The Best One Yet - “Tinder supports safe sexting” — Google’s camouflaged ads. The Athletic hits $500M. Tinder’s new security launch.

Episode Date: January 24, 2020

Tinder is adding new security features for your first date — it’s consistent with a trend that’s defining tech in 2020. Google made a minor tweak to google.com with major implications. And our ���Half-icorn of the Day” is The Athletic, the digital sports news company that just snagged a $500M valuation.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. And this is Snacks Daily. It is Friday, January 24. I'll tell you, I am very vegan hungry right now, aka Vangry. Jack just started licking the microphone, people. He said that if you chew close enough, it tastes really good. Now, we're actually in New York.

That's why this is the best one yet. Honestly, this is way better than the snacks daily that we did yesterday. We're on our way over to London, but we made a pit stop in New York City. Jack, three wonderful stories today. I like the mix. Google just made a subtle but huge change to Google search. It's kind of, can we say? It's evil. It's like a little bit evil. It's

advertisers first and customer's second. Second story, Jack. Tinder wants to be your third parent. You got mom, you got dad. Now you got Tinder. It just launched a bunch of new features to make dating less scary and a little more safe and secure. Snackers, don't think emoji on this one. Think more like big red button, press it, SOS. Get me out of this

date. Third and final story is the half a corn of the day. Beautiful thing. Half unicorn. I love what you did. The athletic sports news company is worth $500 million. Honestly, just round up at this point. Round up to a billion. Call yourself a unicorn. You might as well.

Everyone in Silicon Valley wants to do it. Snackers, before we get to those stories, today is Chinese New Year's Eve. This is the year of the rat we're about to kick off. We are entering the year of the rat, which made Nick and me think, yeah, what year were we born? I've been living under the impression

we were Year of the Dragon, although I just looked at some fine print. I may have missed the cut off. We're a month and a half apart. Nick tells me we're the Year of the Dragon. I said, Nick, if that were true, I probably would have known that. Guess what?

It is true for me, and I'm proud of it. Dragons are strong and independent figures. They yearn for support and love. That sounds like us. I feel like that's us. I know, but you couldn't even figure out what animal you were. I know what you want to get into it right now. Now, the largest human migration in the world happens every year during Chinese New Year.

Ladies and gentlemen, Sir David Adamber over here from planet Earth, what else he got? It's true. So many Chinese people travel to visit family and friends and celebrate that this is the time. Also, another key about Chinese New Year, you're not supposed to say bad things, negative words, or break things, aka it's the obvious. it's the opposite of Festivus. Now, sadly, because of the coronavirus that's been outbroken, outbreak. Terrible word. Terrible word. Not good for the year.

Because of coronavirus, many, many Chinese celebrations have been canceled. So we wanted to whip up some solid Chinese economy snack facts for our snackers so they can enjoy that to kick off the new year. First. For a few hundred years, China's economy was the largest in the world until the industrial revolution happened. Yeah, it's already been the number one economy, except that was just a couple hundred years ago. And now people expect it'll become number one again in like 10 years or so.

Also, Snackers, way back in 1995, the average income of the Chinese people was $600 per a person. Since then, an insane amount of economic development has happened. And last year, the average Chinese person made not $5,000, not $6,000, not $7,000. $10,000 per year. This has become the most powerful force against poverty in world history. China has improved millions, hundreds of people. millions of people's lives. Can we say billions? I think we're talking bees in this case. Well, not billions, plur.

Let's hit our three stories. You're tuned in to snacks daily. We spoke to the lawyers and we got to get something legal out the way. It's snacks about the hair ain't food. It's air candy. They don't reflect the views of the Robin Hood family. It's all informational just so. We're not recommending any securities. It's not a research report or investment advice.

Not an offer or sale of a security. Snacks is digestible. Business news for you. Robberhood Financial LLC. Member Fenra slash S-I-P-C. For our first story, Tinder just added emergency buttons to monitor your in-person dates. Yeah, they want to make you more safe. And wait, there's more. Yes, there is.

Now, we've all been there when a date just turns negative. We got to come around on S-OS dating situation over a beauty bar on 14th Street. Like when the guy shows you pictures of him playing college football for no reason at all unprovoked. It's cash only. He has no cash. He's asking me to cover. I'm not doing a second date. True story that happened with my current wife.

So maybe you should go on that. Now, first dates can be awkward, can be a problem. Actually, can be major hazards. Yeah, they can actually be dangerous. I mean, sexual harassers and sexual assaulters should not be allowed back on Tinder, but there's actually, like, no way to prevent that crime. So Tinder just whipped up a couple security features

to give daters, like, a very nice piece of mind as they're getting ready to go out into the world. The first is a badge. You can sign up to be bad. And if you have a badge, you're telling the other people that you're flirting with on Tinder that if you go on a date with me, I'm going to track it and you need to allow your location to be tracked. That's right. So if you have the badge and you go out with someone via Tinder and they know you have the badge, you're both getting tracked. You're both being tracked during the date. Tinder.

So from like 7 to 10 on Friday night. There's definitely some engineer Tinder who's like watching. He's like, oh, they're getting closer. The dots are getting closer, a little bit closer. Oh, now they're further. It's pretty exciting. Yeah. Now, play by play.

Now here's the thing. Here's the key feature which requires the badge in the first place. A panic button. Exactly. If the date gets bad, if it gets scary, you can press this panic button. And then the location of the two daters will be shared with the authorities so that they can come in and prevent bad things from happening. There's also a third potential feature here called the check-in. This is when you can request that Tinder check-in, like every half hour to see how the date it's gone.

Just like a good friend, kind of. And if you don't respond back, it's going to call you. And if you don't answer that call, then it might send the authority. To be clear, this is a check-in to make sure everyone is safe. Not like, how's it going? What does she look like? No, it's like, is everything okay? Yeah, right.

It's also kind of like a built-in helicopter mom. Text me when you get there. Text me when you leave. Text me when you get home. Also, what's his name? I want to look them up on Facebook. It's a helicopter mom who actually knows how to use tech gadgets. Now, this technology to make daters feel more safe when they're encountering Tinder people.

Beautiful thing. Comes from a tech company called Noonlight, which Tinder is investing in. Now, Tinder is owned by Match, which happens to own, you know, pretty much. every dating app ever, about 70 of them. If you're on a dating. Boom. Okay, Cupid. Chances are. Hinge. It's owned by match.

Plenty of fish. You name it. We could keep going. Now, the next verification thing, the next security that's going to come is actually pretty funny. Yeah. It's called the verified check, like on Twitter and Instagram. Yeah, you've seen it in the upper right hand corner. But this is to confirm that the pictures you're showing are actually your pictures. I don't know how they're, like, they're going to come over and count all the abs. You said it was an eight-pack. This is only a six-pack, so how they're going to

You're not getting the verification. But this is an anti-cat fishing situation. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Tinder who just want everyone to be safe and happy? Physical security is a priority for these non-physical apps in 2020. Snackers, Uber and Lyft, they've been publishing safety reports for their in-vehicle problems. Airbnb is prioritizing trust and safety in its pre-IPO push. The tech apps you've gotten to know and love, they're maturing up lately. And that means taking responsibility for physical encounters that the apps facilitate.

For our second story, Jack, watch out! It's an ad! Oh my God, it's an ad! Google makes the biggest change yet to its number one product. Search. Biggest change? Should we say biggest? It's subtle. It's subtle.

But it's meaningful. It's important. It's impactful. Now, have you Googled anything lately? Snackers? If you've Googled anything, you may have noticed the terrain looks a little different. Just a little. Jack, you know, I've told Jack this.

I've been in the market for a pasta maker for, I don't know, six months now. He's been talking about it for a while. He was hoping someone. would listen to him and get it for him for Christmas. Ravioli, my place next week, once I get the pasta maker. Well, anyway, he finally had to buy his own. Yeah, well, actually, I actually still haven't bought it yet, but I was Googling over the weekend. Am I going to go with the Imperia or the Mercado, the one that does fusili or the one that does

Papperdale? It's a fusili, Jerry. It's exactly what I was thinking. And as I was looking, I noticed that the search on Google for the two looked very different on the homepage. And that's disorienting because we look at Google search, probably like 20 times a day, if I had to guess. Yeah, you'll notice it's no longer just a way.

white space, but next to every hit, there's a little logo of whatever site that is on the left corner. It's called a favicon. It's like an adorable baby logo. But we're calling it a baby logo because it sounds so close to Baby Yoda. And Favacon sounds stupid. And remember, the top hit is usually the one that's the paid advertisement result. Well, they used to be green. They used to be a big green word that said ad. And you need to skip that one. You'd see that. Because you don't want to click the ads. I'm not trying to talk to it. I just want the organic thing that I searched for. Well, they've changed the color of that word ad. It's no longer green. Now it's just black font like everything else. And the reason that is so impactful is because Google has now blurred the line between ads and organic

search as of last week. There's no visual distinction anymore. You have to actually read the word ad, which is hardly noticeable. And as human beings, we all probably want to know what deserves top billing on Google's site. When I search, who's the most handsome man in the world? I don't want to know who paid the most for that ad at the top. Tim Tebow. I want to see who is the most organically handsome man in the world, Tim Tebow. Ironically, Tim Tebow, exactly what I was thinking. Now, this makes it harder for people to tell what was organically number one in Google search?

Like what was meant to be? Versus what was just a paid ad. What's using performance enhancing drugs? No connection to Tim Tebow in that one. We have a classic boiled frog in a hot pot of water situation. Jack, can we walk down the memory lane of Google Search ads and what they've looked like over time? Back in 2007, when Nick and I were sophomore year roommates at Middlebury College. It was a wonderful time.

The ads on Google were overlaid on a blue background, so it very much stood out and caught the eye. We would Google where to get a cheese steak in Vermont, and the answer would come up. The paid ad would be clearly in a blue background. The answer was Two Brothers Tavern in Middlebury College. Then from 2007 to 2013, Google switched it up a little bit. Instead of there being a blue background, it was a yellow background.

Right. So maybe you're Googling for jaggings at this time. Gene leggings were highly popular. Everyone was wearing them. It was a crazy time. Yoga pants were just beginning. That was a yellow background to designate that what you saw was an ad. Then in 2013, there was a few months where they made the yellow a little less yellow and, like, closer to white.

A little bit transparent, paler yellow. Then in 2014, they tested, like, a slightly smaller yellow ad icon, so it was like a little more subtle. And then just last week, the ad is just plain old black and white. There's no more colors. The rest of the text. It is much harder to tell which one's the ad and which one is everything else. It's nearly impossible. Basically camouflage.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway? our buddies over at Google. This change is unfaithful to Google's don't be evil, unofficial model. And by the way, Snackers, that motto is now do the right thing. It was changed in 2015, but this still violates that new motto, too. This change is not customer-centric. No. When people go to Google search, they want to know what is the number one result, not who paid the most. This is advertiser-centric. Remember, Google is an advertising business. 85% of its business, 85% of the $40 billion revenue from last

quarter, huge number, was ads. And data is already showing that even within the last week, according to Digidae, when ads are camouflaged, just like they have been in the last week, they perform better, which means more money for Google. Digidae did a study just in the last week since this change was made. Ad clicks on Google search are up four to 10%. And when those kind of conversions, Google can charge more for ads. Because more people are clicking, they're more valuable. Google's going to make more money. For our third and final story, The athletic is officially worth $500 million. It is high.

It is far. It is a half unicorn. It's a half unicorn. But seriously, round up on this one. This is the digital sports news phenom. Founded in 2016 in Chicago. Now it's based in San Francisco. They did the old trade.

But it's a phoenix rising from the ashes. The internet moved advertising money from the newspapers to Facebook and Google and tech companies. Lots of reporters and lots of sports writers were laid off. And then a startup called The Athletic came around and basically scooped up all those reporters who needed jobs. And you know how like every good business story has a nice dose of luck? Hit us with the line. They launched in 2016 in the city of Chicago the same year the Chicago Cubs won their first World Series since 1907. Chicagoans wanted more sports coverage.

They ended up signing up for this new startup with fancy sports coverage. And they even paid. This thing is $10 a month or $60 a year. Yeah. In a world where people said people don't pay for news anymore. Now, the way they were able to grow beyond Chicago is something Jack and I are calling the old territorial strategy. They'd launch podcasts and written articles for one city at a time. And they would build up fan bases in each city who basically thought that this company was only focused on them.

Uber did this. I think SF was first, then probably San Jose. They went city by city. Facebook did this college by college, starting, of course, with Harvard. Barstool did this, basically starting with young dudes in one area and then going to young dudes in another area. They're building a small, local passion, which adds up to a giant national business. Right. Ironically, there would typically be a lot of tension and hate between each of these entities. Yeah, rivalries naturally between Philadelphia-D-Nor. Now, we should do a sports center

style recap of the athletic stats. We'll start with retention. Please, Jack. 80% of athletic subscribers, stay subscribers the next year. Now, Snackers, keep in mind, again, this is a product that you are paying $10 a month for or $60 a year. So that retention number, it is high. It's Cool is the other side of the pillow. Now, scaling is the other big one. 47 cities now have athletic websites with their own podcast and their own newsletters. Plus the UK. And guess what's up next?

What are you talking? Soccer. Okay. The beautiful sport of the world is the next growth area for the athletic. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over the athletic? The news isn't dying? Is that a question mark? I'm Ron Burgundy.

Business Insider. Vox, the information, axios, political. Go. All those news companies were profitable last year. These are like second era digital-born, digital-native news startups. But unlike their elder news brethren, they're operating leaner, finding ad dollars, and people are actually paying for the news. In some cases. Yeah, not in all these cases. And guess what? The tech platforms like Facebook and Google and Apple?

The ones that had basically stolen the ad revenues away from newspapers that now go online. They're paying the news organizations for their content, which is great. It's good news, basically about the news. Can you whip up the takeaways for us before the weekend? Tinder is making first dates more safe by adding panic buttons and security bags. Craigslist. Do this, please. Craigslist, please do this. That's the takeaway here.

Why isn't it? I get a bodyguard for my Craigslist visit. I don't even do them. I'm scared. Second story, Google tweaked at search results so that ads are tougher to distinguish from organic results. We're going to call this camouflaged ads. And chameleons like this. This is good with the hands. The third and final story.

The Athletic has hit a half billion dollar value. And it all started in the windy city because news isn't dead. Snackers, time for our snack fact of the day. This one from Farah Allotter from Alexandria, Egypt originally, now in lovely New Jersey. You know how Canadians say sorry, eh? I'm sorry, I don't remember them saying that. Apparently Canadians say sorry a lot. So much so.

So much so. That the parliament or Congress of Canada? Let's just say that the legal system did. The legal system passed the Apology Act. You've said none of the correct nouns, by the way. Proper regulation. In 2009, the Apology Act was passed into law. By Canada.

In Canada, which declared that an apology is basically legally meaningless. Yeah, because you use it so much. You're in a car accident in the United States and you say, I'm sorry. You probably are going to end up being guilty. You're indicating that you might be guilty. In Canada, everyone's saying sorry so many times. Just forget it. It doesn't even matter.

Yeah, you can't say, I said I'm sorry. That doesn't mean anything. Everyone said I'm sorry. Now, Snackers loved having you with this. this week. This weekend, when you're with people, because you guys are cool, unless you're lonely, which is fine too. Share snacks. Tell them about snacks daily. We'd love to have more snackers join this. This helps us grow, and if you tell your friends about it, honestly, we'll grow faster, and we'll be able to do this more, which would be a lot of fun. And we'll see you guys on Monday.

See you Monday. Can't wait. The Robin Hood Snacks podcast you just heard reflects the opinions of only the host who are associated persons of Robin Hood Financial LLC and does not reflect the views of Robin Hood Markets, Inc, or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. The podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a recommendation to buy or sell any security and is not an offer or sale of a security.

The podcast is also not a research report and is not intended to serve as the basis of any investment decision. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member FINRA, SIPC.