Amazon.com (AMZN), as expected, on Thursday raised the yearly price of its Amazon Prime membership for the first time since starting the program nine years ago. The cost of the popular service, which includes free two-day shipping, instant video streaming and e-book borrowing access, is being hiked to $99 per year from $79. The increase is on the low end of the $20 to $40 boost Amazon said it was mulling when it issued Q4 earnings in January.
AOL’s (AOL) display ad revenue growth is expected to accelerate in 2014, while growth slows at Twitter (TWTR), Facebook (FB) and other rivals. AOL’s display ad sales are expected to climb 15.5% in 2014, up from 9.5% in 2013 and 6.5% in 2012, according to data reported Tuesday by research firm eMarketer. AOL still is growing slower than display ad rivals such as Twitter, Facebook, Amazon.com (AMZN), Google (GOOG) and LinkedIn (LNKD). But display ad
Netlfix (NFLX) has surpassed Google’s (GOOG) YouTube as the top online video service for watching TV shows and movies, according to a new survey by RBC Capital Markets. An online survey of more than 1,000 U.S. Internet users in February showed that 44% use Netflix to watch TV shows and movies, vs. 43% for YouTube. That was the first time Netflix has beaten YouTube in 10 consumer surveys by RBC since May 2011. One year ago, 37% of U.S. consumers used Netflix, vs. 40% for YouTube. Coming in a distant No. 3 was Hulu, at 27%. A year earlier, 28% of respondents used it. Amazon.com (AMZN) was No. 4 with 22%, up from 15% in February 2013. Hulu’s user penetration seems to have plateaued, while Amazon’s continues to grow, RBC analyst Mark Mahaney wrote in a research report Sunday. Amazon is “probably the biggest long-term risk to Netflix, in our…