This Week in Social and Digital (Week of January 15)
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.
YouTube Implements Tighter Requirements for Ads Program
YouTube is addressing another round of brand safety concerns by adding new eligibility requirements for content creators to show ads.
Google Preferred videos will now have full human oversight. Google Preferred is meant to to show ads only against videos that are of the highest quality, but YouTube ran into problems with ads running with videos that have been found to be objectionable.
The move follows a controversial video from one of YouTube’s biggest stars. Logan Paul showed a video that showed a body of a suicide victim. Paul was removed from the Google Preferred program.
Now, YouTube is implementing stricter criteria for creators being able to have ads (channels will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the past 12 months), manual oversight of Google Preferred content and additional third-party oversight from Double Verify and Integral Ad Science.
The theme of brand safety that was a major concern in 2017 appears to be making its way into 2018. YouTube addressed a lot of challenges last year.
These changes represent risks any brand will face any time it chooses to work with influencers. Brands don’t have complete control, and part of the reason for an influencer partnership is that influencer conveying a brand’s message in a personal and authentic way. That authenticity comes with risks, and we’ll be seeing how those risks play out of over the course of the next year.
Facebook Makes Plans to Simplify Messenger
Messenger chief David Marcus of Facebook revealed plans to simplify Messenger in 2018. He argued the app has received a lot of new capabilities and features, and while some have taken off, the amount has cluttered the app. Still, that hasn’t stopped it from amassing 1.3 billion monthly users.
Marcus revealed plans for a massive simplification and streamlining of Messenger. That will be paired with plans for more video messaging features and a greater emphasis on connecting businesses with customers in store. Messenger will also be adding more features to group chat.
There are a few areas Messenger may focus on simplification. Messenger’s launched its Messenger Platform, which features automated bots from third-parties that range from customer service tools to games. To help users find useful extensions and bots, Messenger added the Discover Tab. This system is pretty cumbersome, and Messenger could do a lot of work here to make discoverability easier. It also now has Messenger Stories, ads on the front page of the app and peer-to-peer payments.
It’s gotten to be fairly bloated for a messaging app, and it sounds like it’s going to be doubling down on peer-to-peer communication.
News Quick Hits
- Facebook appears to be prepping for a major augmented reality push for brands. The social network is hiring a product management lead for for the Camera Effects Platform. This person will be responsible for getting the tool ready for primetime for more advertisers. Facebook has launched a handful of AR campaigns on behalf of brands. The results have been described as “basic,” but given Facebook's recent updates to make the News Feed more focused on friends and family, AR could be one way for brands to stand out.
- Roku has introduced a new measurement tool called Roku Ad Insights. The tool is designed to let brands measure their advertising efforts through OTT services. The tool lets advertisers quantify ad campaigns by demo, measure ad effectiveness, better understand cord-cutters and ensure ads reach them, and finally, get feedback on ad effectiveness among Roku’s audience using live on-screen surveys.
- Instagram is testing a couple new features. The first is a Type tool that lets users choose a background and then overlay it with text. The second is screenshot notifications. Users will be notified if their Instagram Stories are screenshot.
- Snapchat is making moves to capitalize on Facebook’s decision to all but remove publishers from the News Feed. Snapchat just hired a new manager of media partnerships who will oversee Discover partnerships. Beyond that Snap CEO Evan Spiegel has cited content as a top three priority for 2018. The move does come at a time in which user growth has stalled on Snapchat, and Snapchat laid off 24 people from its content division.