Reading up on the most compelling social media, tech, and brand stories is one of the joys of being the editor of Marketing Dive.

From boxes of bull excrement to auto sales moving online, these are the most important stories of the week.

Google Glass's tumultuous week

Google is pulling the plug on its Glass Explorer program—at least for right now. The product will no longer be available to consumers in its current form, as it moves out of Google X's purview and gets upgraded to its own entity within Google. The company may rethink the product entirely and relaunch at a later date under the leadership of iPod innovator and Nest Labs founder Tony Fadell.

The news comes on the heels of reports that Google Glass was having some success in the medical field, a sign that the product’s best shot may be in B2B applications. Given that Google Glass hasn’t taken off in the B2C market, either the technology isn't ready for mainstream use — or consumers aren't ready for wearables. What Fadell's team decides to do while the current product is shelved is worth watching: Will they remarket it to consumers? If so, how? Or will they just lean towards B2B applications going forward? 

McDonald's bold rebranding hits flat note

McDonalds decided to start 2015 off with bold rebranding intended to appeal to a consumer audience that now favors fresher foods over Big Macs. The chain isn't switching up its menu to bring customers farm-to-table meals, but instead wants to remind you of the community worth that the Golden Arches bring with its latest ad 'Signs.' The ad instead just puzzled and angered people.

The McDonalds commercial that wants us to thank them for changing their signs during national tragedies is more tasteless than the McRib.

— Mike Polk Jr. (@mikepolkjr) January 12, 2015

@McDonalds sorry, show your humanity by paying you workers more, not by showing maybe ten signs out of about a few thousand.

— Tiffany Fannin (@bluevol1976) January 12, 2015

It appears that the nostalgia isn't exactly working with some consumers. As revenues continue to look bleak, it might be back to the drawing board for McDonald's marketing team.

Facebook at Work is real and it's here

After speculation this fall that Facebook was building a LinkedIn rival, 'Facebook at Work' officially launched this week. The social media site wants to rethink corporate communications as we know them. The site is supposed to enable interaction among colleagues, including the sharing and editing office documents.

Everything Facebook has been touching lately has turned to gold: Facebook Messenger, videos—even Mark Zuckerberg's reading list. If Facebook at Work starts allowing ads—which sources say it could—that could prove to be a lucrative opportunity for B2B marketers.

Snapchat's ads are effective and will cost you a pretty penny

When it was first announced last fall that Snapchat was going to start integrating ads into the app, some were skeptical. The whole point of the app was to send photos and messages in secret, so wouldn't ads just send users running? Apparently not, a study revealed this week. The app decided to run ads in the 'Stories' tab of the app, resembling a mini-movie that doesn't take away from the feeling of the app. A survey by Milward Brown—who was working with Snapchat, mind you—found that 44% of users enjoyed the ads. Yes, that is still less than half, but quite good considering the skepticism surrounding the ad integration. Not only that, but the ads apparently caused a 13% ticket increase for Universal for the movies 'Ouija' and 'Dumb and Dumber To.'

Given the news, Snapchat has upped the ante for potential advertisers. News also broke this week that Snapchat asks for $750,000-per-day to advertise and the fee is non-negotiable. That seems like a steep price given that the app is still very young. Adweek broke the story—and its sources are anonymous—but it may be telling that Snapchat has yet to respond to the claims. The rate is even higher than YouTube's, which asks for $500,000 per day. As of now, it appears that some brands are willing to pay that fee. Only time will tell if the app will be forced to negotiate down.