Google spams Congress w/ SMB emails, Amazon hits $31B in Ad sales, Apple Tap to Pay available soon

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Obviously feeling nervous, Google is intensifying its anti-antitrust campaign, lobbying SMBs to "take action" and automating their emails to their representatives in the House and the Senate. 

Amazon disclosed the value of its ad business for the first time. The company made $9.7 billion in ad revenue in Q4 and $31.2 billion in 2021. As GeekWire points out, "Amazon’s advertising arm is eight times as large as Snapchat’s entire business, and nearly seven times as large as Twitter."

Apple, leveraging a purchase that they made in 2020, will be rolling out the ability of more recent iPhones to process credit card payments without any additional hardware. Stripe will integrate the tool for businesses first, including Shopify's Point of Sale app this Spring, and other payment platforms will adopt it later this year

The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.
Near Memo Ep 51

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