Ads on Facebook are about to start looking a whole lot different.
Like them or not, Facebook ads are a reality, and they’re going to pop out at you whether you like it or not. Even if you don’t mean to, you’re going to at least accidentally click one from time to time. Now, when you do, you won’t get shuttled off to some other website that takes ages to load because it’s filled with all kinds of animated banner ads and such.
Instead, Facebook’s Canvas will make it possible for marketers to create ad platforms that get served up right there in your feed, and when you click them, they open in Facebook, complete with images and video. It may not seem like much now, but in the end it will probably be a better user experience, and you know Facebook is going to reap the rewards big-time. Some test ads run by Coca-Cola show user engagement increased in a big way.
That means the strategy is already proving successful and others are likely to hop on board fast. Expect to see big changes in a short amount of time.
Have you ever held back on posting a video because you felt like it might violate someone’s privacy somehow? No? Well, you probably should, especially if you’re a YouTuber trying to monetize your videos.
The pros do it by blurring out the faces of those that never gave their permission to be in their video, or sensitive information such as addresses and license plates. It’s the same blurring technology that you might want to use if, say, someone’s privates are suddenly accidentally exposed or something. Hey, you know it happens. Well now YouTube has a new auto-tracking custom blurring tool that pretty much automates the process.
The tool is only available for desktop computers right now – no word yet on when or if you might get it for your phone – and it works by letting you specify an area that needs to be blurred with an adjustable box. From there, the tool tracks that object’s location and/or movement in the video and just keeps it blurred out. Easy! Give it a try and let us know what you look forward to blurring out of your videos.
The concern that robots will steal human jobs is very real, and it seems delivery services are a target. While at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, our team came across this delivery bot, which can carry up to 40 lbs. in a secured compartment, and is designed to autonomously make its way to its delivery destination, offload its cargo, and return to home base.
You’re right to think this thing is just asking to get jacked, which is why its creators have integrated cameras to shoot high-res photos of anyone’s mug who decides to try to make off with your Amazon order. It’s also equipped with an alarm system which would make it pretty obvious to passers-by that anyone messing with it was up to no good.
Don’t worry, we’re not going to see these on our streets any time this year or even the next – there are still some bugs to be worked out – but if show-goer reaction is anything to gauge by, this tech is likely to take off. Say what you want to about the need for a human touch in delivery services, but at least you know it isn’t gonna drop-kick your order across your lawn onto your porch.
That’s it for us this week. We’ve got a fun weekend of content planned for you, including a live-update on all the Oscar winners and losers announced this Sunday evening. Give us a like on Facebook, subscribe to DT Daily on YouTube, have a killer weekend, and we’ll see ya right here next week!
