Siri Gets Serious, Microsoft Gets Its Mojo Back and Everything Gets Encrypted in 2014

Annual predictions for the year ahead in tech from analyst Mark Anderson.

You Spent $1.2 Billion Shopping Online on Black Friday

Good job.

Voices

On Black Friday, the Real Fight Was Online

Brick-and-mortar retailers mounted a furious defense on Black Friday to head off incursions into one of the industry’s biggest shopping days by such online rivals as Amazon.com.

Sheryl Sandberg Says Facebook Totally Doesn’t Have a Teenager Problem

Facebook’s COO talks to AllThingsD about teens, the health of the company’s mobile ad business and the possibility of a major Snapchat acquisition.

Voices

How Airlines Mine Personal Data In-Flight

One day soon, frequent fliers should expect flight attendants to know their birthdays, how they like their coffee, and what they’re likely to buy on board.

AllThingsD Week in Review: Twitter’s Product Problem and Ballmer Keeps His Microsoft Shares

The Top 10 stories that powered AllThingsD this week, in one convenient post.

News Byte

Chirpify’s “Action Tags” Bring In-Stream Buying to Brand Campaigns

Social commerce and marketing startup Chirpify on Thursday launched “action tags,” a way for consumers to purchase items via platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. So, for instance, on Twitter, a marketer using the new tool can tweet out ads with two hashtags: The action tag “#buy,” as well as a separate hashtag for the campaign (like, say, “#hotdogs”). From there, a consumer can make a purchase by tweeting a reply to the brand, with both hashtags included.

News Byte

PayPal Plans Crowdfunding Policy Overhaul

PayPal plans to overhaul its policies around payments resulting from crowdfunding campaigns, the company said in a blog post earlier this week. Calling — but not by name — sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo “potentially open to abuse,” risk management VP Tomer Barel wrote that PayPal is “talking to the major crowdfunding players that we work with to put in place a permanent solution that avoids unnecessary account limitations.” PayPal’s current ability to hold up funds came under fire earlier this week when the company froze (and then released) funds raised for a fighting video game on Indiegogo, Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm.

Twitter Taps Ex-Ticketmaster CEO as Head of Commerce

Nathan Hubbard joins the flock.

Amazon Aims to Court Developers With In-App Merch Deals

A new potential revenue stream could pique developer interest in building for Amazon’s Appstore.

A Quick Chat With eBay CEO John Donahoe