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And other headlines you can expect from Googleâs crowdsourced local news platform.
[The Hustle]( Mon, Jan 29
Brought to you by [quip]( dental hygiene perfected.
BuzzFeed is breaking into the Chinese marketÂ
Last week, news broke that BuzzFeed (the publisher of hard-hitting news like â[15 Hedgehogs With Things That Look Like Hedgehogs]( [secured a partnership]( with ByteDance -- AKA, the owner of Toutiao, the hottest media startup in China.
Under the deal, content from certain BuzzFeed verticals will now be distributed to Toutiaoâs 120m+ users in Asia.
Whatâs ByteDance, again?
Founded in Beijing in 2012, [ByteDance]( is best known for Toutiao, a $20B news aggregation app that seizes on Chinaâs Facebook ban by using algorithms to âgenerate a tailored feed listâ of news for each individual user.
The platform is immensely popular as a news source for Chinese millennials -- though only about 10% of the ânewsâ on any given feed comes from actual news outlets (the majority is sourced from 800k independent âcontent creatorsâ).
ByteDance also owns TopBuzz (a US-focused app), Musical.ly (live streaming app), and Xigua (video app) -- all rapidly-growing platforms in their own right.
This is big for BuzzFeed
As [Axios]( reports, BuzzFeed already reaches 83% of millennials in the US on any given month. Theyâve saturated the market, and this move allows them to expand into the worldâs 2nd-largest ad market.
Itâs a promising opportunity for BuzzFeed to boost their reach -- especially in the wake of missing 2017 revenue targets and laying off 6% of their staff.
Itâs also a leap for US media companies at large
Foreign publishers and social networks have long faced the â[Great Firewall of China]( -- strict online regulations and censorship imposed by the Chinese government, in an effort to eliminate content that violates the countryâs âsocialist core values.âÂ
Many of the platforms BuzzFeed relies on for content dissemination (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) are blocked in China, and ByteDance gives them a state-approved distribution network.
That, of course, comes with its own set of issues. Though, articles like âLeonardo DiCaprio Might Be A Human Puppyâ are probably safe from censorship.
5 Reasons to Expand to China
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Letâs get social: Google is testing a local news app called Bulletin
Mom, Googleâs testing social tools againâ¦
This time itâs called Bulletin: an app that will allow anyone to [publish]( local news stories, happenings, or events going on in their neck of the woods.
According to Google, the app is for posting photos, video clips, or good old fashioned blogginâ prose to specific communities via the web, kinda like... a Facebook group.
What does it all mean, Basil?
Google is really pushing the community aspect with the app. Giving a platform to locals who want to let their community know the goings on around their area -- much like a [local newspaper]( would.Â
With the platform, they hope to regulate the rate at which viral or âfakeâ news travels, mainly by keeping it downhome. Like, BREAKING: Feral coyote caught roaming Clementina Street. Passersby beware, or, anyone seen my bike?? *facepalm meme*Â
For now, the local interest platform is only testing in Nashville (TN) and Oakland (CA).
Google: the unsocialer
Google is⦠well, Google. But for all that the search engine powerhouse is, it is not historically adept at creating social platforms.Â
Remember Google+? They spent a [ton of cash]( in their failure to try to turn gmail into Facebook, and that was one of their more successful [attempts](.
That said, in a time when âfakeâ news fatigue seems to be flooding the figurative and literal streets, this could be just the hyperlocal outlet the doctor ordered.
[Put it on the board](
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Didi is dominating ridesharing in China -- now theyâre dipping into their $9B of fun money
Chinese-ride-hailing star Didi Chuxing has been raking in the funding, and last week, they flexed their #gainz hard by opening their 3rd [AI research lab]( in Beijing, said to âpush the boundaries of transportation innovation.â
This comes after a monster investment year in 2017, when they raised over [$9B]( from investors. That puts Didi at a whopping [$56B]( valuation, with investors like Alibaba, Tencent, and Apple.
FYI, thatâs higher than Uber
Yep, Uber is usually valued between $68B and $78B, but last month, their partnership with Softbank came at a [30%]( discount, putting Uber close to a $48B valuation, and letâs just say, Didi is striking while the iron is hot.
Aside from out-valuing them, theyâre also gobbling up some of Uberâs other international competitors, like 99 -- Uberâs Brazilian rival -- acquiring the ride-hailing company for close to [$600m](.
Just a little extra insurance in the fight for worldwide ride-hailing domination...
Back to the labs
The Beijing research labs will employ more than [200 engineers]( and AI experts to tackle transportation-related AI challenges, like enhancing computer vision, deep learning, and other cool robot smarty pants kinda stuff.
Chinese tech companies have been making a huge push to expand their AI initiatives in the US lately, and Didiâs new Beijing lab will work in conjunction with the AI hub they [launched]( in Silicon Valley last March.
Scared yet, Uber?
[To the lab, Didi!](
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Ping pools are like âdark pools of liquidityâ on steroids
You probably donât know what any of that means. Well, gather âround kids, âcause youâre gonna learn today.
Private exchange groups (or â[dark pools]( that arenât accessible to the general investing public have actually been around since the â80s as a way for big institutional investors to make large-scale trades without making a splash in the public market.
In recent years, these âVIPâ investment groups have become incredibly commonplace: as of 2014, off-exchange trading made up 40% of all US stock trades, up from 16% in 2012.
Now, a new, shadier type of [trading group called âping pools]( is giving dark pools a run for their money.
First thingâs first: whatâs a dark pool?
Dark pools are a special type of investment group where all the participants are completely anonymous. Neither party involved in the trade knows the otherâs identity, or even the reason the shares are being put up for sale.
Itâs essentially a financial glory hole for large-scale trades that allows participants to sidestep exchange fees and public disclosures.
Which brings us to the ping pool
Where dark pools consist of multiple buyers and sellers, ping pools are [completely controlled by a single company]( which buys and sells chunks of stock for clients, all with the same privacy as a dark pool.
Sounds peachy. However, pool ownersâ birdâs-eye view of multiple private trades leads many to wonder if theyâre actually working on behalf of investors, or just using their knowledge to [bet against trades and profit]( from brokers who pay to post their trades in the group.
Little less peachy...
[Come on in, the waterâs dark](
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monday morning review
Workinâ for the weekend? Or weekinâ for the⦠uhâ¦
In the SF office on Friday we started doing that thing that co-workers do: talking about our weekend plans -- specifically, our Sundays.
Our CEO Sam has âtech-free Sundays,â where he ditches his phone and spends time outside. Becca, our account manager, is known to hit up a cool craft brewery or hike. I usually go for a long run, throw on a record, or do improv with a team in the city.Â
And it got me thinkinâ: We talk to you guys Mon-Fri, and we have at least a loose idea of how you guys spend your days during the week. But, if youâre anything like me, the weekend is a whooole different ballgame.Â
So, how would you describe your âSunday self?â
- Weekend warrior: Youâre either recovering from a hangover⦠or already at a bar.
- Nature fiend: Youâre spend the rest of the week at your desk, so youâre out and about, taking in the sights.
- Unplugger: Anything⦠as long as itâs not work-related.
- Netflix binger: If anyone needs you, youâll be on the couch.
- Workaholic: The world is a desk, and all the people merely employees.
Respond with your number or weekend persona, or chime in on this [Facebook post here](. Cheers to the freakinâ weekend.
-- Lindsey, VP of going off the grid
This edition of The Hustle was brought to you by
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Lindsey Quinn
MANAGING EDITOR
Zack Crockett
WRITER
Wes Schlagenhauf
WRITER
Sam âMight be a human puppyâ Parr
EDITORIAL EAVESDROPPER C. Boynton Glick
COMPUTER INSTRUCTOR
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