Google has announced that Duplex — the incredible AI system that allows Google Assistant to make real world calls on users’ behalf for things like restaurant reservations — will be available starting next month on a city-by-city basis for Google Pixel users, with Wired reporting that the service is planned to hit New York, Atlanta, Phoenix, and San Francisco by the end of this year. [Source: The Verge]
Facebook is now rolling out 3D photos to add make-believe depth to your iPhone portrait mode shots. Everyone can now view 3D photos and the ability to create them will open to everyone in the coming weeks. [Source: TechCrunch]
Snapchat parent company introduced 12 original shows amid its push into exclusive video content. “Snap Originals” will let viewers swipe up on their smartphone screens to open virtual “show portals” and step inside augmented reality (AR) scenes from the shows. [Source: Social Media Today]
Google announced Monday it would slowly shut down Google+, the search giant’s long-struggling social network, after finding a software bug that divulged the private data of as many as 500,000 users to hundreds of third-party applications. [Source: Social Media Today]
Facebook is coming up with new ways to reignite the efficacy of its existing applications. Towards this, it has now renamed its Camera Effects to ‘Spark AR’. [Source: Logicserve Digital]
Twitter is removing the ability to create Moments on its iOS and Android apps. This change is happening on October 23rd. Twitter will not be completely removing the ability to create Moments, as the functionality will still be available on desktop. [Source: Search Engine Journal]
Google is testing, or maybe rolling out, a new feature in the search results that lets you see more content from a web site without having to click to the site. [Source: Search Engine Land]
Facebook unveiled a diagnostic tool for agency partners in its Facebook Marketing Partners (FMP) program and announced that it is expanding the FMP program to consultants and smaller agencies. [Source: Marketing Land]
Amazon’s ad business is booming. Some advertisers are moving more than half of the budget they normally spend with Google search to Amazon ads instead, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, according to execs at multiple media agencies. [Source: CNBC]
EMarketer’s latest spending forecast shows that Facebook dominates online video advertising, much in the same way it has a commanding position in overall digital ad spending. [Source: Social Media Today]
