The week of Thanksgiving is usually light in terms of news, yet on Monday Twitter announced a cull of inactive accounts (logged out for 6 months or more) in order to comply with GDPR rules, which saw widespread backlash given this also meant the removal of accounts belonging to deceased individuals. According to BBC’s David Lee, Twitter is urging inactive users to sign-in and agree to the latest privacy policy to preserve their accounts. Following the fallout, Twitter confirmed a memorialization process is set in place and that “account deactivations would occur in the EU first.”
Apple is set to launch an app dedicated to the 23 million registered members of its developer community. The new application will offer news, updates, articles, videos and other relevant information curated for Apple developers. Users can also obtain an Apple Developer program membership by enrolling through the app. The platform will replace the existing app for Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference to offer relevant resources for developers in addition to event footage and information.
Magento has alerted all registered Marketplace users to immediately reset their passwords after a new data breach incident exposed account information. Hackers responsible for the breach were able to access a database containing private information of registered customers (buyers) and developers (sellers), including billing and shipping address details. According to parent company Adobe, core products and services were not compromised and affected users and developers have been notified of potential vulnerabilities.
Microsoft has announced plans to integrate Gmail, Google Drive and Calendar with Outlook.com Web Mail. The new integration links Google and Outlook accounts, automatically presenting G-Suite tools in the Outlook Web Mail display, allowing Google docs and files to easily be attached to emails. The new display reportedly appears similar to Outlook for iOS and Android, offering separate inboxes and side-by-side calendar integration. So far, only select accounts have been permitted to test the new feature.
New in FE exclusive listings, this week we have an Affiliate business in the Sports and Outdoors Product Reviews niche. Listed at $845,000, this listing provides detailed reviews of footwear and apparel for sports and outdoor use. This growing content business has secured 136,000 keyword rankings, generating over 2.8 million visitors over the LTM alone. During that time, revenue grew by +18.5%, which was driven both by the organic strength of the site and the expanding industry (set to grow +37.2% from c.$110 billion in 2019 to c.$151 billion in 2023). This has all been achieved off a very lean cost structure, leaving plenty of margin to reinvest in new opportunities. If you are interested in this business, please follow the link above to request a prospectus.
In events news, FE International is excited to be sponsoring SaaStock Australasia on December 3rd-5th. SaaS founders, execs and investors from around the globe will be gathered in Sydney Australia for the annual conference to share and discuss the latest advancements in the SaaS industry. FE International founder Thomas Smale and CEO Ismael Wrixen will both be in attendance so feel free to get in touch if you would like to set up a meeting. On January 15th, FE International will be hosting a panel event in London titled; How To: Raise Capital for Your Technology Business. Visit our SaaS, E-Commerce & Content Online Business Meetup page to RSVP.
Continue reading below for more on Twitter, Apple, Magento, Microsoft and Apple!
Listings
New
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- Popular brand in the fashion and apparel niche
- Dominant SEO presence with keyword rankings for c.136,000 keywords and strong backlink profile
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- Rapidly growing traffic profile with over 2.8M visitors in the LTM
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Yearly net profit: $273,000
Asking price: $845,000
Sold
Lead Generation – Home Renovation & Remodeling Resource – 4 Million Sessions/Yr – $41K gross/mo
SaaS – Blogging Automation Platform – $2.9K MRR
In the News…
Twitter Pauses Inactive Account Removal
Twitter has paused a massive purge of inactive user accounts intended to free up user names and comply with GDPR rules. Users began receiving notification that their accounts were subject to removal because they hadn’t been logged in for six months or longer, leading to widespread backlash from users wanting to preserve the accounts of deceased loved ones. Twitter hopes to resolve the issue by offering a memorialization process similar to Facebook’s, which essentially freezes accounts belonging to deceased users.
Apple Releases Mobile App for Developers
Apple is adding an extension to its World Wide Development Conference app, offering a new platform called ‘Apple Developer’ which will provide extensive resources for developers. With these added features, Apple hopes to make information from its developer website easily accessible in a mobile-friendly format. With design centers and academies all over the world, users wont have to buy expensive conference tickets in order to get the latest updates in the Apple Developer community.
Magento Users Information Hacked
Magento, the open-source e-commerce platform, has been reportedly hacked. The incident exposed highly sensitive information belonging to buyers and sellers registered with the platform which included billing and address records. The hacker was granted unauthorized access to a major database, forcing the company to temporarily take down the marketplace in order to resolve the issue. Adobe did not explicitly state users’ password information was compromised, but registered members are urged to change their login credentials to prevent risk of exposure.
Microsoft Outlook Tests G-Suite Integration
Microsoft has been testing a new integration allowing users to link their Google and Outlook accounts. The integration will enable users to attach documents and files from Gmail, Google Drive, and Calendar to Outlook.com Web Mail and Exchange emails. It is not known when the function will be available for widespread use but select accounts have been able to test the integration. Microsoft made a statement saying, “We are always looking for new ways to extend the best email experience to our customers and can confirm that we’re experimenting with a small set of Outlook.com users to learn and gather feedback.”