Sales, Social and Tech

China has decided to ban "Livestreaming" on the country's Twitter alternatives after the authorities found that censorship is hard work.  Wrote Mashable , Chinese authorities have sent shockwaves through the social media sphere, with a blanket ban on livestreaming across three major online platforms. On Thursday, the government ordered Weibo, iFeng and ACFUN to stop all its video and audio streaming services, according to an FT report. This blanket ban would impact "Livestream" stars like Jing Qi, who underwent plastic surgery to boost her online popularity, and the 30 billion yuan (USD$4.3 billion) revenue produced by this internet platform. The cottage industry that rose from the "Livestream" technology would also be impacted. Wrote Reuters , Live streaming has also bolstered the growth of ancillary businesses, including agencies looking to find the next live streaming star, consumer loans, and even cosmetic surgery. Deng Jian, chai...

A SUV in China was stolen and the baby in the car was also abducted. The sad part of the story was that the man responsible for it confessed to "strangling the baby and burying him in the snow". A depressing story to start the day, but brandchannel reported that a dealer at China Buick Cars decided to take advantage of this tragedy as a marketing tool. Wrote brandchannel, "As events were unfolding, one of Buick's dealers in China decided the Changchun tragedy would be the perfect subject to tout features on its new model cars. Liaoning Tianhe Buick, a dealership in Jilin's neighbor province, posted the following (now deleted) on its Weibo page (as a reader points out, before anyone knew the baby had been murdered): "A few thoughts following the Changchun stolen car incident: When buying a car it's completely okay to choose higher technology. Tianhe Buicks carry the OnStar GPS system, allowing the lockdown of a stolen vehicle at any time and place...