1. Google Launches Discovery Ads in All Regions, Providing New Ways to Reach Browsing Consumers
After first announcing the option last year, Google has now made its Discovery Ads available in all regions, providing another consideration for your campaigns. Discovery Ads will be displayed on YouTube, in the Google Search app and even within Gmail, highlighting “timely offers to shoppers as they check their inbox for the latest products and deals”. [Source: Social Media Today]
2. Facebook launches Collab, a mix-and-match app for making collaborative music videos
Facebook’s internal R&D group, NPE Team, is rolling out yet another new app called Collab after having just launched a new group audio calling app, CatchUp. With Collab, the focus has now returned to video, and specifically, the concept of watching, mixing and matching original videos together, beginning with music. [Source: TechCrunch]
3. Twitter now lets you schedule tweets from its web app
Twitter says you can now schedule tweets right from the main web app. When composing a tweet, you should see a little calendar icon on the bottom row of icons at the bottom of the compose window. Click that and you can specify when you want your tweet to be sent. [Source: The Verge]
4. Google’s ‘Top Stories’ to Show More Than Just AMP Pages
Google is making a change to its ‘top stories’ section in search results by removing AMP as one of the requirements for getting featured. In addition, Google will be incorporating the newly announced page experience signal into its ranking criteria for top stories. [Source: Search Engine Journal]
5. Facebook Adds New AR Tools for Creators, Including Music-Activated Effects
Facebook has announced some new AR tools for its Spark AR Studio, in which creators can build their own digital effects for use in Facebook and Instagram Stories. These include new music responsive functionality for Instagram effects, a new option to build AR effects which alter existing photos and videos and more. [Source: Social Media Today]
6. Google Rolls Out 3 New Attributes For GMB Listings
Google is letting businesses highlight more types of service offerings by adding three new attributes to Google My Business profiles. The company has added the following attributes to Google My Business profiles, which appear in Search and Maps: “curbside pickup”, “no contact delivery” and “dine-in”. [Source: Search Engine Journal]
7. Twitter’s Making it Easier to Add Alt-Text Descriptions to Uploaded Images
Twitter’s making it easier for users to add text descriptions to their uploaded images, with a dedicated ‘+ALT’ button displayed on the image itself. The added visibility for the option will mean that people who hadn’t considered alt-text before will now be more aware of the option. [Source: Social Media Today]
8. Google Search Console Updated With Core Web Vitals Report
Google’s Core Web Vitals, a set of metrics deemed essential to delivering a good user experience, now have their own report in Search Console. Google considers these metrics “critical” to all web experiences, and is now providing site owners with an easy way to measure them. [Source: Search Engine Journal]
9. Instagram will share revenue with creators for the first time through ads in IGTV
For the first time in its history, Instagram will start sharing revenue with creators through ads in IGTV and badges that viewers can purchase on Instagram Live. To begin, the ads will only appear when people click to watch IGTV videos from previews in their feed, and the initial round of ads will be vertical videos up to 15 seconds long. [Source: The Verge]
10. Google Ads Incorporates Retail Category Reporting
Google Ads has announced a new feature for e-commerce advertisers that allows them to see performance by retail category between search and social. The report lets advertisers choose up to 5 levels of a retail category, with a breakdown of performance metrics on Search vs. Google Shopping. [Source: Search Engine Journal]