This Week in Social is a weekly digest of some of the biggest stories in social media marketing news. These stories are the show notes for the Brave Ad World Podcast. Each story is discussed at a deeper level on the podcast.

Google to Allow Brands to Target their Customer Databases (Read more at AdAge)

Google is taking a data page out of the playbooks of Twitter and Facebook. The search giant will soon allow advertisers to import their customer lists, something Facebook and Twitter have been doing for awhile now. Those lists must only include information that people voluntarily handed over, meaning advertisers can’t import lists they’ve purchased. From there, advertisers will be able to target those users across Google properties. Advertisers will also be able to take it a step further and target consumers who share the same characteristics as those imported.

Google faces some tough competition from the likes of Facebook, which has been upping its data game for many months. This is the next step for Google to ensure its competitive in this area, and a benefit for advertisers who want to make their ads as relevant as possible.

For brands this represents yet another benefit of building, managing and organize a consumer database.

Facebook Lets Advertisers Buy Video Like TV (Read more at AdWeek)

Facebook and Nielsen have partnered up to launch a new ad product called Target Rating Point Buying to help media buyers and planners buy video campaigns that work across Facebook and TV. Using the product, buyers will be able to plan with a TRP threshold in mind and then buy at least some of those TRPs on Facebook, which Nielsen will then verify delivery for on both Facebook and TV.

This move clearly makes Facebook an even bigger contender when it comes to social TV.

Now, it can serve as the ultimate complement to a TV ad buy, and marketers will think about how they activate across media simultaneously. It also helps Facebook make a case for getting a share of TV dollars because it becomes support for TV and not a replacement of the minds of marketers.

Facebook’s New Notes are Here (Read more at Facebook Newsroom)

Facebook’s more visual Notes feature is out of testing and starting to roll out. The update is accessible through the Web. However, Notes made on the Web are only viewable on mobile.

The update allows users to add cover photos to their notes, photos, resized photos, captions to photos and formatted text.

This is Facebook taking away reasons for users to go elsewhere. Medium, for example, has become an attractive platform for sharing stories in regards to experiences and occasional blogging. Now, Facebook has a similar feature with the pieces to make content beautiful.

Twitter Expands Buy Button (Read more at The New York Times)

The buy button is expanding its presence on Twitter. Now, any online retailer using Shopify, Demandware or Bigcommerce will be able to add buy buttons to their tweets.

Twitter joins multiple platforms in terms of platforms feeling out opportunities around a buy button. Everyone from YouTube and Google to Pinterest and Facebook are experimenting in this area.

It’s hard to determine just how successful these buttons will be as they aren’t necessarily related to users’ intent when they’re on these platforms. They’ve never had the opportunity, however, to make purchases, so intent could change, and this could be a powerful way to incite impulse purchases.

Facebook Updates How Profile Updates Display (Read more at Fortune)

Facebook is now allowing mobile users to upload temporary profile photos and 7-second videos as profile photos. The feature is in testing in the UK and California, but should it roll out more fully, users will be able to upload things like a team logo temporarily just for game time. A user could also share a quick video of what they’re doing at any given moment, including on vacation.

The move was inspired by users who changed their profile photos to support legalizing gay marriage.

In addition, Facebook is testing a feature that would allow users to post carousel-like image collections with their link posts.

Facebook has clearly seen users turn to their profile photos to show support for a cause, and the growth of video is certainly not lost on them. These are some nice features that add more personality to profiles.

What will be interesting is if this feature comes to pages, which would be able to upload quick short videos as their page profile pictures to draw attention to content. Brands could also upload photos that speak to temporary initiatives.

News Quick Hits

LinkedIn has launched Elevate, a new platform that curates content for a company’s employees, so they can easily share it out. The goal for Elevate is to make employee advocacy scalable by making it as easy as possible for employees. Admins can curate content categorize it, create sharing guidelines, manage employee access and measure the results. The service is subscription-based and aimed at companies with 2,000 or more employees. (Read more at AdAge)
YouTube has launched a new tool called Shopping ads, which allows users to shop for products mentioned in a video. The ads will go into testing this fall, and advertisers can purchase the ads the same way they do search ads. (Read more at Venturebeat)
Rumors are circulating that Twitter may eliminate its 140-character limit and allow for longer-form tweets. What this means is unclear, but this move would be consistent with Twitter’s decision to remove character limits on direct messages earlier this year. (Read more at Recode)