THE NEWS WRAP: Hilary Clinton hires Google executive to oversee technology behind presidential bid

Former US secretary of state Hilary Clinton, who is tipped to announce her presidential candidacy in coming weeks, has snapped up a Google executive to be her chief technology officer.

 

Clinton has hired Stephanie Hannon – Google’s director of product management, civic innovation and social impact – in order to develop new ways to engage voters through technology, according to The Washington Post.

 

Hannon will oversee a team of software engineers and developers who will build websites and apps for the campaign.

 

The move comes after a string of technology hires in US politics. Last month the Obama administration brought on Silicon Valley veteran Jason Goldman as the White House’s first chief digital officer.

YouTube confirms plans to launch an ad-free subscription service

YouTube has today confirmed it will be launching an ad-free subscription service for users in exchange for a monthly fee, according to TechCrunch.

 

In an email to YouTube partners, the company said it would be creating “a new paid offering” following the success of its Music Key service and YouTube Kids app.

 

“We’re excited to build on this momentum by taking another big step in favour of choice: offering fans an ads-free version of YouTube for a monthly fee,” the email reads.

 

“By creating a new paid offering, we’ll generate a new source of revenue that will supplement your fast-growing advertising revenue.”

Twitter drops discover stream in favour of trends

Twitter is dropping its “Discover” stream in favour of a “Trend” section in order to give users a better understanding of what people are talking about on the social media platform.

 

The new stream will have brief descriptions of trending hashtags, along with other details such as how many tweets have been sent about a particular topic.

 

The updates are being rolled out on Twitter for iOS and Android.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 5.43 points, falling 0.03% to 17,875.42. The Aussie dollar is currently trading at around 76.4 US cents.

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