High inflation and rising interest rates have in recent months squeezed marketing budgets across industries, hitting the earnings of ad-dependent companies such as Snap Inc SNAP.N and Pinterest Inc <PINS.N>. Consumers have also pulled back on spending, blunting gains from the publisher's plan to boost revenue by bundling its core news reports with digital content ranging from podcasts to cooking recipes and games. In a separate release, the Times said it had appointed strategy head William Bardeen as its chief financial officer, replacing Roland Caputo who had announced his retirement in December.