The diminishing returns of online advertising. And… Innovation lessons from the Grateful Dead. Plus, rants and raves about the mixed reaction to Lyft’s new “Taco mode,” the easy way to win with Snapchat – assuming you’re HBO’s Game of Thrones, and the “dark side” of Influencers: Douchebags. It’s episode 68 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below:

YouTube has announced that they will no longer support 30-second ads that viewers can’t skip, starting 2018. No more. Nada. Zip. Why? A YouTube spokesman said… We’re committed to providing a better ads experience for users online. As part of that, we’ve decided to stop supporting 30-second unskippable ads as of 2018 and focus instead on formats that work well for both users and advertisers. This change will not affect shorter ads – the 20-second videos and six-second bumpers

How do radio, online radio, and podcasting fit into the larger pattern of tech trends washing over today’s audiences? What’s the power of audio in the first place? Peter Kafka is a great person to ask. Peter is Senior Editor for Media at Re/code, the digital news platform launched by Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg. Peter has been covering media and technology since 1997 for Forbes, forbes.com, and the brand that became Business Insider. He is the host of the “Recode Media wit

Apple says the future of TV is apps – but is it? And… Why is Verizon launching a video service nobody is asking for? It’s episode 27 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves for the ubiquity of all things “artisanal,” the 23rd Annual Sports Fan Loyalty Index, MTV’s gangbuster ratings performance for the VMA’s – on Snapchat, and the delightful inappropriateness of Nicki Minaj’s wax figure at Madame Tussauds.

Snapchat introduces Discover and goes from messaging to big media. Also: Amazon’s making their own original movies – here’s why the movie business will never be the same. Plus, Tom raves about Taylor Swift’s move to gobble up trademark protection to many of her phrases, while Mark rants about the utter absence of ideas for season two of the popular podcast, Serial. Mark also raves about the most popular Superbowl commercials – many of which didn’t even exist. It’s episode 12