Weekly Update - May 1, 2021: Spotify Podcast Subs, Twitter Spaces, Zoom Immersive View

This week is a quiet one in the Googleverse (unless you count YouTube’s dispute with Roku). Top updates:

Spotify has launched paid podcast subscriptions, and creators keep 100% of the revenue (until 2023). If you are in the US and your podcast is hosted on Spotify’s Anchor, you can apply for the waitlist.
If you use the Twitter Android app, you can now create a “Space”, Twitter’s Clubhouse-like audio chatroom.
Zoom has launched a new “Immersive View”, similar to the Microsoft Teams “Together Mode”. Now a webinar panel can actually look more like they are together on a panel.

Read on for more updates and tips.

Google Web Creators virtual Web Stories workshop is May 6. Registration is required and space is limited. I’ll be there!
The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University is hosting “Reimagine the Internet”, a free virtual conference May 10-14. Register now for access.
The schedule for this year’s virtual Google I/O (May 18-20) is starting to be filled in with live events and on-demand content. You can create your own schedule. If you are interested in developing for Google Assistant, check out the Assistant sessions.

YouTube is testing timed comments that let you see comments timed to exact moments in the video. “To see if you're part of the experiment, go to the comments section on iOS or Android, and tap the Sort button to select "Timed Beta”.”
YouTube’s Creator Insider has a new advertiser-friendly guidelines overview, this time for “incendiary or demeaning content.” Can you monetize a diss track? It depends on the context, tone and focus.
You can now turn off your audio and video in Instagram Live.

Spotify has launched paid subscriptions for podcasts.. Creators will keep 100% of their revenue (minus processing feeds) until 2023. This is available to creators in the US starting this week. If you are a US Creator on Spotify’s Anchor you can apply for access.
You can now host a Twitter “Space” - audio chatroom - in the Android app. Meanwhile stand-alone Clubhouse has yet to offer an Android app.

Instagram can now filter out DM requests with potentially offensive or abusive messages. Plus if you block someone you can also preemptively block any new accounts they may create (Instagram does not explain what criteria they use to determine an account is owned by the same person).
Instagram is working on new monetization options for creators, including creator shops and a marketplace to match “influencers” with sponsors. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says these tools could help create a “creator middle class” on Instagram.
Share music from Spotify to your Facebook news feed and the people you’ve shared with can listen without leaving the Facebook app.
Twitter now supports 4k images in Tweets in the Android and iOS app..
Discord has made it easier to set up a new server.

Zoom launches “Immersive View”, which lets the host place webinar panelists or other participants within the same background. This looks similar to the Microsoft Teams “Together Mode”.

Google Tasks now lets you add details on desktop without having to open the Details dialog. You can access Google Tasks on the right panel in Docs, Gmail, and Calendar.

Android Earthquake Alerts are now available in Greece and New Zealand. Alerts was launched last August in California, and is also available to users in Oregon and Washington states.
The Google Translate app has reached 1 billion Android installs and understands 103 languages. Learn 10 interesting Translate facts.

That’s all the updates for this week. Subscribe to get the Weekly Update in your email inbox or favorite feed reader every week. Miss last week’s update? Get it here.

Photo of gears by MustangJoe from Pixabay (free for commercial use)

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