Top Hot Online Business News

Daily, we consume so much information via social media, online news agencies, and similar content platforms that it becomes difficult to draw valuable insights from tons of data. Most people choose a few trustworthy resources to stay up-to-date with the modern world. They usually stick to media outlets that deliver news on various topics: politics, tech, economics, healthcare, etc. It’s convenient if you want to have a general picture of what’s going on in the world. Other people subscribe to sites focused on one specific industry they are interested in — e.g. sports news outlets or some crypto casino guides from  AtlantisGold experts sites. In this case, you will get more in-depth information about events, developments, and partnerships within the industry.

We believe that the best option to keep up with the latest changes in the online business landscape is via weekly news digests or monthly news summaries. You get the well-sorted-out pieces of information and are not loaded with tons of it. We have scanned the business news and selected the hottest stories for you.

Digitalization of 10 million small businesses in India 

Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos has told about investing $1 billion in Indian local businesses. 

The e-commerce company plans to invest incrementally in Indian small businesses and help them sell products online. As a result, micro retailers could reach more customers and cover more markets. Amazon expects to get $10 billion from exported Indian products by 2025. Such promising prospects are derived from the fact that India is a large fast-growing market that can become a key driver for the company. 

However, Bezos’ 3-day visit to India caused protests of local retail store owners against Amazon’s impact on the market. They allege that the company is driving them out of business by providing sharp discounts on products and promoting a few large sellers. A formal investigation was initiated by the Indian Competition Commission on this issue. Amazon denies the allegations and promises to cooperate with government bodies to tackle this problem.

Considering that Amazon is both the largest online marketplace and the biggest retailer, it could potentially set the discounted prices for goods, thus creating barriers for new retailers. Although these are just allegations, Amazon has experienced similar criticism in Europe.

The UK car maker Arrival becomes the most valuable startup 

Hyundai and Kia have invested €100 million (over $110 million) in a new automotive company. With this cash infusion, the electric vehicle manufacturer has reached a value of €3 billion ($3.4 billion), which is a rare case for the UK market. Only 5 British unicorn startups are worth $3 billion and more.

So, why Arrival? This 5-year-old company develops electric vehicles using innovative technologies. The carmaker applies their own materials, software, and components to most vehicles. Once designed, the cars are built in Arrival’s small factories on their modular platform called ‘skateboard’. This platform allows a range of different models to be developed using one system. It’s also worth noting that Arrival’s vehicles are sold at the same price as traditional petrol cars.  

The company is also going to use the Blackberry real-time operating system to ensure the safety and security of their vehicles. Blackberry’s software is capable of protecting autonomous cars against cyber attacks, malware, and other potential online threats.

When it comes to Hyundai and Kia, they aim to cooperate with Arrival to build a variety of zero-emission vehicles and intelligent self-driving cars. These established automotive companies have long invested in electric car development, which is an important step to comply with emission standards in Europe and China. Hence, this €100 million investment is a part of Kia and Hyundai’s strategy.   

The automotive industry is moving away from petrol-powered cars and this is great news that we will see more emission-free vehicles soon. On top of that, they will be priced like traditional car models. This will certainly encourage people to purchase eco-friendly vehicles. 

A new content streaming provider bets on ads

The Peacock streaming service is a new Comcast’s product that is expected to go live in July. To be competitive in the crowded market and distinguish itself from well-known rivals like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV, the service will depend on commercials to generate income. The executives believe it will give them an edge over the leading streaming platforms.

Users will receive access to video content that will include NBC’s TV shows, movies, popular series, live sports and news. In exchange for this, users will have to watch commercials from various manufacturers. This makes the content streaming provider similar to the Youtube platform.

The company will offer 3 tiers of streaming services: 

• Free tier comes with a limited range of services;
• An ad-supported version comes with more than 15 thousand hours of content, including movies, current and previous TV series;
• The last tier features the same range of content but is ad-free. 

The launch of the Peacock service is scheduled for July 15. Their library seems really rich with 400 series, 600 movies, sports streams, news podcasts, and more.

Peacock is trying to start monetizing commercials in the streaming field. The companies will get a range of Peacock’s advertising options. The commercials will pop up when users pause the video. And the ads may last for less than 5 minutes per hour. Besides, the company has mentioned that it will use buyer information to deliver related commercials. 

So, if you are a brand owner and have set a substantial budget on marketing/advertising efforts for this year, you can explore Peacock’s ad options.