| Instagram doubles down on messaging, Patreon announces a controversial new service fee and Google brings celebrities into mobile search. It's The Daily Crunch for December 7, 2017. (Also, Darrell Etherington refuses to leave Berlin, so I'll be filling in until Wednesday next week.) 1. Instagram is testing a standalone app for direct messaging The app — which is only available in Uruguay, Chile, Turkey, Italy, Portugal and Israel — allows you to create and share stories with your Instagram friends. But you could already do this in Instagram, so why build a separate app? Maybe it's another way to ramp up competition with Snapchat. Or maybe it's just part of Facebook's broader mobile strategy, where messaging and other features often end up in separate apps. 
2. Patreon's new service fee spurs concern that creators will lose patrons Starting on on December 18, patrons will start paying a 2.9 percent service fee, plus 35 cents for each individual pledge. 3. Google's mobile search results now include videos of celebs answering your questions The videos provide answers to questions like "Can Will Ferrell really play the drums?" or "How many languages does Priyanka Chopra speak?" or "Can Tracee Ellis Ross sing?" 4. Bitcoin mining marketplace NiceHash loses tens of millions of dollars following hack The news comes as Bitcoin is flying sky high after crossing the $14,000 $16,000 $18,000 mark for the first time. 5. Compass gets $450M from SoftBank; real estate portal now valued at $2.2B You know, I actually used Compass (back when it was called Urban Compass) to find my current apartment in New York. 6. Ford recruits Alibaba to help break into China's electric vehicle industry The scope of alliance is fairly broad and vague at this point, but a large chunk of the"strategic collaboration" appears to be based around developing a direct sales channel to reach consumers in China. 7. Burrow raises $4.3M for its modular sofa This could appeal to anyone who's tried to carry a sofa up a twisty flight of stairs. | 
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