BCBusiness

58 BCBusiness FEBRUARy 2018 "Native is set to become the de facto digital ad format of the future." (Dale Lovell, chief digital ocer and U.K. managing director, Adyoulike, ExchangeWire.com, October 26, 2017) Not to be confused with terminology around indigenous peoples, native content or advertising is created to look like editorial material when it's actually a paid advertisement. native ads have appeared in many of the world's most prominent publications, and they're starting to challenge traditional revenue models. Last year, Forbes estimated that 35 per cent of its digital ad revenue came from native. native JARgoN WATCH [from Latin nativus: native, natural] full of decent, mildly progressive folks and streets that are pleasingly pothole- free. But a councillor of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, took a more futuristic approach. His pitch to Amazon depicted a post- apocalyptic hellscape in which climate change has spread wild•res and drought over the Prairies while monster hurri- canes and rising seas ravage coastal cities. In the midst of this devastation and despair sits Sault Ste. Marie—the Happiest Temperate Zone on Earth. City councillor Matthew Shoemaker, who says he got his information from the Popular Science website, claims that the Sault will remain largely untouched by global warming while other locales su†er. Safe and sound, Amazon employ- ees will stroll to and from work whistling happy tunes—perhaps whistling a little louder to drown out the screams and pleas for help from Toronto and Detroit and so on. It leaves open the question of just what Amazon would be selling to the outside world—bottled water, freeze-dried food and •re extinguishers, probably. Out-of-the-way cities have been selling themselves based on their wonderful small-town qualities, leaving out the unavoidable reality that 50,000 jobs and $5 billion might be expected to land on a small city like a rhinoceros on a balloon. And here is true love—the city of Stonecrest, Georgia, has o†ered to change its name to Amazon, Georgia. More towns may be choosing to keep their own names these days, but darn it, the good people of Stonecrest are traditionalists. Naturally, Vancouver is also making its pitch. What are its chances? According to the website Sperling's Best Places, Vancouver is the worst place. Dead last. On a list of 64 potential Amazon HQ2 sites, Vancouver was ranked No. 64. That's 42 places behind Detroit, whose civic motto is "A Di†erent Water Supply Than Flint." We even •nished behind Newark, New Jersey. Is it true? Is Vancouver really the worst choice for Amazon? Hardly. Consider: if the councillor of Sault Ste. Marie is correct and climate change does portend doom for coastal centres, Amazon is sure to build a massive wall around Seattle, and that wall can simply be extended to take us in, too. Probably cheaper than building another one somewhere else. And that's not all. In some very important ways, Vancouver is Amazon- ready. A smaller centre would surely su†er tremendous disruption if a new Amazon HQ were to arrive—soaring real estate prices, tra¢c congestion, lack of overall a†ordability. Vancouver already has all that stu†. No biggie. Local TV newscasts could just recycle their usual lead stories about the growing housing crisis. New Amazon sta† could probably even a†ord to occupy local Airbnb rental units and pay by the night, solving that controversial issue as well. Everybody wins. Amazon expects to announce its decision early in 2018. If Vancouver can keep sea levels down for at least the next few months, it just might have a shot. And with the odds currently sitting at 64¥1, you can cash in, too. Place your bets. Leading research. Finding answers. Saving lives. Your gift to Arthritis Research Canada supports research aimed at arthritis prevention, early diagnosis and treatment, and quality of life issues. With almost 6 million Canadians affected by arthritis, please help make arthritis research a priority! DONATE TODAY www.arthritisresearch.ca 1.855.750.0400 Leading research. Finding answers. Saving lives. ARTHRITIS RESEARCH CANADA

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