A massive SMS spamming operation kicked out tens of millions of text messages, pestering unsuspecting recipients with links to fake sites flogging loans and free money. The operation was simple but smart. The system processed vast batches of phone numbers and curated custom messages on the fly with links to the fake sites. These fake […]

In Riga, Latvia, an 80-person startup called Printify is reimagining the on-demand printing business. Gone are the days where small merchants have to sell their customized products on platforms like Zazzle, Society6, CafePress, or Teespring. Using Printify, e-commerce business owners can create clothes, accessories and more fixed with their designs, logos, art or photos, then […]

Volkswagen opened up pre-orders in Europe at a special launch event Wednesday for the first model in its new all-electric ID brand. Within 24 hours, the company received more than 10,000 registrations, a result that suggests growing demand for electric vehicles. VW revealed Wednesday the name, some pricing and range specs for the first model […]

A little over two years ago, The New Yorker ran a story about the survivalism craze sweeping Silicon Valley. The moneyed elite behind the tools of convenience that make modern life were, it turned out, making detailed contingency plans for the collapse of the civilization they’d help architect. Now, there’s a media company for that. The […]

Such hate. Such dismay. “How Slack is ruining work.” “Actually, Slack really sucks.” “Slack may actually be hurting your workplace productivity.” “Slack is awful.” Slack “destroys teams’ ability to think, plan & get complex work out the door.” “Slack is a terrible collaboration tool.” “Face it, Slack is ruining your life.” Contrarian view: Slack is […]

Existing approaches to blocking malicious advertising aren’t working — at least according to digital ad veteran Seth Demsey. That should resonate with anyone who’s ever encountered an ad that immediately redirected them to a website filled with annoying gift card offers. And it’s the issue that the startup Demsey co-founded, clean.io, is working to address. Today, […]

Facebook’s VP of VR product Hugo Barra is out after some leadership changes at the top of the Oculus organization. He’ll be stepping down into a new role leading AR/VR partnerships, while Eric Tseng, Facebook’s director of product management, will be replacing Barra in a new title as head of VR product management. Barra came […]

Netflix is further investing in its children’s programming ahead of the launch of a highly anticipated rival: Disney+. The company announced today it has acquired StoryBots — a children’s media company and brand created by JibJab’s founders, Gregg and Evan Spiridellis. The streaming service isn’t disclosing the acquisition price, but CNBC says the price was […]

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here. 1. Google Play is changing how app ratings work Specifically, Google says it will start giving more weight to reviews that discuss […]

Instagram will begin blocking vaccine-related hashtag pages when content surfaced on a hashtag page features a large proportion of verifiably false content about vaccines. If there is some violating content but under that threshold, Instagram will lock a hashtag into a “Top-only” post where Recent posts won’t show up to decrease visibility of problematic content. […]