Technology

If you want to test out a feature on a large, well-known, global, platform, therea very simple solution: Test it in Australia. At a population of 24 million and with a predominantly Western culture, ita large enough test bed and small enough market, so ideal for testing new features before (maybe) rolling them out globally. And thatexactly what Spotify appears to be doing in testing out how it can tweak its advertising platform to take the fight to the likes of Pandora and other competitors.

Advertising Age reports today that itrunning a test in Australia which will let listeners skip audio and video adverts at any time while the ad is playing. This is instead of having a preset time limit to listen to or watch the advert which can&t be skipped. They&ll be able to do this any time they want, as often as they want, and the new feature will also let them jump straight back into the music.

The feature (well, itstill a test feature after all) is called &Active Media.& In it, advertisers won&t have to pay for any ads that are skipped. Ita high risk strategy because clearly Spotify may get less ad revenue in the short-term, while the algorithm is trained to serve ads that consumers will in fact listen to. But Australiasmaller market means any lost revenue will be relatively small.

AdAge quote Danielle Lee, global head of partner solutions at Spotify, saying the move is about tailoring the ads to users& tastes, so similar to Spotify&Discover Weekly& feature, which does the same for music.

Ita smart move, since, by allowing users to spend longer on the ads they actually do like, Spotify will get better data on the ads which work best for that particular user, and thus sell better-targeted ads which, in turn, will have a higher premium.

&Our hypothesis is if we can use this to fuel our streaming intelligence, and deliver a more personalized experience and a more engaging audience to our advertisers, it will improve the outcomes that we can deliver for brands,& Lee said.

Plus, a user listening to a better-targeted advert in full is worth more than blasting adverts to consumers who may ultimately be put off the platform for being forced to listen to adverts. They&d also listen to fewer ads overall, thus keeping the platform ‘sticky&.

Spotify says advertisers won&t have to pay for any ads that are skipped. If things go well, itlikely the feature will expand globally.

Spotify previously reported in July that it closed the second quarter of the year with 180 million monthly active users. This is up 30 percent year-over-year. It now have over 101 million ad-supported users in 65 markets globally. Total ad revenue has reached $158 million, up 20 percent. Automated ad sales are growing quickly and accounted for more than 20 percent of ad revenue, the company reported.

The clock is ticking: only 24 hours left to submit your application to compete in the first TechCrunchStartup Battlefield Latin Americaon November 8, 2018, in São Paulo, Brazil. Is your startup one of Latin Americabest If so, don&t waste another minute.Apply right here, right nowbefore the 24-hour clock runs out. Don&t miss your chance to launch your early-stage startup on a global stage.Applyno later than August 13, 2018, at 5 p.m. PST.

The winning founders receive a $25,000 non-equity cash prize and a trip for two to the next TechCrunch Disrupt. While there, they can exhibit free of charge in the Startup Alley.

All Startup Battlefield competitors — win or lose — reap the benefits of broad exposure to the media outlets and investors sitting in the audience. Plus, we video all the Startup Battlefield sessions and post them on TechCrunch.com. That exposure lives on long after the competition ends.

All competing teams also become part of our Startup Battlefield alumni community. Since 2007, more than 750 companies have competed in Startup Battlefield. Those companies — including Mint, Dropbox, Yammer, Fitbit, Getaround and Cloudflare — have collectively raised more than $8 billion in funding and produced more than 100 exits.

Herehow the competition works. TechCrunch editors will evaluate every eligible application and select 15 founders to compete in the Battlefield, which takes place at São PauloTomie Ohtake Institute. Founders receive intensive — and free — pitch coaching from TechCrunch editors and will be primed and ready to go come game day.

During three preliminary rounds, five startups per round will each have six minutes to pitch and present their demo before a panel of top investors and seasoned entrepreneurs. The judges have six minutes following each pitch for a thorough Q-A. Only five teams advance to the finals for another round of pitching and more probing questions. And only one team will emerge as the first Startup Battlefield Latin America champion.

Herewhat you need to know about eligibility. Founders must meet these requirements:

• Have an early-stage company in &launch& stage
• Be headquartered in one of these countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela; (Central America) Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Panama; (Caribbean — including dependencies and constituent entities) Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico
• Have a fully working product/beta reasonably close to, or in, production
• Have received limited press or publicity to date
• Have no known intellectual property conflicts
• Apply by August 13, 2018, at 5 p.m. PST

TechCrunchStartup Battlefield Latin Americatakes place on November 8, 2018, in São Paulo, Brazil. You have everything to gain by applying, but time is running out: You only have 24 hours left to apply by the deadline ofAugust 13, 2018, at 5 p.m. PST. Show us what you&ve got:Apply here right now.

Now that Google has officially unveiled, pushed out, and named Android 9 Pie, the only remaining question is when your handset is going to get it – and for HTC owners, we now have a bit more clarity on which phones are in and which phones are out of the Pie party.

Via a tweet from the official HTC account, the company has confirmed that the HTC U12