Pinterest’s Idea Pins creator platform has been described as a cross between TikTok videos and Facebook Stories. Now the social platform is extending brands’ similar creativity with Idea Ads, which can also combine video, images and music. Idea Ads can be created by the brands themselves or in collaboration with a Pinterest user, in which case the results are categorized as “Idea ads with paid partnership.” The idea is to extend brands boxed-in by video-first platforms the chance to engage users with mixed media for elements critical to DIY projects, like a printable ingredient or supply lists. Continue reading Pinterest Debuts New Ad Formats and Paid Partnership Tool

E-commerce company eBay is launching eBay Live, a live shopping platform that lets people browse, chat and purchase items from anywhere in the world using beta technology that combines entertainment with instant purchasing. The first series will offer a curated selection of rare trading cards from top eBay seller Bleecker Trading, and will be hosted by trading card enthusiast DJ Skee. The new platform is designed for social shopping, “allowing our community to come together over shared interests and merchandise,” explained eBay vice president of collectibles, electronics and home Dawn Block. Continue reading Collectibles Come to Social Shopping via eBay Live Platform

Snap’s investor warning of slow growth ahead has sent shivers through the social media sector, the digital advertising industry, and Wall Street. Though the general messaging that supply chain issues coupled with the war in Ukraine is bad for business is not exactly news, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel’s message that “the macro environment has deteriorated further and faster than we anticipated when we issued our quarterly guidance last month” hit a nerve. Snap lost 43 percent of its market cap on Tuesday, with the social media sector showing signs of drag and analysts forecasting trouble ahead for ad-supported media. Continue reading Dire Snap Forecast Dampens Social Media, Digital Ad Sectors

Pinterest has launched a new app that makes it easier for creators to live-stream content. Pinterest TV Studio for iOS and Android lets select creators stream live on Pinterest from multiple devices, in order to achieve different camera angles. Initially available in limited release, creators must obtain a special code from Pinterest in order to unlock the Studio functionality. As part of its latest quarterly earnings, announced April 27, Pinterest co-founder and CEO Ben Silverman said the company grew global revenue 18 percent year-over-year, “despite a challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical environment.” Continue reading Pinterest Launches TV Studio App for Creator Live Streaming

In April, Apple gave consumers the option to turn off ad tracking on iPhones, and this month Google began revealing plans to replace traditional cookie tracking with what it says will be a less intrusive measure. Experts say, however, these changes don’t actually safeguard data privacy. Rather, companies are taking a new approach that consolidates data power among fewer gatekeepers, a change some say may be for the worse. The new method, known as “first-party” tracking, prevents accruing a tracking history from app to app, but lets specific sites gather info with consumer permission. Continue reading Latest Privacy Moves Do Not Prevent Consumer Ad Tracking

Russia’s attack on Ukraine has focused attention on its attempts to censor Big Tech, but the nation’s most onerous recent move to control speech came last July, when President Vladimir Putin signed a law requiring foreign tech companies with more than 500,000 monthly visitors from within the Russian Federation to establish a physical presence within the country that would be held responsible for violations of local law. Russian authorities have warned companies including Meta, Apple, Google, TikTok and Twitter that they had until the end of February to comply with what has become known as “the landing law.” Continue reading Big Tech in Spotlight as Russia Censors News of Ukraine War

Having ridden the short-form video wave to popularity, TikTok now faces a quandary: advertisers want longer-form content in which to place their messaging, while users say they don’t even have sufficient attention span for minute-long videos. Last year, a TikTok survey indicated 50 percent of its users find clips of more than a minute stressful, and about a third of them zip through 60-second clips at double-speed. “It’s not because I don’t have time, but because I can’t concentrate,” one twentysomething user reportedly explained in a survey response. Despite that feedback, TikTok began experimenting through the second half of 2021 with videos of five minutes and 10 minutes. Continue reading TikTok Fights Attention Deficit, Chases Ads with Longer Vids

Snap Inc. ended 2021 with its first net profit on quarterly results since going public in 2017, with Q4 earnings of $22.5 million versus last year’s net loss of $113 million during the same period. The company’s Q4 revenue of $1.3 billion marked a 42 percent increase year-over-year, while Snapchat’s daily active users rose 20 percent to 319 million, beating analyst estimates on both counts, which sent Snap stock soaring last week. In 2022, Snap has to contend with Apple’s iOS privacy changes, something Meta Platforms forecasts will take a $10 billion bite out of its own earnings.  Continue reading Snap Notches First Quarterly Profits on $1.3 Billion Revenue

Pinterest stock spiked in extended trading Thursday after its 2021 earnings results stressed the company’s first full-year of profit, as well as the first year to tick above $2 billion in annual revenue. Pinterest stock rose 28 percent in extended trading on a better than expected Q4. “We took important steps in 2021 with the launch of our foundational technology to deliver a video-first publishing platform,” Pinterest co-founder and CEO Ben Silbermann said, emphasizing that the company would continue to focus on the new initiatives that helped revenue grow 20 percent for Q4 and 52 percent for the year. Continue reading Pinterest Posts Its First Full-Year Profit on Sales of $2 Billion

TikTok has launched features that offer new ways for content creators to get direct support from their fans, rewards for their creativity, and possible business collaborations. The Creator Next portal enables eligible creators to monetize their content by receiving Video Gifts for their short videos and Tips processed by Stripe. The social platform has also decided to open its TikTok Creator Marketplace (TTCM), launched in 2019, to more creators. Now, TikTok creators with more than 10,000 followers can register in TTCM “to collaborate with brands on opportunities that fit their interests and creative style, opening up new ways to get paid.” Continue reading TikTok Debuts New Tools, Opportunities for Content Creators

Pinterest is advancing its objective of becoming more than an image-sharing site by adding live shopping through an app called Pinterest TV that the company believes will help it become a creator destination. Pinterest TV will offer “a series of live, original and shoppable episodes featuring creators” streaming weekdays beginning November 8 on iOS and Android. Topics will span food, home, fashion and beauty. As part of the initiative, Pinterest is launching a virtual studio complete with producers who will help creators develop content, provide A/V support and become ready for live streaming. Continue reading Pinterest TV Launch Focuses on Live Shopping with Creators

Financial tech company PayPal clarified that it is not currently pursuing a deal to acquire image-sharing social platform Pinterest, shelving reports that surfaced last week, at least for the time being. PayPal stock rose approximately 3 percent while Pinterest shares fell 12 percent on news that the digital pinboard site was not being wooed to the tune of $70 per share, largely in stock, for a deal valued at roughly $45 billion. Assuming discussions were taking place, it’s hard to know if PayPal got cold feet, caving to a mostly negative market response, or decided now may not be the time to grow. Continue reading PayPal Not Planning to Acquire Image-Sharing App Pinterest

Snapchat is blaming Apple’s new digital advertising policy for what it predicts will be a slow Q4. Changes including an iOS rule letting users opt-out of ads make it difficult for advertisers to test campaigns and measure results, Snapchat claims. The prediction came as Snap Inc. released Q3 results, announcing $1.067 billion for quarterly revenue, just short of the $1.07 billion expected. Snap exceed its Q3 goal for daily active users, which hit 306 million, beating by 5 million its Q2 estimate. Despite a 57 percent revenue year-over-year increase, Snap stock value dropped significantly. Continue reading Mixed Snapchat Picture Results in Stock Dive on Q3 Results

PayPal is on an expansion path according to media reports of an offer to purchase of Pinterest at $70 per share in a $45 billion deal, mostly in stock. PayPal as of its most recent quarterly report, issued July 28, had $311 billion in receipts for Q2. PayPal’s share price fell 5 percent on the news, ending at $258.36 per share Wednesday. The move marks a decisive interest by PayPal to stake its claim in the space where content meets e-commerce. Pinterest, meanwhile, has launched a $20 million Creator Rewards fund and added more video features to its site. Continue reading Fintech Giant PayPal Explores $45B Acquisition of Pinterest

TikTok has introduced in-app shopping for the first time in a deal with e-commerce platform Shopify. Previously, users could shop on TikTok only by clicking ads. The move is designed to more seamlessly leverage the influencers aggregated on the meme-friendly video service. Participating Shopify merchants can now trick-out their profiles with shopping tabs that link to products like clothing, makeup and household products featured in TikTok content. Shopify is currently piloting the program with merchants including Kylie Jenner and expects to offer the feature to all e-commerce partners this fall. Continue reading TikTok and Shopify Partner to Pilot In-App Shopping Feature