Weekly Tech News Wrap-Up

It’s Friday. It’s Donut day. And if you’re in Pittsburgh, it’s the start of the Three Rivers Arts Festival.

Life is good.

This week we talk new healthcare industry technology startup, the fact that Google records you, and new YouTube ad functionality. 

Life After Faceook for Ebersman

Former Facebook CFO, Dave Ebersman– yeah, you know – you guy who took Facebook pubic and all – has started his own venture.

And it’s actually really, really cool.

Lyra Health, which is a tech start-up focused on behavioral health and mental health issues, will help to connect individuals with appropriate treatment. According to Ebersman, there is a lack of coordinated care in the mental health industry, leaving individuals undiagnosed, or treated with ineffective methods. 

“The system that we have is terrible, works poorly and is frustrating to use; people who are sick suffer and there is a significant economic and productivity cost,”

- Dave Ebersman

Lyra will organize and coordinate employers, health plans and providers to help patients navigate the industry with the aid of many different tools.   

Check out the details, here. 

Surprise, Surprise: Google Records You.

No shocker there, folks. A CNN article this week announced that Google keeps audio records of all of your “Ok Google” requests.

So this is when you start to feel a little awkward if you thought your incognito web browser extended to the “Ok Google” functionality.

Google recorded these in an effort to further personalize your overall Google experience. On Monday when Google launched their “My Account” feature, which aims to show you what information they collect.  According to the big G, they collect your recordings to better recognize your voice and understand the tasks you want to accomplish. 

The good news is you can delete the recordings in your Google Account by going to the Voice and Audio Activity section. 

Repeat after me, “this enriches my Google Experience”, and then read more, here.

YouTube Product Ad Updates

You know those video ads that appear before you get to the Taylor Swift Mad Love music video... and, uh, other videos too? YouTube is spicing things up in order to make those ads a bit more appealing.

YouTube announced that over the next couple months, they will be introducing click-to-shop functionality as a new video ad type.

Several weeks ago, YouTube made their first update – to include interactive cards in the ads. Now, those ads will allow advertisers to include product info and links to purchase the service or product. 

As it currently stands, the user won’t be able to buy the product on YouTube, itself. They will still need to click to the company website. 

"One of the things we saw was people going off YouTube and searching on Google.com for that product [seen in an ad on YouTube], and then clicking the product listing. In this case we're just reducing the friction,"

- Lane Shackleton, YouTube Senior Product Manager 

As AdAge describes it, it transforms the commercials into more “interactive infomercials”. 

Check out how this improved Wayfair ads and more, here.  

If your blog consistently covers tech and social updates and you think you should be included in our weekly wrap-ups,  tweet us the link to your blog.  

And just because it's Friday, I want you to feast your eyes on what is quite possibly the greatest GIF ever made:

Right? I've honestly been looking at it for 5 minutes straight.