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Hotwire Headlines #15

From Australia: The latest in tech and innovation

In recent news, Google strikes a big media deal, news site traffic decreases, the fintech sector continues to evolve, and a major merger banking on a brighter tech future for Australia.

Traffic to news websites fell hard with Facebook’s block

Taken from AdNews: “The social media giant implemented a ban on posting and viewing news content for Australian users yesterday. As part of the ban, international users also can’t view or share Australian news links.

Nielsen’s Digital Content Ratings released today shows total sessions for current events and global news category fell 16% on February 18 compared to the average of the past six Thursdays.”

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More media deals to follow Google-Seven agreement

Seven West Media is the first of large local publishers to sign a deal with Google News Showcase which has been valued at $30 million a year. Google said the seven partners have received 1 million views of their content in the first eight days of the product being available.

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No upside in owning a neobank, ANZ Bank tech boss says

ANZ bank will be relying on its partnerships to increase its digital presence to compete with the other big four banks which have relied on acquisitions of neobanks and partnerships with buy-now-pay-later organisations.

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AustCyber to merge with Stone & Chalk

AustCyber and Stone & Chalk have agreed to merge to increase Australia’s technology footprint and address gaps in the market exposed by Covid-19. Under the merger, AustCyber will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stone & Chalk, though it will retain its own branding, staffing structure, and the National Network of Cyber Security Innovation Nodes.

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Digital in Australia: Time spent online has increased by 10% year-on-year

In the past year, Australian’s time spent online has increased by an average of 32 minutes per day, bringing the total to 6 hours and 13 minutes from the previous 5 hours and 41 minutes. Social media usage accounts for approximately a third of this time.

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Zillow’s CEO is warning that the future of work could create a ‘two-class system’ where those who come into the office are viewed as better employees

As the future of work continues to be a major topic of conversation, Zillow’s CEO suggests that employees who choose to come into the office — either some of the time or full-time — could be viewed as more dedicated and more engaged than those who choose to work remotely.

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