Applications
Yahoo! to compete with Google with ‘Connected TV’ move
MUMBAI: Yahoo! Inc. has partnered with CBS, ABC, Showtime, Ford, Mattel, and the Home Shopping Network to launch an “interactivity” programme for its Connected TV platform.
Yahoo! will be competing with Google and Apple to provide interactive TV entertainment services to television broadcasters and letting them connect with viewers in a better way.
Said Connected TV group director of product marketing Russ Schafer, “Google TV has been getting a lot of negative press with networks blocking their content. Our approach is very network friendly.”
The company expects the number of their software “widgets” that link to particular websites, launched at the annual CES event in 2009 to go up significantly, once the models featuring broadcaster interaction enters the market.
Specific features are yet to be confirmed, though Yahoo gave some examples including Broadcast Interactivity, which allows viewers to learn more about an actor or a program by clicking buttons, or buy items, they see while watching live shows, Yahoo said at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
Also, watchers of Showtime Boxing can find out player‘s information and also take part in surveys to determine the result of the match.
Russ Schafer also said, “The key feature is to sense what you‘re watching and provide interactive content through a very subtle prompt. It‘s the truly interactive TV we‘ve been talking about for years.”
“We think it is really going to change TV,” he added.
According to projections from Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, targeted ads will total $11.5 billion in the US by 2015.
“We expect it to grow significantly,” Shaw said. “By 2015, we‘re predicting that targeted advertising is going to dwarf standard display advertising.”
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
