This Week in Social (Weeks of March 2)
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 Breaks Up Google+ Features (Read more at The Verge)
Google is shifting its approach to Google+. Bradley Horowitz, formerly the vice president of product for Google+, is going to take total charge of the platform.
Horowitz is going to be making some changes. The first of which involves taking Google+’s photo elements out of the rest of the platform, which Horwitz refers to as “Streams.” So, we’ll have Google Photos and Streams.
This looks to be the end of Google+ as we know it as Google breaks apart key features into separate offerings. That might be a wise approach for Google.
Google+’s photo options were very impressive, but Google+ did not catch on in a mass way with users. However, its photo offering just may.
It will be interesting to see what else Google decides to take out of Google+, perhaps Hangouts. Making that into a separate, more mainstream consumer-friendly offering could ensure more mass adoption.
Twitter Allows for Embeddable Videos (Read more at Mashable)
Twitter has a new feature that allows users to embed Twitter-hosted videos on websites. The feature is available within the options associated with a tweet. From there users can copy the code and place it on a website. The embedded video is in a Twitter player with a Twitter logo.
The move is no surprise, but it’s an important one, especially because of Twitter Videos’ potential for real-time news. News organizations will be able to take tweets and embed them on their websites.
In any instance where Twitter video is embedded, Twitter wins. It keeps the traffic on its network and potentially routes viewers to Twitter.com.
Pinterest Rolling Out New Pins and Targeting (Read more at AdAge)
Pinterest is improving its ad-targeting tools. Up until now, advertisers have had to target based on broad categories, such as sports.
Soon advertisers will be able to take a more nuanced approach, according to AdAge, by targeting fans of soccer, for example. In addition to targeting by interests, advertisers will also be able to target by audience segments, such as “outdoor enthusiast.” Finally, Pinterest is testing animated pins, which move.
Pinterest is quickly evolving to be more advertiser-friendly. Improved ad targeting and more options for Promoted Pins are a solid start. All of this on top of a rumored ‘Buy’ button could make Pinterest an even more attractive platform for advertisers, especially retailers.
Instagram Rolls Out Carousel Ad Unit (Read more at AdWeek)
Everyone seems to be rolling out carousel ad units. It started with Facebook two weeks ago, Pinterest last week and now, Instagram joins the crowd.
Instagram’s carousel ads feature multiple images in a single ad unit. Users can swipe left to learn more within the ads, and advertisers can use them to “tell sequenced stories in beautiful, compelling ways that lead to meaningful results for their businesses,” according to Instagram.
The new units offer a lot of potential for advertisers to deliver a more complete message in a single unit, but perhaps the most exciting aspect is advertisers can now send users to a website with a ‘Learn More’ button. Advertisers will be able to do more than just branding. They’ll be able to include a CTA and gain a better understanding of how ads are performing. Instagram, however, will not measure click-through-rates.
Facebook Opening Ad Exchange (Read more at AdAge)
Facebook has an ad exchange in the works. The exchange will be powered by Facebook-acquired LiveRail, and it will allow publishers to sell their ads through real-time auctions on the platform. From there, advertisers will bid through automated tools.
LiveRail will allow Facebook to sell both digital banners and video ads.
Facebook is going head-to-head for dollars against Google with this offering. Google also offers ad-tech services with Google’s AdX exchange. The potential is huge for both online companies as advertisers look to consolidate some of their dollars in automated digital ad buys.
News Quick Hits
- Google has announced that it will soon offer U.S. mobile phone service using solar powered planes to provide wireless Internet. The plan is to follow the same approach it did for Google Fiber, which has been a small, market-focused effort. (Read more at AdAge)
- Google’s Contacts app has gotten an update to integrate calendar appointments and email. Users can easily see emails they’ve exchanged with a contact and upcoming appointments they have with them. (Read more at The Next Web)
- Etsy has filed for a $100 million IPO. The social selling website has 54 million members and 1.4 million sellers. 19.8 million of Etsy’s users have made at least one purchase in the past year. (Read more at Venturebeat)
- Facebook’s Slignshot app has gotten an Explore feature to help users find other people who are active on Slingshot and creating inspiring and funny content. (Read more on the Slingshot Blog)
- Facebook Pages are going to see a slight decrease in their likes starting March 12. At that time, Facebook will remove any likes from closed accounts, including those that have been memorialized and those that have been deactivated. Facebook says this should help advertisers have a better understanding of their audiences and put targeting features like lookalike audiences to better use. (Read more at VentureBeat)
- Twitter is releasing new targeting options with a feature called Partner Audiences. This will allow advertisers to target various groups like “cereal buyers” or “coffee buyers.” Twitter has partnered with Acxiom and Datalogix to make this targeting possible. (Read more at TechCrunch)
- Imgur has released its first official iOS app. The app will allow users to upvote, downvote and favorite images. They’ll also be able to sort by popularity and time, easily comment and access their profiles. Users cannot, however, upload their own images from the app. Imgur has become popular as an image sharing platform on Reddit. (Read more at DigitalTrends)