Driving the truck across this sort of environment was akin to sitting astride a very sure-footed, four-legged animal. Sure, I wouldn't recommend doing it with an open mug of coffee in your hand, but all four wheels consistently felt they were working together, cohesively, under me. </p><p>That feeling was a direct result of the truck's four-wheel drive and locking differentials — which allows both wheels on an axle to travel at the same speed so when one wheel loses traction, both keep spinning and hopefully will pull you out of the low-traction situation.</p><p>The 11.1 inches of ground clearance also meant that the Gladiator could crawl over a great number of things in its way. The trunk of a fallen birch tree, for example, would have torn off the front bumper of (and caused significant damage to) your average crossover or SUV, but the truck stepped right over the obstacle and thought nothing of it. </p><p><div type="image" title="2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon109" height="3000" width="2000" msid="76323160" hostid="261"></div></p><h2>What falls short: Not a happy highway camper </h2><p>The saying, "jack of all trades, master of none" unfortunately rings extremely true here. As stoked as the Gladiator clearly is while splashing about in muck or sand, it doesn't do the highway cruising with nearly as much gumption. </p><p>Don't get me wrong; the Gladiator is a very fine around-town commuter, great for running errands. You sit high and can easily see around and over other cars — a very big deal for a short person such as myself. </p><p>But once you hit the highway, that confidence and sure-footedness from the low-speed off-roading all but evaporates. The bouncy suspension, so well optimized for uncivilized terrain, feeds some unwelcome wobbliness into the cabin. The big, all-terrain tires hum loudly at high speed. </p><p><div type="image" title="Jeep Gladiator4" height="1333" width="2000" msid="76323163" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The Jeep also didn't like maintaining highway speeds. Other cars merely require periodic throttle inputs to keep up consistent speeds of about 65 mph or so; pretty effortless and thoughtless stuff. The Gladiator felt as though it was constantly driving through molasses that kept dragging its speed down. Eventually, I gave up trying to hold to a constant speed by myself and instead switched on the cruise control. </p><p>And thanks to the approximate aerodynamics of a brick, I observed the Gladiator to return an average of 19.2 mpg during the course of my loan, which included city driving, highway driving, and around-town errand running. On the truck's window sticker, the EPA gives the Gladiator a fuel economy and greenhouse-gas rating of three out of 10. </p><p>Hardware wise, I do wish the wing mirrors stuck out a bit further. The Gladiator is a long vehicle and it isn't always easy to see where it ends. It has thick C-pillars, which result in blind spots during over-the-shoulder glances. Wing mirrors with a wider field of view would have been helpful there. </p><p><div type="image" title="2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon142" height="1333" width="2000" msid="76323167" hostid="261"></div></p><h2><strong>How the Gladiator compares to its competitors: A bit more expensive, and a bit more uncouth </strong></h2><p>Compared to other midsize <keyword id="47193" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="trucks">trucks</keyword> available to US buyers, the Gladiator's base price is high. If your sole buying criteria is for a midsize truck, then the Ford Ranger would be a fine thing to bring home. The Ranger starts at $24,410, and its 4WD version gets an EPA-estimated 20 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway. The Gladiator with the automatic transmission gets an EPA-estimated 17 mpg in the city and 22 mpg on the highway.</p><p>Certainly, other trucks are likely more comfortable and civilized than the rather uncouth Gladiator. That's the new truck trend these days: SUV-like quality and comfort, but with a bed for all your stuff. </p><p>But if you want a truck where you can pull its doors off, a truck that revels in getting muddy from playtime and going where there are no roads, the Gladiator is for you. It'll do the suburban life just fine, but you can tell its heart is elsewhere.</p><p><div type="image" title="Jeep Gladiator2" height="1333" width="2000" msid="76323171" hostid="261"></div></p><h2><strong>Our impressions: Maybe if I didn't live in Brooklyn</strong></h2><p>Perhaps this is a uniquely Me Problem, but I actually felt too short for the Gladiator. At five-foot-three, I was disappointed by the truck's lack of running boards (don't worry, you can get them as an option). It took several days for me to get used to the massive step up I had to take to climb into the cabin. Twice, while exiting backward, I misjudged the distance from the truck to the ground and nearly fell out of it.</p><p>Thankfully, the Jeep has handles at the A- and B-pillars that passengers can use to pull themselves up, but this crutch falls apart when you approach the truck with items in both hands, such as a phone, car keys, and a beverage. Even if you manage to open the door with one finger, you'll still need to first reach into the truck to put everything down before grabbing the handle to hoist yourself in. It's an extra step. </p><p>The lofty ground clearance — so great for fallen trees and the like! — also means that the bed is quite high up. Maybe you're tall enough that you can just reach in from the side to retrieve your items. To that end, I am ecstatic for you.<em> I</em> had to physically climb into the bed and push everything toward the tailgate before I could remove it. </p><p><div type="image" title="2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon129" height="1333" width="2000" msid="76323174" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Despite these small inconveniences, though, I liked the Gladiator. I appreciate its existence. I respect its off-road capabilities and how stable it always felt. If I lived in the desert, preferably somewhere in the American Southwest, I'd definitely consider one. But as it currently stands, I live in Brooklyn, and in Brooklyn, the Jeep pickup truck simply feels too big to be allowed. </p><p>That being said, I have a hard time figuring out who the Gladiator is actually for. You'd think, given the popularity of midsize trucks, they would sell more quickly than Jeep could make them. It certainly seems like the automaker was betting on this very thing to happen. But it didn't.</p><p>The Gladiator went on sale during the second half of 2019. Yet, the Compass, Wrangler, Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, and even the Renegade <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fca-us-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2019-sales-300980866.html">sold better than it did in Q4</a>. I remember automotive readers being <em>very excited</em> about the Gladiator. But it doesn't seem like many people bought them.</p><p><div type="image" title="2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon86" height="3000" width="2000" msid="76323177" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Perhaps it's because the Gladiator markets itself a little bit too much to the niche truck buyer. The higher price tag certainly suggests that. This truck appeals to the buyer who probably wouldn't use their Gladiator as a work tool, but rather as a recreational vehicle. A playtime buggy. A toy. </p><p>Look no further than <a href="https://media.fcanorthamerica.com/image-gallery.do?method=view&amp;imageGalleryId=1027&amp;mid=1015mid=1015">Jeep's own press images of the truck</a>, which feature it prominently at play (or doing play-adjacent activities): fording creeks, going to the beach, rock crawling, hauling a boat, and transporting kayaks and dirt bikes. This is the truck you load up with camping equipment to get to that far-out campsite that's inaccessible to everything except lifted Jeeps and donkeys. </p><p>It's not a bad territory to occupy, even if a little niche. </p><p><div type="image" title="2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon102" height="1333" width="2000" msid="76323179" hostid="261"></div></p>

REVIEW: The Jeep Gladiator pickup truck is a monster off road, but might be too beastly for its own good on the highway

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrob/228010692/sizes/l/in/photolist-m9BCQ-5FkjfC-5FfYP6-5bcKPG-6g6N9i-8x8Px3-7PnXiM-69j4Fn-33fGbC-gsf3m-8RT6wA-Fa5Cy-5YoaaG-4vnTeR-7HT9H3-b7pmFR-adr9Az-8478Av-6j796P-8XxE4q-9a5QPk-5Zo36c-7RaiiE-9qPms-75k7F7-a2tE8a-5BPbDz-kSKdq-5bm4LW-8Q2W7w/">John E. Robertson / Flickr, CC</a></p></div><p></p></div>A large British packaged goods company that sells several household name brands in the U.S. was defrauded of $488,000 when its $10,000-a-day video ad budget was spent on a network of junk web sites, according to an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/document/52ab18aa6bb3f7e81a0aafc3/adtech%20fraud%20document.pdf">internal document leaked to Business Insider</a>.</p>
<p>Upon further inspection, the performance data the client was receiving had been encrypted to hide the fact that many of the clicks registered in the campaign had originated from Asian <keyword id="6367992" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Porn">porn</keyword> sites with names like "realmalesexscandals.com" and "boyfriendoffers.com," the document says.</p>
<p>In other words, the clients' ads had been placed on porn sites, and the clicks they generated were disguised to look like traffic from mainstream web brands.</p>
<p>In the online <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> business, there is a widespread terror of saying publicly what everyone actually knows: That a huge portion of clients' ad budgets are wasted on fraudulent clicks. It's common for people to complain about adtech fraud, but extremely <em>uncommon</em> for anyone to describe specific clients who have lost money, or the companies who handled their spending.</p>
<p>It is estimated that advertisers waste <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-what-it-looks-like-when-a-click-fraud-botnet-secretly-controls-your-web-browser-2013-11">$7 million a month on click fraud</a>, much of it from botnets. Augustine Fou of the Marketing Science Consulting Group estimates that up to <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou/click-fraud-as-percent-of-impressions">22% of all clicks on web ads are fraudulent</a>.</p>
<p>So we were interested when someone sent us this <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/document/52ab18aa6bb3f7e81a0aafc3/adtech%20fraud%20document.pdf">report from Telemetry</a>, an adtech auditing firm, which purports to show that an international video ad budget for groceries ended up being spent on "false referrers, [who played video ads with] sound muted, thumbnail sized, targeted at Asian &amp; the Middle Eastern audiences and hosted within sites of an explicit almost 'sex tourism' faceted nature."</p>
<p>Unfortunately - and this is a measure of just how scared adtech execs are of telling the truth - the document has been redacted for legal reasons to disguise the company whose money was wasted. (We contacted executives we believe had knowledge of the campaign but they either did not respond or declined comment.)</p>
<p>The document does, however, describe step-by-step how adtech fraud works. It contains a chart showing what normal traffic looks like coming from clicks on ads hosted by reputable online media brands. The chart indicates that incoming traffic is random and irregular - just what you'd expect:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Business Insider" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/52ab1f9eecad04f5433a73c3-960/screen%20shot%202013-12-13%20at%209.53.18%20am.png"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source">Business Insider</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>A second chart shows traffic coming from suspicious web sites bought through an ad network the client had thought was reputable. The traffic is exactly even across all the different brands - a highly unlikely scenario:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Business Insider" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/52ab2128eab8eadd4c3a73c7-960/screen%20shot%202013-12-13%20at%2010.00.25%20am.png"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source">Business Insider</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>The media brands were also a weird mix: CyclingNews.com is a reputable site. But Momsational hasn't been updated since 2010. Yet the two appear to be generating clicks on the client's ads at exactly the same rate.</p>
<p>So Telemetry dug a bit deeper. The ad network's results were being served using software that encrypted the original data. Once that data was decoded, Telemetry found that traffic wasn't coming from Momsational or CyclingNews at all. Some of it was coming from Asian porn sites. Here's a look at the encrypted data, followed by the real data underneath it:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source">Business Insider</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>Other traffic was coming from no-name search engines used on the home screens of internet cafes in Singapore and Vietnam, such as "search-results.com." This graphic from the document shows how one of the client's ads ran as a tiny, barely visible box on search-results.com, but the referring URL was disguised to make it look as if the traffic was coming from Momsational:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source">Business Insider</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>Telemetry's conclusion? That this was a "sharp practice at the very least":</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source">Business Insider</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>A source tells us that the client stopped spending money with the offending ad network, but there were no further consequences.</p>
<p>That begs a question: Why would a large, sophisticated advertiser tolerate such lousy partners? Part of the answer is that, in the adtech world, almost nobody has any incentive to stop click fraud:</p>
<ul>
<li>Client executives don't want the embarrassment of admitting they were fooled.</li>
<li>Chief marketing officers dare not go to their CFOs - the people who control their annual ad budgets - and confess they have been wasting their money.</li>
<li>Advertisers seek the cheapest clicks possible, but reputable mainstream brands are expensive. So they search for clicks<em> en masse</em> at less-reputable networks that sell their ad space cheaply.</li>
<li>When those low-quality networks generate a lot of clicks, it makes the campaign's results look better.</li>
<li>As web ad buyers - agency trading desks and demand-side platforms (DSPs) - compete for clients' business by touting the effectiveness of their campaign results, they are loathe to lower those metrics by weeding out worthless incoming clicks.</li>
</ul>
<p>And as long as nobody complains, everyone keeps getting paid.</p>

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