World

Global birth rates fall together; smartphones and social media may be a cause

Falling birth rates are spreading worldwide, and smartphones and social media are emerging as a key variable, a report said. More than two-thirds of countries are below the total fertility rate of 2.1 needed to maintain population. The decline is appearing in both advanced and developing countries, and researchers say economic conditions and housing costs alone cannot explain the simultaneous drop. Studies link earlier and steeper declines to regions where mobile internet spread quickly.

Telecommunications & Media

Netflix to expand ad placements, introduce vertical ad format in 2027

Netflix will significantly expand where ads appear in its service from 2027, including adding advertising to its smartphone app’s vertical video feed and to podcasts. Ads currently appear mainly during playback of standard horizontal content on its ad-supported Standard plan. Netflix said the plan has more than 250 million monthly active viewers and that 80 percent of members use Netflix at least once a week. It also plans to roll out the ad-supported plan to 15 more countries from 2027.