CMO Today: Facebook Announces ‘Clear History’ Tool, Dating Service; Google’s Culture of Nonstop Debate

As more scrutiny has been poured on Facebook’s data-collection practices in recent months, questions keep popping up about the information Facebook has on you, including the non-Facebook sites you visit and whether you have adequate control over that data collection. At F8, Facebook had an answer: It’s introducing a “clear history” tool that will give users the ability to see and control the data Facebook receives about them from outside apps and websites that use its ads and analytics tools. It’s hard to know how many users will rush to clear that data–Facebook previously said it hadn’t seen a groundswell of users changing their privacy settings following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. And even if they do, Facebook says it’ll still provide aggregated analytics to apps and websites. Noah Mallin, Wavemaker’s head of experience, content and sponsorships, tells me “clear history” doesn’t necessarily mean this data won’t be usable for targeting, but it may mean advertisers need to work with other sources to get it and load it into the platform. “Overall, that could drive costs up, though it’s too early to say that would be so across the board,” Mr. Mallin said.

Blind Date

Here’s a new Facebook product I didn’t hear anyone asking for: One of the big announcements at F8 on Tuesday was a new dating feature, which Mr. Zuckerberg said would foster “real, long-term relationships—not just hookups.” No word yet on whether the service will be free or whether it’ll be a free feature designed to boost engagement (pun unintended) and presumably show more ads. Rival dating companies (and Twitter users) scoffed at the idea of Facebook Dating. “We’re surprised at the timing given the amount of personal and sensitive data that comes with this territory,” Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg said. “Their product could be great for U.S.-Russia relationships,” said Joey Levin, the chief executive of IAC, Match Group’s majority owner. The joke may be on them, though, as Facebook already has 200 million users who identify as single on the platform, so attracting new users probably won’t be as much of a problem as it would be for a new dating service. Match’s share price dropped 22% and IAC lost more than 17% on Tuesday.

Give Peace a Chance

Most workplaces will play host to the odd political debate between colleagues from time to time. But at Google, the environment has become “a virtual war zone of debate over all manner of social and political beliefs” WSJ reports, in this fascinating deepdive into the culture at the search-and-advertising giant. That fractious culture, of course, was brought to public attention last summer when Google fired software engineer James Damore, who wrote an internal memo entitled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber” that suggested men are better suited for tech jobs than women, which went viral inside the company. Google’s difficulty curating the different views and voices within its own empire comes at the same time the company is trying to define, for billions of users and thousands of advertisers, the types of content that should be allowed on its search results and YouTube. As internal political arguments become more of a distraction, people familiar with the matter say Google executives are drawing up a new set of guidelines about what can and can’t be said on its internal forums.

A Design For Life

When the Snapchat redesigned rolled out in November, Chief Executive Evan Spiegel warned that while it was for the best in the long term, there was a “strong likelihood” the new look would be “disruptive to our business in the short term.” He certainly got the second part of that prediction right. Snap reported a 54% rise in revenue to $230.7 million in its first quarter, missing analyst estimates and sending shares tumbling. That’s somewhat surprising considering the Olympics took place in the quarter. Snap added 4 million daily users in the quarter, falling about 3 million short of analysts’ expectations. On the call, Snap said it was transitioning its premium Lens and Filter ad products to a programmatic buying model, which is bringing the average order value down. But Pivotal Research senior analyst Brian Wieser posited in a research note that slower revenue growth was less about the transition to programmatic and more likely due to large advertisers, collectively, allocating smaller budgets to Snapchat over time.

Best of the rest

Here’s a rundown of all the possible outcomes to the ATT-Time Warner trial. A ruling will be announced on June 12. [WSJ]

Mark Zuckerberg said in a meeting with a group of news executives that the company is “essentially going to be losing money on political ads,” owing to the investment Facebook is making to avoid a repeat of the misinformation spread during the 2016 U.S. election. [BuzzFeed News]

At the same briefing, Mr. Zuckerberg also dismissed an idea proposed by media executives including The Wall Street Journal parent company News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch and BuzzFeed’s Jonah Peretti that Facebook should pay publishers for content in the same way cable networks pay carriage fees to program makers. “I’m not sure that makes sense,” Mr. Zuckerberg said. [Recode]

At its NewFront event Tuesday, Verizon’s Oath announced 10 new original series and a partnership with Samsung to distribute its content and native ads on Galaxy devices in the U.S. and some other global markets. [The Drum]

Condé Nast is launching over-the-top channels for its Wired, Bon Appetit and GQ brands that will be available on Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire. [Ad Age]

Disney’s big NewFront announcement was new food-focused editorial brand called Disney Eats, which will run on the Disney Digital Network. [Adweek]

Digital media company Studio71 announced a slate of original programming at its NewFront, including content from YouTube comedy duo Rhett Link and a renewal of “This Might Get,” the daily talk show from YouTube comedians Grace Helbig and Mamrie Hart. [Variety]

Emails show how app developers are encouraged by marketing firms to sell user data. [BuzzFeed News]

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