1. Google Announces New 3D Ad Creation Tools and New Live and AR Ad Options for YouTube
Google is looking to provide more advanced ad tools, with the addition of a new platform for creating 3D ads, and new AR and Live options for YouTube promotions. [Source: Social Media Today]
2. Facebook Releases Details of Its Coming ‘Libra’ Cryptocurrency
Facebook has finally released the official outline and documentation for its on-platform cryptocurrency called Libra. ‘Libra’ will be part of Facebook’s ‘Calibra’ crypto subsidiary. [Source: Social Media Today]
3. Pinterest Announces New Third-Party Partnerships to Expand its On-Platform Shopping Options
Pinterest has renamed its third-party partner program, and added new technology partners to facilitate expanded product listing capacity. The new focus for Pinterest Partners is shopping, with a range of tools that will be able to help connect businesses direct to the platform, streamlining their product listing and promotion processes. [Source: Social Media Today]
4. Facebook Changes Reach of Comments in News Feed
Facebook announced a change to its algorithms that will affect the reach of comments on a post. Comments that have specific quality signals will be highly ranked. Low quality comment practices may result in less reach. [Source: Search Engine Journal]
5. Advertisers can now target Spotify podcast listeners
Spotify has expanded its ads capabilities with podcast listener targeting. Advertisers can reach Spotify Free podcast listeners, and in select markets, they’ll also be able to narrow their campaigns to certain podcast categories, such as “Comedy,” “Lifestyle & Health” and “Business & Technology.” [Source: Marketing Land]
6. Salesforce Marketing Cloud brings Einstein AI capabilities to email marketers
Salesforce revealed new Einstein AI capabilities available for its Marketing Cloud users. The new features, available to customers now, aim to help marketers reach their customers more efficiently and effectively with email through the use of artificial intelligence. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]
7. Google Lets Advertisers Promote YouTube Live Streams as Display Ads
Google is introducing a new ad format that lets marketers run YouTube live streams in display ads. Live stream ads can appear at any place where Google’s display ads are shown. [Source: Search Engine Journal]
8. 49% of all Google searches are no-click, study finds
A recent research data provided by marketing analytics firm Jumpshot showed that zero-click searches on Google have steadily risen over the past three years. In the first quarter of 2019, 48.96% of all U.S. Google searches ended without a click, an increase of 12% from the first quarter of 2016. [Source: Search Engine Land]
9. Google Ads portfolio bid strategy changes: Removing eCPC, average daily budget replacing target spend
Google is making changes to two portfolio bid strategies. Portfolio bid strategies can be applied across multiple campaigns in a Google Ads account. [Source: Search Engine Land]
10. Google My Business adds more branding tools, introduces searchable @shortnames
Google My Business has evolved from a way to get accurate data in Google search results into something much more complex and powerful. Google now thinks of GMB as a local “engagement platform,” which increasingly enables transactions. [Source: Search Engine Land]
