Meta Platforms is offering its social media users a “more seamless shopping experience” by inviting them to link their Amazon accounts to Facebook and Instagram so purchases will complete without having to leave the apps when clicking on display ads. “The opt-in experience will allow you to see real-time pricing, Prime eligibility, delivery estimates and product details on select Amazon product ads in Facebook and Instagram,” according to Meta. In the past year, Meta has made improvements to its online ad system, leveraging artificial intelligence to counter the effect of Apple’s 2021 privacy changes. Continue reading Meta, Amazon Team for In-App Shopping on Social Platforms

Having passed the California Assembly June 1 with bipartisan support and moved on to the Senate, the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA) has been kicked over to the next term, becoming a two-year bill. Instead of a scheduled hearing this week, AB 886 will go on calendar for 2024 while fine-tuning continues. The bill is reminiscent of laws passed in Canada and Australia that require companies including Meta and Google to pay publishers for news content. Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) says legislators are leveraging the session spillover and will not lose ground as they navigate to passage. Continue reading California Moves Big Tech News Bill to 2024, But Holds Firm

Image-sharing social platform Pinterest has named Amazon as its first third-party ad partner. The multiyear strategic partnership will see the e-commerce giant marketing various brands and products on Pinterest and porting interested shoppers back to its site to complete the sale for “a seamless on-Amazon buying experience.” The integration will begin later this year and roll out over several quarters. The news was timed to Pinterest’s Q1 results, which saw revenue up by 5 percent year-over-year to $603 million. The number of global monthly active users also increased, by 7 percent to 463 million, a gain of 13 million. Continue reading Pinterest Sets Multiyear Deal with Amazon for Third-Party Ads

The advertising industry is pushing back against the Federal Trade Commission’s exploration of rulemaking as relates to collecting personal data to serve ads, which the FTC is calling a crackdown on “commercial surveillance.” The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) says the FTC’s definition of that loaded term is “so broad” that any resultant rulemaking “could criminalize the Internet itself” as well as potentially reduce digital ad spending by billions of dollars. FTC chair Lina Khan says “potentially unlawful practices may be prevalent” in the “endless hoovering up of sensitive user data” that has become common practice in ad targeting. Continue reading IAB Says FTC Digital Ad Inquiry May End Up Costing Billions

Ad tech company DoubleVerify is launching the DV Attention Lab, a new measurement system designed to provide advertisers with more accurate engagement data, an alternative to cookies that the company says will help prevent third-party fraud. More than 50 data points power DoubleVerify’s Authentic Attention metrics, which analyzes ad exposure and consumer response analyzing campaign effectiveness in real time. “Disruption from regulatory shifts to cookie deprecation is hindering how brands can use existing tools. With that in mind, we are confident that privacy-friendly attention metrics will become the industry’s new performance currency,” DoubleVerify CEO Mark Zagorski says. Continue reading DoubleVerify Offers Brands New Way to Measure Campaigns

Meta Platforms is assessing “possible paid features” for its social apps, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, according to an internal employee memo. The initiative, under a freshly minted division called New Monetization Experiences, led by Pratiti Raychoudhury, represents Meta’s first coordinated move into paid features across social platforms serving an estimated 3.65 billion monthly users worldwide, per Statista. It comes at a time when Meta is under pressure to increase revenue, which has taken a hit from Apple’s ad-tracking changes and a general softening in digital ad spending. Continue reading Meta Explores New Monetization Features for Its Social Apps

Google has updated its developer Play Store policies with an aim toward tamping down intrusive ads and other unpleasant consumer experiences, such as VPN abuse and brand impersonation on Android. Full-screen interstitial ads of all formats (video, GIF, static, etc.) that display unexpectedly — that often lead to users engaging with something else — are forbidden effective September 22. Likewise, apps that allow ads at the beginning of a game level or during the beginning of a game content segment are on the robust list of infractions the Play Store will no longer tolerate. Continue reading Google Updates Play Store Policies to Protect Android Users

Google is delaying plans to phase out third-party ad tracking cookies on its Chrome browser until late 2024. The move will have broad ramifications as to how ads are targeted on websites. The Alphabet unit has been working under its Privacy Sandbox initiative since 2019 to find less intrusive alternatives to cookie-tracking technology. Google has been working with developers, publishers, marketers, regulators and advertisers to test its cookie alternative, and says feedback indicates more time is needed to test and evaluate the Privacy Sandbox before it’s phased-in to Chrome worldwide. Continue reading Google Delays Alternative to Cookies for Its Chrome Browser

Alphabet had a rocky second quarter with revenue of $69.69 billion, up 13 percent from the same period in 2021, though net income was down 14.6 percent to $16 billion. It was Alphabet’s slowest growth rate since Q2 2020, when COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the economy. In a contracting 2022 advertising market, Alphabet posted 12 percent ad growth, totaling $56.3 billion for the quarter ended June 30 versus the same period the previous year. Ad growth was down substantially over the 69 percent increase of Q2 2022, but increased nonetheless where others are declining. Continue reading Google’s Ad Growth Slows While Search Exceeds Projections

After much speculation, Netflix has revealed it has chosen Microsoft to help with configuring and launching an ad-supported subscription tier. Netflix announced plans for the new tier in April, explaining that a partner might be brought in to accelerate the effort and fuel innovation. Microsoft will supply ad-placement technology and ads served on Netflix will be exclusively booked through the Microsoft platform. “Microsoft offered the flexibility to innovate over time on both the technology and sales side, as well as strong privacy protections for our members,” Netflix COO Greg Peters explained in a statement. Continue reading Netflix Names Microsoft as Sales and Tech Partner for Ad Tier

Since launching in 2006, popular social service Twitter has remained largely unchanged. The company is now planning a wide-ranging series of new products with the goal of attracting new users. They include ephemeral content, an audio chat service, a newsletter platform, moderation tools and, most recently, new options to pay for exclusive content from some users and to launch communities for specific interests. By 2023, the company hopes to double its user base from its 2019 level and its revenue from 2020 levels. Continue reading Twitter Innovates to Lure New Users, Double Revenue by 2023

The majority of Twitter’s revenue comes from targeted advertising, but the company is now developing a subscription product that it has considered for years to create a new revenue stream. According to eMarketer, Twitter’s portion of the global digital ad market remains at 0.8 percent and has grown at a slower pace than those of Facebook and Snap. Its U.S. user base has also leveled off. The COVID-19 pandemic and pressure from investors to drive growth are other factors influencing Twitter’s decision to move forward. Continue reading Twitter Considers New Strategies for More Revenue Streams

Google is replacing third-party cookies on its Chrome web browser with a more privacy-compliant option, creating an uproar among advertisers and others that use them to track consumers’ browsing across websites. Google stated it has had positive test results for its technology that analyzes browsing habits without sending sensitive data to central servers. In Q2 of this year, the company is on track for “open outside testing of ad buys” using the new technology. Google previously said it would phase out cookies in 2022. Continue reading Google Tests New Technology to Replace Third-Party Cookies

In what could be touted as a privacy-related commitment, Google is expected to unveil new tools designed to limit the use of tracking cookies, including a dashboard-like function within its popular Chrome web browser that would give users information about where they’re being tracked and how to stop it, when desired. These tools are a product of years of internal debate, but the move could potentially strengthen Google’s lead in the digital advertising sector, while dealing a blow to other digital marketing companies.

Continue reading New Google Privacy Tools Aim to Limit Third-Party Cookies

After major brands including AT&T, Disney, Epic Games and Nestlé suspended their regular ad spending on YouTube, the popular video platform has made a move to temporarily disable comment sections on most video channels that feature children 13 and younger as well as teenagers that may risk “attracting predatory behavior.” The concern was that advertising was sometimes positioned along videos with minors that included predatory remarks in the comments sections. A few select channels will have comment sections that remain enabled, but will require monitoring for safety. Continue reading YouTube Disables Comments For Videos That Include Kids