🔋 Sand Batteries

🔋 The Surprising Alternative to Lithium-Ion Technology

The latest craze in battery technology is not lithium-ion, it’s not graphene, it’s not even hydrogen.

It’s sand! Yes, you heard me right, sand.

Europe’s push to rely less on Russia’s crude oil and hit its renewable energy goals has fostered collaboration among energy experts across the continent.

And one of the key resulting innovations has been new alternatives to lithium-ion batteries.

A Finnish company called Polar Night Energy is producing batteries made out of sand that can rival the power of lithium-ion batteries.

This development could help alleviate the human rights abuses and environmental damage that often come with mining cobalt and nickel, two key lithium-ion battery components.

🎙️ Spotify's Financial Strategy Shift: Cutting Out White-Noise Podcasters

Spotify is cutting out white-noise podcasters from its lucrative Ambassador Ads program, which pays podcasts to read ads on air, starting in October.

The streaming company is also requiring other podcasters to have 1,000 unique Spotify listeners, up from 100, over the past 60 days, to be eligible for the advertising program.

White-noise podcasts feature loops of calming sounds, ranging from thunderstorms and bird calls to pure static noise. Listeners use the episodes as peaceful background music for sleep, meditation, or study.

One creator, who quit his previous job to make white-noise shows full-time, said last year that he was paid $12.25 per 1,000 listens. Based on his podcast’s popularity, that added up to $18,375 a month.

By the company’s own estimates, Spotify could save $38 million annually steering listeners away from white noise and toward more lucrative programming for the company.

📈 The $128 Billion Advertising Trend

Do you know what’s the latest trend in advertising?

It’s retail media.

Retail media is when brands pay to show their ads on online platforms that sell products or services, like Amazon, Uber, or your local grocery store.

Retail media is booming like never before. Marketers are expected to shell out a whopping $128 billion on retail media this year.

This 10.2% growth from last year comes at the expense of Google search and traditional offline media channels like linear TV.

So why is retail media so hot right now? Well, partly because marketers are feeling the pinch of the economy and want to make sure their ads actually lead to sales.

The biggest beneficiaries of the retail media surge include Amazon, which is expected to account for more than a third (34.6%) of global retail media spending in 2023 and remains the incumbent and dominant player by far.

It also includes supermarkets like Kroger, e-commerce sites like Farfetch, and apps like Uber.

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