According to investors, Airbnb is worth $25.5 billion. What? Marriott just agreed to purchase Starwood for half that amount. This seems crazy. Here at Upwave, we conduct consumer research. We don’t have a stake in Airbnb’s success, we were just curious: How many people even consider Airbnb when they book travel accommodation? Turns out it’s …
Based on their most recent investment round, Uber is worth more than Ford. GM just invested $500 million in Lyft. Google’s self-driving car recently crashed into a bus, and in a few years there will be millions of self-driving cars crashing into buses globally. It got us thinking here at Upwave… does anyone even drive …
Forbes and Wired recently tried an experiment. They asked website visitors using ad blocking software to turn it off – and denied them access if they refused. This was a risky move for a few reasons. 1) The media coverage of this experiment could increase awareness and usage of ad blocking software (our data does …
Forbes and Wired Change Consumer Perceptions of Ad Blocking Read More »
With under 18 months remaining until the election, 2016 presidential hopefuls are announcing their bids. At the same time, the spotlight on the CEOs of technology companies has never been brighter. We decided to ask America which technology CEO they believe would make the best president. We surveyed 1503 voting age Americans, asking them to …
Airbnb recently launched a massive site redesign, complete with a brand new listings page and company logo. The new logo immediately caused media uproar, as many thought the Bélo depicts something more scandalous than a “symbol of belonging” as explained by Airbnb. Online discussion was less about whether the logo has human anatomical associations and …
Airbnb logo redesign: More people see hearts than naughty parts Read More »
This column was originally written by Upwave for publication by VentureBeat. Encapsulating a business in a single word or phrase can be a daunting task. For startups, the name of the business becomes the first word of every investor pitch and the first message that’s spread to potential users. Although it’s often dramatized, a solid …
It’s no secret that tech companies amass vast stores of user information, from tax records to snapshots of pumpkin spice lattes. What’s more ambiguous is how this personal information is used. And while major Internet companies like Google, Yahoo, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft publish transparency reports to distance themselves from NSA spying paranoia, companies like AT&T and …
Tech Trust Index shows consumers trust Google and Amazon but not Sprint and AOL Read More »
With a new CEO last summer and a $1b acquisition this spring, Yahoo has been changing significantly. Next up is its iconic logo: Tomorrow Yahoo will unveil a new logo to signify the new era. To draw attention to the change, Yahoo has been displaying a different logo every day for the last month. We were …
Yahoo showed us 30 days of logos. Here’s the one consumers liked best. Read More »