News Roundup (January 8-14): Facebook News Feed Changes Spell Doom for Publishers, Taobao in USTR blacklist

We bring you another installment of the EcomCrew News Roundup, where we gather Amazon news and industry updates so ecommerce sellers like you can stay in the loop.

Facebook News Feed Changes

Facebook announced on Thursday that it will be making major changes to its News Feed algorithm, prioritizing “meaningful” interactions on the platform over posts from publishers and pages.

This means that users will start seeing more from the people they actually know, and less from businesses, brands, and media.

This came about following the controversies that have plagued Facebook in recent years, including the spread of fake news and the Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election.

While the news feed revamp could definitely be good for the platform and its users in the long run, there will be significant consequences for those who rely heavily on Facebook to reach their customers, especially small business owners. If you are one of them, it might be time to rethink your social media strategy.

Taobao listed on USTR blacklist…again

Speaking of fake, Alibaba’s Taobao has found itself on the US blacklist due to suspected counterfeit products on the site, its second time in two consecutive years.

According to Alibaba, they carried out significant anti-infringement efforts on Taobao when the site was blacklisted last year, and claimed that the USTR did not consider this in making the decision.

While the USTR did acknowledge Alibaba’s efforts, the prevalence of infringing listings still remains a challenge, hurting especially small business owners.

EcomCrew Updates

Now for some EcomCrew updates.

Would you like to get an hour of free business coaching from us? We recently released a new segment on the EcomCrew podcast called Under the Hood where one of our listeners gets at least one hour of recorded coaching with Mike and Dave, for free.

We released our first Under the Hood episode last week, so go to EcomCrew.com/110 to check it out. If you want to join us on the podcast and get free coaching, just sign up here.

Our 111th episode is something that we wish we didn’t have to record.

Black-hat tactics are becoming more and more prevalent on Amazon, hurting the businesses of many honest sellers.

We invited three honest sellers who have fallen victim to these tactics, and interviewed them about their horrible experiences. We want to raise as much awareness as possible, so check out EcomCrew.com/111 to listen to the episode.

Dave also has an update on his quest to rebuild a $1 million dollar business. Go check his numbers after 6 months of selling and see if he is still on track to his goal.

Jungle Scout's Go Pitch Win

Speaking of goals, do you have that burning business idea but don’t have the money to turn it into a reality? Then Jungle Scout’s Go Pitch Win might just be for you.

Go Pitch Win is a new podcast from Jungle Scout that gives you the opportunity to pitch your business idea to Greg Mercer and other industry leaders. It’s kinda like Shark Tank, with a $10,000 prize.

That’s it for this week’s roundup. Until next week, happy selling!