As Morgan Stanley buys E-Trade, Robinhood preps social trading

Influencer Olivia Jade Giannulli — whose parents, Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli, have been charged in the college-admissions scandal — appears to be ramping up her influencer-marketing efforts.

In the last 24 hours, the social-media star, who goes by Olivia Jade to her more than three million followers across YouTube and Instagram, added two affiliate-marketing links to her Instagram Story from the company RewardStyle. Jade also reshared a photo of herself promoting Kim Kardashian West's new shapewear brand, Skims.

Jade and Skims did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

In Jade's Instagram Story, she promoted a light that projects a version of the night sky onto a ceiling. "My lights are from Amazon!" Jade wrote in her Instagram Story. "I'll have a swipe up link if u want em," she added. 

Jade's links both briefly redirect to the domain RStyle.me, owned by RewardStyle, before landing on Amazon. If one of her followers ends up buying a BlissLights Sky Lite for $59.99, the use of the affiliate-marketing links from RewardStyle suggests Jade would receive a commission.

RewardStyle has a partnership with Amazon, in which Amazon pays RewardStyle and influencers it works with a percentage of any completed sale. RewardStyle did not comment on the particular rate for Amazon, but said each retailer had a different negotiated rate, typically between 5% and 20%.

Jade's parents were accused of paying $500,000 to guarantee her (and her sister's) admission to USC. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them and will likely start their trial in October. 

Jade has been active on Instagram while her parents' case has worked its way through the legal system, but the influencer has been relatively quiet on YouTube, only posting one video there in the past three months after announcing she was going to begin vlogging again.

She has also periodically posted links to brands on Instagram, like Adina's Jewels and Boys Lie, though it was unclear in those instances whether it was a paid promotion.

But the use of affiliate-marketing links, and Jade being featured in an Instagram Story from a high-profile brand like Kardashian West's Skims, suggests a more concerted effort to reenter the influencer economy. 

Jade previously had deals with Sephora, TRESemmé, and Amazon, but they cut ties with her after the college-admissions scandal broke.

For more on how brands and influencers are interacting on Instagram and other platforms, check out these other Business Insider Prime stories:

Microsoft's internal response to managing the coronavirus outbreak has included asking employees to discuss with their managers any travel concerns, according to an email reviewed by Business Insider.

"Any employee who feels uncomfortable travelling or attending any event (whether it be 1st or 3rd party, external or internal) should feel empowered to work with their manager to make the decision that is best for them and their family," Microsoft Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene said in an email to employees on Monday.

Each of the six deaths from COVID-19 – the illness caused by coronavirus – in the US at the time of this writing have occurred in Washington state, five of them in King County, home to Microsoft's headquarters.

"While there has been an increase in cases in specific regions of some countries like South Korea and Italy, global health authorities have communicated to us that the risk to the general public outside of Mainland China and those specific affected regions is presently low," DelBene wrote.

"The health and safety of our employees is our top priority at Microsoft. We are providing real-time guidance to employees in all affected regions," a Microsoft spokesperson said. "We will continue to monitor the situation and take action as necessary to help protect employees."

Some employees have expressed concerns that Microsoft's response is insufficient. Two employees who spoke to Business Insider and wished to remain anonymous said the company's response is "disappointing" and doesn't measure up to the steps taken by other companies. Salesforce, for example, has paused nonessential travel for its 50,000 employees. 

Meanwhile, other employees discussed on Twitter whether it's appropriate to leave the decision about whether or not it's appropriate to travel up to managers rather than employees.

DelBene in the email also discussed Microsoft's decision to cancel events. Microsoft on Monday also announced it would make the company's Most Valuable Professional Summit online-only.

"Global health authorities have not issued guidance to cancel events," DelBene wrote in the email. "At Microsoft, we are looking very thoughtfully at our event calendar, and in some cases shifting to digital-only experiences. Ultimately, the final decision to cancel, remain, or reduce our presence at events rests with the business owner of each event. Guidance has been prepared to inform these decision makers."

Facebook is dropping out of the buzzy SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, due to concerns around the growing coronavirus outbreak.

In a statement, a spokesperson told Business Insider: "Due to concerns related to coronavirus, our company and employees will not be participating in SXSW this year."

Since its outbreak in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has spread to dozens of countries around the world, sickening more than 88,000 people globally and killing more than 3,000, with the vast majority of cases and deaths in China. It is also causing mounting disruption for global business, interrupting supply chains and forcing the cancellation of major events.

Facebook's withdrawal from SXSW is a major blow for the tech and culture festival, which Twitter also recently announced it would not attend this year. Earlier on Monday, SXSW said the event was still going ahead, and is "working closely on a daily basis with local, state, and federal agencies to plan for a safe event."

Facebook recently canceled its F8 developer conference that was scheduled for May and set to be its biggest event of the year. It has also said that the production of its Oculus Quest virtual-reality headset has been affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier on Monday, Facebook announced it was blocking employees from bringing social guests to work and cutting down on its on-site job interviews as fears mount over the spread of the coronavirus.

This story is developing...

On Monday, Waymo announced its first-ever outside funding round — $2.25 billion led by Silver Lake, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Mubadala Investment Company, the company said in a statement.

Waymo added that Magna International, Andreessen Horowitz, AutoNation, and Waymo's holding company, Alphabet, joined the round.

"We've always approached our mission as a team sport, collaborating with our OEM and supplier partners, our operations partners, and the communities we serve to build and deploy the world's most experienced driver," Waymo CEO John Krafcik said in a statement.

"Today, we're expanding that team, adding financial investors and important strategic partners who bring decades of experience investing in and supporting successful technology companies building transformative products. With this injection of capital and business acumen, alongside Alphabet, we'll deepen our investment in our people, our technology, and our operations, all in support of the deployment of the Waymo Driver around the world."

On a conference call with reporters after the announcement, Krafcik define the round as "initial" and said that there had been follow-up interest from other investors. He also said that a Waymo spinoff from Alphabet was "certainly a possibility in the future for us."

Waymo didn't announce a valuation tied to the funding round, and Krafcik decline to reveal one when asked on the call. He noted that Waymo's access to Alphabet's technological resources represented a significant advantage. And he said that Waymo was enthusiastic about partnering with companies such as Magna.

The company, formed in 2016 from what had been called the Google Car project, launched its Waymo One ride-sharing service in Arizona in 2018.

Waymo's focus has been on developing a versatile "driver" — a combination of hardware and software — that it put into everything from an electric taxi to a semi truck. After Monday's announcement, Krafcik stressed that aspect of Waymo's mission.

"We're not a self-driving car company," Krafcik said. "We're building drivers."

Google Cloud has canceled its biggest annual conference because of coronavirus concerns.

Google Cloud Next was supposed to take place in San Francisco from April 6 to 8. Last year, the conference had over 30,000 attendees. This year, Google Cloud will instead make its conference digital through "streamed keynotes, breakout sessions, interactive learning and digital 'ask an expert' sessions with Google teams."

"The health and well-being of Google Cloud partners, customers, employees and the overall community is our top priority. Due to the growing concern around the coronavirus (COVID-19), and in alignment with the best practices laid out by the CDC, WHO, and other relevant entities, Google Cloud has decided to reimagine Google Cloud Next '20, which will still take place from April 6-8," a Google Cloud spokesperson said in a statement.

Participants who were registered for the conference will be automatically registered for the digital conference at no charge, and conference tickets will be refunded.

The cancellation highlights how COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has been causing disruption for major tech companies as it continues to spread across the globe. The outbreak has infected more than 88,000 people and killed more than 2,900, mostly in China. US health officials warned last week that a COVID-19 outbreak in the US is inevitable.

Last week, Google confirmed that an employee who was in the company's Zurich office tested positive for the coronavirus. It also restricted employee travel to Italy, Iran, Japan, and South Korea. Major tech companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Twitter are also taking similar measures by restricting travel, asking employees to work remotely, and limiting on-site interviews.

Google Cloud's announcement follows the cancellations of other high-profile conferences this month. Facebook and Workday canceled their annual conferences. Likewise, Mobile World Congress, the largest trade show for mobile phones, was canceled, and the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco was also postponed. Over 20,000 people have signed a petition to cancel the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, over coronavirus fears.

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Purell hand sanitizer is currently sold out on Amazon as fear over the spread of coronavirus grows in the US. 

As of Monday afternoon, every Purell product on the brand's Amazon storefront was sold out, with items ranging from bulk travel minis to individual 12-ounce bottles listed as "currently unavailable." A disclaimer next to each of these products reads "we don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."

While select Purell products on the site are available, they can only be purchased through third-party sellers, several of which have dramatically raised prices to meet skyrocketing demand. 

In one case, we found a single eight-ounce bottle of Purell selling for $29, not including shipping and tax, through the vendor TCH Solutions. In another, a two-pack is going for $119.99 via Deals Broker USA. 

The Amazon shortage comes as Purell products continue to fly off the shelves of major retailers and drugstores around the country. According to a representative for Gojo Industries, parent company of Purell, the team has "significantly" increased production to account for the spike in demand.  

"We have experienced several demand surges in the past during other outbreaks — and this is on the higher end of the spectrum but not unprecedented," Gojo spokeswoman Samantha Williams said in a statement shared with Business Insider. "We have added shifts and have team members working overtime – in accordance with our plans for situations like this."

Further, Williams said, Gojo is in "constant communication with Amazon and working to meet their needs as well as our many distributor partners." 

A representative for Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment .

In a world that relies on technology more and more every day, it can be difficult for adults to set healthy boundaries for their children. 

In 2019, after the World Health Organization released guidelines dictating that children aged 5 and under should have no more than one hour of screen time a day, the debate over how parents should monitor their kids' exposure to tech intensified. 

Even tech moguls themselves have called into question the effects of excess screen time on developing brains. Pioneers like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs have said they had strict boundaries on technology when raising their kids, and they've cautioned parents about letting children spend too much time in front of a screen. 

Other CEOs, like Google's Sundar Pichai, impose strict limits on their children's use of technology at home.

From digital curfews to banning devices at the dinner table, here is a list of how seven tech giants raise their kids with little to no technology.

Reuters

Internet stocks offer "some relief" for investors with little appetite for coronavirus risks, analysts at UBS wrote Friday. 

US stocks posted a strong rebound Monday, ending a streak of losses that pushed indices deep into correction territory through the end of February. Yet some experts are calling the relief rally premature and warning investors to stay defensive until more is known of the coronavirus outbreak's trajectory. The epidemic remains a dire source of volatility for risk assets, and Treasury bonds' record-low yields make it more expensive than ever to park cash in the popular safe-haven.

The growing risk of coronavirus becoming a pandemic is weighing on investors' desire to stay exposed to stocks, but the recent sell-off presents an alluring opportunity in internet equities, according to UBS. The heightened market volatility reminded the bank's analysts "of the power of the internet," and the chance for new quarantine orders in the near term could boost usage of popular online services, UBS said.

The team pointed to recent spikes in the use of online medical consultation, tutoring, and streaming services since the outbreak began. The Nasdaq Internet Index - which includes internet giants such as Facebook, Netflix, and Amazon - grants investors exposure to a diverse set of firms that could gain from populations spending more time indoors, UBS said.

"We view the recent market sell-off as an attractive entry point, and the stay-at-home nature of the companies offer some shelter relative to the broader market," the team of analysts wrote.

The index's biggest risk is its holding of travel-related firms, the team added, as the sector remains under considerable pressure from the epidemic. Major airlines swiftly halted travel to and from heavily afflicted regions in recent weeks, and further expansion of the outbreak could drag further on travel and tourism companies.

UBS also alerted clients to the latent risk that the biggest companies in tech remain under regulatory scrutiny for data privacy controversies and antitrust concerns. Calls from lawmakers and Democratic presidential candidates to break up big tech firms have prompted some worry around whether the household names will stay the same if a regulation-friendly administration takes office.

The bank remains positive on the sector despite fresh regulatory stresses. Shifting cash to internet companies before markets resume their bullish climb gives investors "one way to gain equity exposure to the pockets of the market that are well," UBS said.

The Nasdaq Internet Index gained 2.7% in Monday's trading session.

Now read more markets coverage from Markets Insider and Business Insider:

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Why a coronavirus-driven recession would be a unique beast - and why the normal playbook might not work

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A service outage took Robinhood offline for nearly the entire day of trading on Monday — and furious users of the commission-free trading app say it couldn't have come at a worse time.

People were locked out of Robinhood's iOS, Android, and web apps from Monday morning through the close of trading in the afternoon, according to Robinhood's status site.

The company said it began investigating a "system-wide outage" shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET. By 11:30 a.m., Robinhood said that it had identified the problem and that "a fix is being implemented," but all its trading services were still experiencing major outages by the time trading closed at 4 p.m.

Robinhood sent an email to its users at close stating that it was "working as hard as we can to resume service."

While Robinhood was offline, the market was rebounding from one of the worst weeks since the 2008 financial crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average rose over 1,294 points on Monday — its biggest point gain ever — after falling by more than 3,500 points last week as fears about the coronavirus outbreak swirled.

People on Twitter and the Robinhood subreddit voiced frustration and anger as they watched the market climb without being able to access Robinhood trading on Monday.

By Monday afternoon, a Twitter account called "Robinhood Class Action" had been created and gained over 1,500 followers. The account's bio said it was "building a case against Robinhood for their negligence and late open on March 2."

Robinhood did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

The company has run afoul of federal authorities in the past — in December it was hit with $1.25 million in fines by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority over concerns that it didn't give its users the best deals on their trades.

If you made a Gmail account that you no longer want, whether it was an account made for a business you no longer have or was created when you were thirteen and only receives spam emails, you may find yourself wanting to delete it. 

When you delete a Gmail address, you don't delete the Google account associated with it. 

However, deleting the Gmail address itself means that neither you nor anyone else can still send or receive mail at that address. So, make sure you're absolutely sure of your decision before you decide to delete your Gmail account. 

If you're certain you want to do it, here's how to delete a Gmail account.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

MacBook Pro (From $1,299.99 at Best Buy)

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 (From $699.99 at Best Buy)

How to delete your Gmail account

1. Open the Gmail account that you want to delete on your PC or Mac computer.

2. Click on your profile icon in the top-right corner to open your account menu.

3. From your account menu, click "Manage your Google Account."

Using Instagram Stories is a great way to update your followers with photos and videos you want to share but don't want to post on your main feed since they expire within 24 hours. 

You can even add your location to your Story by utilizing the app's in-built geotagging feature, letting viewers know where you are. 

Whether you want to show your appreciation for a particular restaurant or landmark or you simply want it to be known that you're on vacation in Paris or Bali, adding your location to your Instagram story is quick and easy. 

Here's how to do it. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Best Buy)

Samsung Galaxy S10 (From $899.99 at Best Buy)

How to add a location on an Instagram story 

1. Open Instagram on your smartphone or tablet's home screen by tapping on the app icon. 

2. Swipe left from your Instagram feed to open the Story screen. 

3. Either take a photo or video or select one from your device's library that you want to post to your Story.

4. In the upper right-hand corner of your screen, tap the icon that looks like a smiling face inside a Post-It note to reveal a list of options. 

5. Tap "Location." 

6. Either choose a nearby location from the automatically generated location lists or type in the location you wish to tag, then tap to select. 

7. Adjust the location tag where you want it to appear on the Story. 

8. Tap "Your story" to post.

The TV advertising business is in a major flux.

As consumers cut the cord and move to streaming services, advertisers are navigating a plethora of platforms that are trying to get a piece of the $70 billion TV industry.

Advertisers are working to balance their spending on linear TV with digital video. Publishers like HBO and NBC are moving into ad-supported streaming that rivals Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime. And adtech companies are racing to build the pipes needed to flood platforms like Hulu, Roku and Pluto TV with ads.

Business Insider is planning to publish a list of the top people who are shaping the future of TV advertising, whether by pioneering new ad formats, improving measurement, or testing new ways to buy ads. We're looking for big names as well as under-the-radar people from marketers, agencies, and platforms.

We will consider criteria including the person's role, responsibility, and influence.

The list will be determined by Business Insider's own reporting in addition to the nominations that we receive.

Please fill out this nomination form by March 6. We will aim to publish the list in March.

Whether it's a talked-about movie you ended up hating or a TV show your sister binge-watched on your account, you may want to remove some items from your Amazon watch list.

Removing content from your account can ensure that they aren't used in the algorithm for your recommendations.

To remove a video, you'll have to access your "Watch history" list in your Prime Video settings online. Unfortunately, there is no option to remove the entire list, and you'll have to scroll through and individually remove a show or check the box stating "I prefer not to use this for recommendations."

Here's how to do it. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

MacBook Pro (From $1,299.99 at Best Buy)

Lenovo IdeaPad 130 (From $299.99 at Best Buy)

How to delete your Prime Video watch history

1. Access the Amazon website on your Mac or PC. Log in if you haven't already.

2. Click the three bars in the upper-left hand corner next to the Amazon Prime logo. This will open a menu.

3. Click "Prime Video" followed by "Prime Video" again.

While companies are increasingly moving to the cloud, many still have a need for computing on-site on their own servers or data centers. This mix is often called the "hybrid cloud" — and Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said it acts as a funnel for the company's Azure public-cloud business, the leading rival to Amazon's cloud dominance.

Microsoft offers its customers what it calls an Azure Hybrid Benefit, which is intended to convert customers who have licenses to use Windows Server and SQL Server, two of Microsoft's flagship traditional-server products, to the Azure cloud. 

One-third of the customers who have that benefit available have started to take advantage, Hood said on Monday at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference.

She described it as "a funnel of opportunity for us, with customers who are already committed to our platform, to convert and help them start projects and be successful with Azure as the most cost-effective platform for them."

The hybrid cloud is key as Microsoft seeks to upend Amazon Web Services, the market leader. Microsoft, according to analysts, is "uniquely positioned" to get future cloud business because of its "best-in-class hybrid cloud offerings."

Microsoft's hybrid cloud

Microsoft thinks of itself as a hybrid-cloud pioneer.

"The reality that compute will need to exist at the edge and in the cloud ... is a reality that now people are beginning to see," Hood said on Monday. "We've been architecting that way from the beginning."

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has repeatedly said the company's cloud was designed around the idea that the cloud will work in tandem with devices at the "edge," meaning devices that process data locally, instead of off-site in the cloud. Self-driving cars, security cameras, and heavy industry robotics will have a need for not only powerful onboard processors but also the ability to tap into megaclouds like Azure for the more powerful infrastructure that underpins modern artificial intelligence.

Nadella even said he thinks Microsoft won the Pentagon's $10 billion cloud-computing contract because of what it has to offer when it comes to hybrid cloud computing.

"We are the only guys today who have the ability to distribute computation, dispute data, and then have consistency of management, security, and data across those two plates," Nadella recently said, apparently referring to on-site and cloud computing. "That's a hard thing."

Amazon, meanwhile, is challenging the Pentagon's decision, alleging political intervention. A judge recently told the Pentagon to hit pause on the contract.

Windows customers are important in the cloud race

Converting Windows Server and SQL Server customers is important for any cloud provider.

Microsoft created the Windows Server operating system and SQL Server database-management system years ago — Windows Server was introduced in 2003, and SQL Server goes all the way back to 1989 — and they've since become the cornerstones of the IT infrastructure at companies large and small. But while they were Microsoft inventions, both products are supported on rival clouds, including AWS and Google Cloud Platform.

Microsoft and AWS often debate which cloud is cheaper for those customers. Most recently, AWS attacked a Microsoft-sponsored study that showed the Microsoft Azure cloud was faster and cheaper than AWS in a certain common scenario. 

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