1. Google Ads Officially Announces Rollout of Lead Form Extensions
Google confirmed it’s rolling out lead form ad extensions in the coming weeks, a feature that was recently spotted in testing. The company has been testing ad extensions that have the ability to capture leads. [Source: Search Engine Journal]
2. Brands on Facebook Messenger get three new features to better connect with customers
Facebook introduced three new features for Messenger designed to help brands communicate with their customers on the platform: icebreakers for commonly asked questions, updates to Click to Messenger ads, and more options for users replying to messages from a business page. [Source: MarTech Today]
3. Snapchat Adds New, Free Drawing AR Option Within the App
Snapchat is rolling out a new option which will enable users to paint their own 3D AR effects over their face, or anything else, from within the app itself. Users can use the tools in the front or rear-facing camera, enabling you to add new effects to whatever you like. [Source: Social Media Today]
4. Google Shows Paywall Content in Featured Snippets
A member of the search marketing community tweeted his surprise that Google ranked a paywalled web page in the featured snippets. Google’s official description of featured snippets precludes content that cannot be clicked through to be read. [Source: Search Engine Journal]
5. Facebook Launches New Option Which Enables Advertisers to List Ad Text Variants
Facebook added a new option which will enable advertisers to include multiple text variations for their ad copy, which Facebook’s systems will then be able to choose from when displaying the ad to different users. [Source: Social Media Today]
6. Facebook Launches ‘Preventive Health’ Tool to Raise Awareness of Personal Health Concerns
Facebook launched a new ‘Preventive Health’ tool, an optional process within its main app which can prompt users to undergo regular health check-ups, based on their age and gender information. [Source: Social Media Today]
7. Google Ads Brings New Sets of Data to Shopping Campaigns
Google Ads can now report on cart data for shopping campaigns, tracking all information related to purchases. An ad click on a product may lead to sales of other products, so cart data allows advertisers to see any items purchased after ads are clicked, which products are most likely to convert, and which items are the top sellers. [Source: Search Engine Journal]
8. Facebook Won’t Stop Lies in Political Ads – Here’s What it Should do Instead
Facebook has been under fire in recent weeks over its decision to exempt political ads from its fact-checking process and rules, which essentially means that politicians will be able to run ads on the world’s largest social media platform and say pretty much whatever they want. [Source: Social Media Today]
9. Facebook Announces Program to Help News Sites
Facebook announced a new feature called Facebook News. Given Facebook’s popularity, Facebook News may become a significant source of audience growth for publishers. [Source: Search Engine Journal]
10. Google launches Site Kit plugin for WordPress
Google announced that Site Kit is available globally for WordPress users. Site Kit is a WordPress plugin that allows users to set up and configure Google services to get insights in their WordPress dashboards. [Source: Search Engine Land]
