Mary Meeker's latest predictions

An election-free zone. Instead, read about Mary Meeker, the surprise sequel to the best mobile game ever made, and the 35 words you are probably getting wrong.

Our chair, Karmarama's Mark Runacus in Campaign - if you think the GDPR is a hassle, then your business is in more trouble than you think.

Legendary Times editor Harold Evans on the 35 words you are probably getting wrong.

Is anyone telling you that TV has had its day? They are wrong too.

Read the latest from internet seer Mary Meeker, whose new presentation has a slide for almost every day of the year. But still worth reading.

In case you don't have the time or inclination, there is a good summary here.

But in case you don't have time or inclination to read that summary either, our summary of the summary goes like this:

• Smartphone sales and internet growth are both slowing
• Of mobile search, 20% was made by voice in 2016 and accuracy is very high
• Netflix accounts for alomst 30% of US home entertainment revenue from a standing start in 10 years
• There is a whole section on the fascinating Chinese market
• And another one on the equally fascinating Indian market
• A quarter of Americans own wearables, that proportion doubling in one year

A surprise sequel to what many believe to be the best mobile game ever made, Monument Valley, was released this week. Meeker says global gaming revenue will hit $100 billion in 2016:

The Internet of Things isn't good for you, says The Guardian.

Cluetrain Manifesto author Doc Searls ponders the enhanced future.

Opinion on the new M&S brand campaign, pondering whether the ads are mismatched with the brand.

Maxus-MEC merger: it’s about Group M’s future, not agency failings.

Jenny Biggam, one of the founders of indy media buyer The7Stars looks at the merger of WPP Group M agencies MEC and Maxus.

Dominic Mills explores what it means for a staffer at one of these agencies (probably not terribly nice)

When I worked in advertising… a novelist’s thoughts on selling.

Channel 4's attempt to get young people to vote, written with The Thick Of It writer Armand Ianucci:

An interview with the CEO of Instagram, who says it's not a Snapchat copycat.

A media owner says creative or production agencies just don't understand mobile.

Machine learning with pictures thanks to pix2pix generator.

How George Orwell nearly died writing 1984.

This was written before the election results, and it's possible nobody yet knows the results when you read this. If you are delighted/dismayed by the result, try this robo-funk of BEAK, which features Portishead founder Geoff Barrow. The video has a dancing bear:

Google is now trying to track offline card transactions. Could make attribution very accurate (if it works).

Are we entering phase two of the Programmatic Revolution?

Is the GDPR not quite the bombshell some are suggesting (full disclosure: DMA is quoted...)

Ingredients delivery service Blue Apron spends $94 to acquire each customer (mainly through podcast sponsorship) but recoups the money rapidly. If the customer stays.

Tired of the election? Try Bob Dylan's Nobel acceptance speech: