YouTube’s new monetization rules kills ad revenue for small creators

It’s not a good time to be a small content creator on YouTube these days. Google just announced some new changes to its monetization rules and smaller channels are going to suffer for it. Under the new guidelines, channels will need to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time within the last year to be eligible to earn ad revenue. Before YouTubers just needed 10,000 total views to be able to run ads on their videos. Now, even bigger channels that are part of Google’s Preferred program will have their content manually reviewed before ads will run on these videos. These new rules will be enforced starting February 20.

Source: Gizmodo

Samsung tugs at our heartstrings with new Note8 ad

We associate the Note8 with being a good productivity tool. But this new Samsung ad suggests it can be used for more than that. The creative types, or those who just love to doodle, can actually use it to flirt. The newest ad for the Galaxy Note8 shows a couple getting together and falling in love with each other using the Live Messages feature on the phone to express how they feel. It’s a cute ad and it gets across how Samsung is trying to market the Note8 outside of the productivity seekers.

Lenovo's Moto Z wants you to 'skip the sevens'

It was bound to happen. With the hype and criticism surrounding both the Apple iPhone 7 and Samsung Galaxy Note7, you'd expect someone to take a stab at it. Lenovo does it with its new Moto Z and it's Moto Mods. The video shows the company interviewing supposed iPhone enthusiasts (they claim these are not actors) that aren't showing particular enthusiasm for the new devices. They showed off the Moto Mods and have them being blown away by the accessories.

At the same time, they took out an ad in the New York Times saying people should "skip the sevens" (referring to the aforementioned devices) and try something new instead of the usual devices that take years to innovate. We're not sure how this'll pan out for them but it's a very ballsy strategy.

Source: The Verge

Two new ‘Shot on iPhone’ ads surface, one of them shot in Ontario

Apple takes us to the great outdoors in our backyards with the two new “Shot on iPhone” ads. This time the highlight is on nature and the zoom feature of the iPhone. One of the ads was shot in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. Called “Shot on iPhone by Linda H.” it shows a slow-motion close-up of a chipmunk trying to break into a peanut with the song “Season 2 (Episode 3) by Glass Animals in the background.  The other clip was shot in Tel Aviv, Israel and labeled as “Shot on iPhone by Tim W.” We see an ant carry a leaf fragment across sand with Charlotte Day Wilson’s “Work” playing in the background.

The “Shot on iPhone” ad campaign shows how actual iPhone users make the most of their iPhone cameras (without any special tools or software) while being backed by songs taken from Apple Music.

Source: Apple Insider