The 10 things in advertising you need to know today (GOOG)

AP

Good morning. Here's everything you need to know in the world of advertising today.

1. Google failed to meet investor expectation on earnings, and its stock got slammed. Its plunged as much as 8% in after-hours trading.

2. Google has quietly figured out a way to fight back against one of Facebook’s key advantages. One of Facebook's selling points to brands has always been that, because its social network is identity-based, it can better track all of a user's data and activity across devices.

3. How the 7/7 London bombings inspired a university lecturer to set up a viral video business that was bought by Rupert Murdoch for $176 million. We interview Sarah Wood, co-CEO of Unruly.

4. Former Mozilla VP Darren Herman is starting his own holding company to take on Madison Avenue. The as-yet-unnamed company is described on Herman's LinkedIn profile as "the refugee camp for Madison Avenue" that is looking to hire people who are "frustrated."

5. ABC is ending its partnership with Fusion. In a deal expected to close soon, Univision Communications Inc. bought out ABC's shares in Fusion — which they co-founded in October 2013.

6. Why "Easy Beats Better" is the new motto at Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. The belief that customers care about convenience more than food quality is guiding Taco Bell’s future, as well as Pizza Hut’s comeback efforts.

7. Stores employing beautiful staff may be hampering sales, study finds. Scientists observed that shy consumers were intimidated by beautiful people.

8. Starbucks' controversial rewards program changes drove almost 1 million customers to join. Under the new program, customers earn reward stars based on the amount of money they spend at Starbucks.

9. Michael Keaton goes for Oscar gold as the man behind McDonald's in "The Founder" trailer. Watch the commercial for the film which opens August 5.

10. Google's parent company Alphabet just hinted that it might cut back on some projects. Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat mentioned twice that the company is taking steps to "rationalize" the products and projects that the company develops.

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