theverge--2020-11-16--Airbnb lost millions in revenue due to the coronavirus, IPO filing reveals

Airbnb filed for an initial public offering on Monday , released its prospectus , and indicated it will trade on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol ABNB .
The prospectus gives a deep look at Airbnb ’ s business , particularly just how hard the platform has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic .
As part of the filing , Airbnb says its business will continue to be affected by people scaling back travel as the virus continues to spread .
Under risk factors , the company said the pandemic “ and the impact of actions to mitigate the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will continue to materially adversely impact our business , results of operations , and financial condition.
” The company has seen annual net losses every year since its launch and says it may not be able to achieve profitability .
It went from a net loss of $ 70 million in 2017 to a net loss of $ 674.3 million in 2019 , on revenue of $ 4.81 billion .
For the nine months ending on September 30th , it saw a net loss of $ 696.9 million on revenue of $ 2.52 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 322.8 billion for the same period last year .
So far in 2020 , Airbnb has sold $ 17.9 billion in gross bookings , a drop of 39 percent from the year prior .
“ Our revenue growth rate has slowed , and we expect it to continue to slow in the future , ” the company said .
Last quarter , Airbnb had revenues of $ 1.34 billion , down 19 percent from $ 1.65 billion in revenue in the year-ago quarter .
But it reported $ 219 million in profit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ business began to bounce back from the effects of the pandemic travel slowdown .
“ In early 2020 , as COVID-19 disrupted travel across the world , Airbnb ’ s business declined significantly , ” according to the prospectus .
“ But within two months , our business model started to rebound even with limited international travel , demonstrating its resilience.
” People wanted to get out of their homes , the company added , but didn ’ t want to stay in hotels .
Its domestic travel rebounded quickly and was affected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work remotely from an Airbnb rather than their homes .
“ We believe that the lines between travel and living are blurring , and the global pandemic has accelerated the ability to live anywhere , ” the company said .
Airbnb had previously planned to go public in August even though it was in the midst of pandemic-related cancellations , which saw its valuation drop from its 2017 high of $ 31 billion to around $ 18 billion .
In May , the company laid off about 25 percent of its staff or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also reduced for a temporary six-month span .
Also under its risk factors , the company noted that its business model relies on hosts , the homeowners who use the platform to rent their properties .
“ If we fail to retain existing hosts or add new hosts , or if hosts fail to provide high-quality stays and experiences , our business , results of operations , and financial condition would be materially adversely affected , ” Airbnb said , adding that further decline or disruption in travel and hospitality or other economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ business , results of operations , and financial condition .
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Airbnb filed for an initial public offering on Monday, released its prospectus, and indicated it will trade on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol ABNB.
The prospectus gives a deep look at Airbnb’s business, particularly just how hard the platform has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic. As part of the filing, Airbnb says its business will continue to be affected by people scaling back travel as the virus continues to spread. Under risk factors, the company said the pandemic “and the impact of actions to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic have materially adversely impacted and will continue to materially adversely impact our business, results of operations, and financial condition.”
The company has seen annual net losses every year since its launch and says it may not be able to achieve profitability. It went from a net loss of $70 million in 2017 to a net loss of $674.3 million in 2019, on revenue of $4.81 billion. For the nine months ending on September 30th, it saw a net loss of $696.9 million on revenue of $2.52 billion, compared to a loss of $322.8 billion for the same period last year.
So far in 2020, Airbnb has sold $17.9 billion in gross bookings, a drop of 39 percent from the year prior.
“Our revenue growth rate has slowed, and we expect it to continue to slow in the future,” the company said.
Last quarter, Airbnb had revenues of $1.34 billion, down 19 percent from $1.65 billion in revenue in the year-ago quarter. But it reported $219 million in profit for the third quarter, as its business began to bounce back from the effects of the pandemic travel slowdown.
“In early 2020, as COVID-19 disrupted travel across the world, Airbnb’s business declined significantly,” according to the prospectus. “But within two months, our business model started to rebound even with limited international travel, demonstrating its resilience.” People wanted to get out of their homes, the company added, but didn’t want to stay in hotels. Its domestic travel rebounded quickly and was affected by the number of people opting to work remotely from an Airbnb rather than their homes.
“We believe that the lines between travel and living are blurring, and the global pandemic has accelerated the ability to live anywhere,” the company said.
Airbnb had previously planned to go public in August even though it was in the midst of pandemic-related cancellations, which saw its valuation drop from its 2017 high of $31 billion to around $18 billion. In May, the company laid off about 25 percent of its staff or about 1,900 people. Executive salaries were also reduced for a temporary six-month span.


theverge--2020-11-16--Lil Nas X’s Roblox concert was attended 33 million times

Lil Nas X performed to an audience of millions across two days and four shows this weekend , playing in a setting that literally made him larger than life : the hit kids game Roblox .
The shows gathered 33 million views in total across the performances , which started on Saturday afternoon and wrapped up with a surprise encore performance on Sunday , Roblox told The Verge .
The identical shows starred a motion-captured incarnation of Lil Nas X , styled to fit in with a world that shifted to match each of the four songs he performed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Roblox , and it puts the game ’ s ability to hold a concert up there with Fortnite .
In April , Fortnite hosted a similarly impressive performance from Travis Scott that drew 45.8 million viewers across five shows .
Scott ’ s show had 27.7 million unique attendees ; Roblox didn ’ t announce a unique viewership figure .
There ’ s more to come from Roblox .
The company sees virtual concerts as a new way to give its players a chance to hang out and for the game to stay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ older .
Lil Nas X is a big artist to kick things off , but his success suggests Roblox was right to think it can become a new space for music .

Lil Nas X performed to an audience of millions across two days and four shows this weekend, playing in a setting that literally made him larger than life: the hit kids game Roblox. The shows gathered 33 million views in total across the performances, which started on Saturday afternoon and wrapped up with a surprise encore performance on Sunday, Roblox told The Verge. The identical shows starred a motion-captured incarnation of Lil Nas X, styled to fit in with a world that shifted to match each of the four songs he performed.
It’s a huge number for Roblox, and it puts the game’s ability to hold a concert up there with Fortnite. In April, Fortnite hosted a similarly impressive performance from Travis Scott that drew 45.8 million viewers across five shows. Scott’s show had 27.7 million unique attendees; Roblox didn’t announce a unique viewership figure.
There’s more to come from Roblox. The company sees virtual concerts as a new way to give its players a chance to hang out and for the game to stay relevant as those predominantly young players get older. Lil Nas X is a big artist to kick things off, but his success suggests Roblox was right to think it can become a new space for music.


theverge--2020-11-16--Twitch is testing ‘multiplayer ads’ that creators can use to make money

Today , Twitch is rolling out something it ’ s calling “ multiplayer ads ” in closed beta .
They ’ re ads triggered by streamers that all viewers watch .
( Currently , ads shown to viewers are targeted ; these are not . )
After one of these ads plays , creators can run a poll for their viewers that awards the streamer bits depending on how many viewers participate .
“ In true Twitch spirit – we want our creators and fans to have the opportunity to experience everything together , and support their favorite creators along @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spokesperson in an email .
Twitch has been tinkering with its ads a lot this year .
Between September and November alone , the company has gone from testing unskippable midroll ads to breaking ad-blockers .
As a streamer myself , I think multiplayer ads are a pretty logical development because nobody is happy with the state of Twitch ads right now .
They ’ re intrusive , and they also don ’ t benefit most creators .
( CPMs are pretty low . )
Multiplayer ads , on the other hand , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at higher rates than traditional CPMs — even if those payments are coming in the form of Twitch ’ s own currency .
For reference , 1 bit is equal to 1 cent .
The Twitch spokesperson confirmed that bit payouts on multiplayer ads are additive to traditional CPMs , so running these ads will pay out twice .
It ’ s nice to see Twitch experimenting with new ad formats beyond traditional , targeted video ads .
Here ’ s hoping it gets creators paid more !

Today, Twitch is rolling out something it’s calling “multiplayer ads” in closed beta. They’re ads triggered by streamers that all viewers watch. (Currently, ads shown to viewers are targeted; these are not.) After one of these ads plays, creators can run a poll for their viewers that awards the streamer bits depending on how many viewers participate.
“In true Twitch spirit – we want our creators and fans to have the opportunity to experience everything together, and support their favorite creators along the way,” wrote a Twitch spokesperson in an email.
Twitch has been tinkering with its ads a lot this year. Between September and November alone, the company has gone from testing unskippable midroll ads to breaking ad-blockers.
As a streamer myself, I think multiplayer ads are a pretty logical development because nobody is happy with the state of Twitch ads right now. They’re intrusive, and they also don’t benefit most creators. (CPMs are pretty low.) Multiplayer ads, on the other hand, will benefit creators more directly, presumably at higher rates than traditional CPMs — even if those payments are coming in the form of Twitch’s own currency. For reference, 1 bit is equal to 1 cent. The Twitch spokesperson confirmed that bit payouts on multiplayer ads are additive to traditional CPMs, so running these ads will pay out twice.


theverge--2020-11-16--Zoom’s new security feature will let you stop ‘Zoombombers’ in their tracks

Zoom will now let you temporarily pause meetings so you can kick out “ Zoombombers ” or disruptive individuals , the company announced in a blog post .
As Zoom usage skyrocketed during the pandemic , pranksters and hackers found ways to invade Zoom calls and display shocking videos and disruptive content , a practice that has become known as “ Zoombombing.
” With Zoom ’ s new security feature , you ’ ll be able to suspend a meeting to block bad content from being shown and also report the Zoombomber to Zoom .
To suspend a meeting , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ call and then click “ Suspend Participant Activities.
” When you do , all video , audio , in-meeting chat , annotations , screen sharing , and recording will be suspended and all breakout rooms will end , which should shut down the Zoombomber ’ s activity .
From there , Zoom will ask the host if they want to report a user , and if they do , that user will be ejected from the meeting and Zoom ’ s security team will be notified .
Zoom says the new feature is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and paid users and is available on the Zoom clients for Mac , PC , and Linux , as well as Zoom ’ s mobile apps .
I should note that I wasn ’ t able to see the feature on Zoom on my work MacBook Pro , but I suspect that ’ s due to my IT settings .
In April , Zoom announced a 90-day feature freeze to fix privacy and security issues on the platform that came to light following the massive surge in users relying on it during the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resulting improvements , such as turning waiting rooms on by default for basic , single-license Pro , and education accounts , could help make it harder for Zoombombers to infiltrate meetings .

Zoom will now let you temporarily pause meetings so you can kick out “Zoombombers” or disruptive individuals, the company announced in a blog post.
As Zoom usage skyrocketed during the pandemic, pranksters and hackers found ways to invade Zoom calls and display shocking videos and disruptive content, a practice that has become known as “Zoombombing.” With Zoom’s new security feature, you’ll be able to suspend a meeting to block bad content from being shown and also report the Zoombomber to Zoom.
To suspend a meeting, click the Security icon while on a call and then click “Suspend Participant Activities.” When you do, all video, audio, in-meeting chat, annotations, screen sharing, and recording will be suspended and all breakout rooms will end, which should shut down the Zoombomber’s activity. From there, Zoom will ask the host if they want to report a user, and if they do, that user will be ejected from the meeting and Zoom’s security team will be notified.
Zoom says the new feature is being enabled by default for all free and paid users and is available on the Zoom clients for Mac, PC, and Linux, as well as Zoom’s mobile apps. I should note that I wasn’t able to see the feature on Zoom on my work MacBook Pro, but I suspect that’s due to my IT settings.