- Facebook Equips Business Pages With Mobile Storefronts For Shopping And Services: Likes ≠ Dollars. Facebook wants Pages to actually earn money for the 45 million small businesses that use them. So today Facebook is upgrading Pages with a tabbed mobile layout that lets them display storefront “Sections” where users can “Shop” for products or view a list of “Services” the business offers. The company is also making calls to action on business Pages, such as “Call Now,” “Send Message” and “Contact Us,” bigger, more colorful and more prominent beneath the cover image. The “Shop” section will include Buy buttons powered by Facebook’s partnership with Shopify so users can check out without leaving the social network. Facebook is also testing Buy buttons that link out to a business’ traditional website. These changes are the biggest made to Pages since 2012. They build on Facebook’s recent announcement of new messaging capabilities for businesses and badges for companies that respond quickly. Today’s updates could make Facebook Pages a utility, not just a presence for businesses. Andrew Chau, the co-founder of the Boba Guys cafe, tells me he started the business’ online presence with a Facebook Page not a website because that’s where it could get “the most eyeballs”. He says he tells people to ‘Check us out on Facebook’ rather than ‘Download our app’ because “they aren’t going to do that”. People don’t necessarily want a whole app just for their local tea shop. The strategy is similar to WeChat’s platform for businesses in China. Rather than having to build an app, get people to download it, and then get them to use it, WeChat lets businesses create “official accounts” that users can easily follow and buy from. The average boutique owner or plumber shouldn’t have to learn how to build an app. Now they don’t.
- Yahoo may have to pay taxes on Alibaba spinoff: Yahoo is reconsidering its plan to spin off its $23 billion stake in Alibaba after federal tax authorities declined to rule in advance on whether the transaction would mean huge capital gains taxes for Yahoo or its shareholders. Yahoo disclosed in a securities filing on Tuesday that the Internal Revenue Service told the company on Sept. 2 that it would not provide any guidance about the tax liability related to the spinoff ahead of the deal. The Internet company said that its own tax advisers still believed the spinoff of its 15 percent stake in Alibaba, a leading Chinese e-commerce company, would be tax-free, in part because it would be bundling a small-business division with the Alibaba stock into a new company called Aabaco Holdings. However, Yahoo said its board was now considering its options in light of the I.R.S. decision. Analysts say Yahoo’s options could include restructuring the spinoff or selling all or part of its 15 percent stake in Alibaba. Yahoo shareholders have been eagerly awaiting the spinoff, which analysts say accounts for far more of Yahoo’s stock price than its core advertising business. The Alibaba spinoff was intended to be a reward to Yahoo’s long-suffering shareholders. “It’s a big setback for Mayer,” said Eric Jackson, founder of the investment fund Ironfire Capital, who has been agitating for Yahoo to do more to unlock the value of its assets. “This was going to be the one feather in her cap, and now it’s seemingly not going to happen.” If Yahoo proceeds without the I.R.S. opinion, it may ultimately have to defend its move in court. An I.R.S. auditor, reviewing the company’s books several years down the road, could declare that the spinoff was taxable. Yahoo would probably go to court to challenge the decision, and Mr. Willens said the company would most likely prevail. Analysts have estimated that the company would owe about $9 billion in taxes if the transaction were fully taxable. In structuring the spinoff, Yahoo proposed to transfer that liability to Aabaco. So in theory, Ms. Mayer could proceed with the spinoff and focus on running Yahoo, leaving Aabaco shareholders to bear the risk of an audit.
- Alibaba’s $141 Billion Slide Boosts Tencent to Biggest in Asia: Alibaba surrendered the title of Asia’s largest Internet company to Tencent Holdings Ltd., capping a 10-month slide for the e-commerce giant that wiped $140.7 billion from its market value. The shares of Alibaba fell 4.7 percent to $60.91 at the close in New York on Tuesday, making the online marketplace worth $153 billion. That’s below Tencent’s value for the first time since billionaire Jack Ma oversaw Alibaba’s record-breaking initial public offering in September 2014. Alibaba’s reliance on consumer spending in China, where it gets 83 percent of its revenue, leaves it vulnerable to the domestic slowdown. Tencent is adding pressure by buying Hollywood content for its video platform, investing in cloud computing and on-demand mobile services, while forging an e-commerce alliance with JD.com. China may have lent its shares a hand. Last month, the government cut rates for the fifth time since November and resumed intervening in equities, seeking to arrest a stock market rout that wiped out trillions of dollars in value. That’s helped prop up stocks in neighboring Hong Kong. Tencent posted record quarterly profit in August. By comparison, Alibaba trailed analysts’ revenue forecasts in two of the past four quarters, and its sales grew at the slowest pace in at least three years. Tencent is capitalizing on the more than 1 billion users of WeChat and QQ. Billionaire Chairman Ma Huateng is finding new ways to make money through advertising, payment services and health care through the apps. Tencent earns more than half its revenue from games, and in April invested $126 million in San Francisco-based Glu Mobile Inc. to add a portfolio of action and role-playing games for smartphones.
- Alibaba lowers second-quarter gross merchandise volume estimates. Alibaba said on Tuesday it expected second-quarter gross merchandise volume (GMV) to be lower than its initial estimates due to weaker consumer spending in China. The company's shares reversed course and slipped as much as 3.1 percent to $61.91 in late afternoon trading. They had earlier gained as much as 4.5 percent. Alibaba said it now expects GMV to be lower in mid-single digits on a percentage basis from its earlier estimates. Up to Friday's close, the company's shares had fallen about 39 percent this year.
- Restaurant of the Future? Service With an Impersonal Touch There’s a new quinoa restaurant in San Francisco — yes, quinoa restaurants are a thing in San Francisco, so that’s not what’s noteworthy. At this restaurant, customers order, pay and receive their food and never interact with a person. The restaurant, Eatsa, the first outlet in a company with national ambitions, is almost fully automated. There are no waiters or even an order taker behind a counter. There is no counter. There are unseen people helping to prepare the food, but there are plans to fully automate that process, too, if it can be done less expensively than employing people. For optimists, it’s a way to make restaurant-going more efficient and less expensive. For pessimists, it’s the latest example of how machines are stealing people’s jobs. Either way, it’s like heaven for misanthropes, or those who are in too much of a hurry to chat with a server. The quinoa — stir-fried, with arugula, parsnips and red curry — tasted quite good. Whether a restaurant that employs few people is good for the economy is another question. Restaurants, especially fast-food restaurants, have traditionally been a place where low-skilled workers can find employment. Most of the workers are not paid much, though in San Francisco employers of a certain size must pay health benefits and in 2018 a minimum wage of $15. Mr. Friedberg said that was not the reason his team automated so many roles. “Technology allows us to completely rethink how people get their food,” he said. Automation is transforming every industry. Business owners look to substitute machines for human labor. It happened to blue-collar workers in factories and white-collar workers in banks and even law firms. With self-driving vehicles, it may happen in the taxi and trucking industries. Robots and artificial intelligence machines are expected to transform health care. Automation, in rudimentary forms, is already part of many restaurants. Reservations are made online, orders arrive at the kitchen electronically, and bills are paid with a swipe on an iPad. Chains like Chili’s and airport restaurants use tablet computers for ordering and paying, to speed the process and cut personnel costs. It might be a harbinger of a future in which eating out no longer involves waiters. Restaurants with servers could become the novelty, reserved for occasions when you want more ambience and hands-on attention than Eatsa’s “food delivery system.”
- Netflix May Be Setting Its Sights on Four More Asian Markets: Netflix will enter Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea early next year, according to a press release that was posted in Chinese on its website and taken down. The online offering will include movies, TV shows and content suitable for children, according to the statement. Additional details on pricing and programs will be announced later, the statement said. The company didn’t respond to requests for comment. Netflix, based in Los Gatos, California, is racing to complete a global expansion by the end of next year. The company’s growth prospects have made the stock the top performer in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index this year (The stock has risen 95 percent this year), with subscribers exceeding 65 million in 50 countries. Still, the shares have pulled back in recent weeks, in part due to concern over increased competition for viewer’s dollars. Time Warner’s HBO, Hulu and Amazon.com have all boosted their online offerings this year, while Apple is considering its own video streaming service. Netflix introduced service in Japan Sept. 2, starting at $5.40 a month.
- TiVo revenue beats estimates on subscriptions rise: Digital video recorder maker TiVo Inc reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly revenue, helped by higher subscriptions. The company's total subscriptions rose about 26 percent to more than 6 million in the second quarter ended July 31. Net revenue rose to $119.5 million from $111.9 million. Revenue from Tivo's services and software and technology businesses rose about 14 percent to $99.1 million, while analysts had expected $96 million. The stock was flat in extended trading on Tuesday. TiVo's set-top boxes are in high demand from cable users as they also allow access to online video services such as Netflix Inc, Hulu and Google Inc's YouTube. Tivo sells subscriptions directly to customers with its video recorders and also licenses its technology to cable TV operators that rent recorders to subscribers. The company, whose clients include DirecTV, is trying to partner with more cable TV operators to grow its business. Tivo sells its products through cable TV partners such as Virgin Media in the UK, ONO in Spain and Com Hem AB in Sweden.
- How will autonomous cars deal with insurance liabilities? By shifting them toward manufacturers, says a study: Hacker attacks or faulty software could shift the burden of legal and regulatory liability toward makers of self-driving cars and away from customers, experts say, forcing regulators and insurers to develop new models. Autonomous cars have the potential to reduce the rate of traffic accidents as sensors and software give a car faster and better reflexes to prevent a collision. However, a greater level of automation increases the need for cyber security and sophisticated software, experts said. "Although accident rates will theoretically fall, new risks will come with autonomous vehicles," said Domenico Savarese, Group head of Proposition Development and Telematics at Zurich Insurance. "What should be done in the case of a faulty software algorithm? Should manufacturers be required to monitor vehicles post-sale in the case of a malfunction or a hacker attack?" Savarese asked. While established models for assigning liability - such as holding the owner responsible for what the car does - will still be relevant, the onus may shift toward manufacturers. Greater automation may also change consumer behavior and affect insurance costs if drivers become less vigilant and less practiced in their ability to avert an accident. "Could a manufacturer become liable if a distracted driver causes an accident while relying on autopilot? It's too early to tell," Savarese said, adding that increased liability would unlikely deter carmakers since customers were demanding more self-driving functions. Software and connected cars are creating new opportunities for insurance companies to customize policies to clients. "You could pay for how much you drive, or get a lower premium based on how well you drive," Savarese said, adding that these policies will only be made possible if the client allows the insurer to monitor them. Without driver consent, the insurer will have no right to spy on the driver, not even for exceeding the speed limit. If customers buy in to the idea of lower premiums in exchange for higher monitoring, they can opt to have some sort of black box device installed in their car or via their smartphone.
- Okta Is Now a Unicorn After $75 Million Funding Round. Okta, the startup that helps companies manage their sign-in information for hundreds of cloud services and business software applications, has landed a $75 million round of funding at an implied valuation of $1.2 billion. The investment is coming from existing investors, including the venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners and Sequoia Capital. Total capital raised is now $230 million. It has been about 15 months since Okta last raised money. Last year it took a $75 million round led by Sequoia that valued the company at about $600 million. Sequoia is a significant investor, having also led Okta’s D round in 2013 and its C round in 2012. Okta is also notable for being Andreessen Horowitz’s first investment in the cloud software area back in 2010 when the firm led its A round. Since then the company has expanded into new lines of business, including helping companies manage their mobile devices.
