Google Delays Chrome's Blocking of Tracking Cookies To Late 2023
Reuters says Google's Chrome web browser will not fully block tracking cookies until late 2023, the Alphabet company said on Thursday, delaying by nearly two years a move that has drawn antitrust concerns from competitors and regulators.
Google had wanted to bar reams of ad-personalization companies from gathering users' browsing interests through cookies from January 2022. But rivals accused the world's biggest online ads seller by revenue of using improved privacy as a pretense to gain greater market share.
Sonic Drive-In Asks TikTok Hackers to Recreate Iconic Menu Items
Sonic Drive-In is challenging three popular TikTok personalities to hack the Sonic menu in an attempt to recreate fan favorites using ingredients gathered from other fast-food or convenience store locations. Newton Nguyen (@newt), Nicole Renard (@nicole_thenomad) and Kena Peay (@kenapeay) are all up for the “Hack Our Menu” challenge, tackling Hand Made Onion Rings, the Footlong Quarter Pound Coney and the Cherry Limeade, respectively.
“The Sonic menu is something special, there’s no doubt about it,” says Nguyen. “I take on food challenges all the time, and normally they turn out pretty good. But this one – this one kind of stumped me.”
MLB Strikes Cryptocurrency Partnership With FTX
SportTechnie.com says Major League Baseball has signed a long-term partnership with FTX, marking the first time that a North American pro sports league has partnered with a cryptocurrency exchange. The global partnership makes FTX the official crypto exchange brand of MLB.
FTX.US (the company’s U.S.-specific brand) also reached an agreement with the MLBPA for rights to use player highlights in its content. Blockfolio, a crypto portfolio management app owned by FTX, ran a registration promotion that was posted by MLB’s Twitter account on Wednesday as part of the new deal.
Five Below Expands Partnership with Instacart
Five Below announced today that it will bring the convenience of same-day delivery to even more of its customers as part of the company’s partnership with Instacart, the leading online grocery platform in North America. The expansion of same-day delivery comes after Five Below’s successful initial pilot launch with Instacart in December of 2020, and will give thousands of loyal and soon-to-be customers the ability to have their favorite Five Below finds delivered right to their door with service now available at 1,100 store locations.
“When we first partnered with Instacart this past December, we knew the convenience of the platform’s same-day delivery and curbside pickup options would be a game-changer for our customers amid an unprecedented holiday season,” said Felipe Zardo, Senior Vice President of Digital for Five Below. “After witnessing the overwhelming response in the markets in which we first launched this service, we knew we needed to bring Instacart delivery to even more people, which is why we are so excited to be rolling this out in more than 700 new locations.”
Survey Says Online Grocery Shopping, Store Pickup Trends Accelerated
About 50% of grocery shoppers began buying online and picking up in store during the pandemic, but only half of those customers will continue this behavior in the future, according to new research by ChaseDesign, the human-centered design agency. Buy online pick up in store (BOPIS) programs allow customers to purchase items online and collect them at the retailer store rather than getting it delivered.
The ChaseDesign BOPIS survey show shoppers want to be in control - 54% prefer to pick items out in person and 40% want the experience of shopping in a physical store. These customers also encountered a degree of frustration with the BOPIS experience, citing product availability, quality, items missing from order and wait times as the leading challenges they faced.