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When we launched ads two years ago, ads were available in just eight countries. In September, we opened for business in around 200 countries

Facebook’s global sales team was beginning to push Instagram’s advertising to small businesses, providing them with the ability to target marketing at particular users

that international expansion was a priority, with 75 per cent of its more than 400m users based outside the US

Google is working to create a new product in the home services market

Calif.-based technology giant is working on an offering through its ads team that will allow customers to connect with roofers and repairmen and put it in direct competition with Thumbtack and Amazon.com

As Buzzfeed reported, there will likely be some integration with Google Ad Words, which will likely create targeted ads for users searching for certain services that will allow them to receive direct quotes.

Undisclosed ads on Instagram are no longer just limited to posts by celebs

General users may be able to make the distinction when they see a Kardashian, for example, posing with a brand of tea they’ve never heard of. But the problem now facing the FTC and Instagram is that these types of posts are no longer limited to celebs and influencers. In fact, marketers are now targeting regular users, or what they term “microinfluencers” by offering them free products in exchange for social media posts.

The letter highlights two websiteS in particular, operated by Influenster and Bzzagent, that encourage users to share posts in which they’re seen using a free product. In exchange, the so-called “microinfluencer” receives even more freebies from brands including Maybelline, BITE beauty, Kleenex, and International Delight. Anyone with a social media account can join the websites and receive free products.

says the move by Instagram is part of an ongoing initiative to add more e-commerce features to the platform, as well as more ways to display and interact with products

"Mobile commerce is definitely a space we are looking at closely.

Instagram has become increasingly more interested in advertising and has deployed a variety of new products and ad formats for advertisers.

Amazon.com Inc was in talks to launch a free ad-supported music service, which is expected to intensify competition for the music streaming leader.

Amazon would market the free music service through its voice-activated Echo speakers, a Billboard report said on Friday, adding that it could become available as early as this week.

Tesla is rolling out version 7.0 of its software, and with it new autopilot features that allow the car to stay in its lane, change lanes, and parallel park itself.

the new Autosteer feature. This is designed specifically for highway driving, and when engaged keeps the car in its lane. When you need to change lanes, you flip your turn signal and the car will move over on its own when it determines it’s safe to do so.

That "hands-on" detail is an important one. CEO Elon Musk emphasizes that the update is a public beta. "We say keep your hands on the wheel because it’s very important to exercise caution at this early stage,"

Using partners that have existing payment systems would be one option, but many of the most obvious partners have become direct or quasi-competitors to Facebook over recent years, including both Amazon and Apple. Once a user’s first transaction is completed, the rest is straightforward, but it’s that first transaction that’s going to be the hard part. Crack that, and Facebook should quickly become a major player in e-commerce, adding yet another arrow to its quiver and opening up a whole new set of revenue streams.

High-profile mobile money launches by Apple and Samsung may have caught the headlines

But it is the developments in payments systems in supposedly less developed nations in Africa and Asia that point the way to the probable future for wider mobile banking.

the reality remains that the mobile phone as a means of payment remains relatively niche even in developed markets.