Google updating political advertising policies, Snapchat announces all political ads are fact-checked, Instagram further roles out like count ban, Twitter testing tweet scheduling in-app, Snapchat introducing longer un-skippable ads, Twitter launches new Conversation Insights

As pressure mounts for Facebook to make changes to its political ad policies, it might finally be listening following Google announces its own changes and Snapchat giving details on how it fact-checks all political ads. This week has also seen Instagram announce that it is rolling out its ban on like counts to more countries as it continues to test the change to the platform. Twitter is also testing a new feature, this time scheduling within its tweet composer via its app and website, which could reduce the need for third-party tools. Snapchat is changing up its ad formats, allowing advertisers to create ads that are up to three minutes long, keeping part of its un-skippable functionality in the mix. Finally,…

Advertisers are often tempted to use sensationalist mass communication to promote their brand, which isn't a good idea

It can seem like the news cycle these days is filled with sensationalism and attention-grabbing headlines, putting brands in a challenging and potentially compromising position. Brands invest in advertising to attract attention, get the word out, and raise awareness about their product. In today’s saturated digital media environment, this can be a challenge because consumers have so many demands on their attention. Brands, understandably, want to meet consumers where they are—or rather, where their attention is—and find ways to break through the noise. However, this impulse can lead to the siren song of sensationalism. [si_guide_block id="98899" title="Download our Individual Member Resource – Paid media and digital advertising playbook" description="This paid media planning guide will provide marketers with a structured approach to paid media planning to help exploit these opportunities while managing the risks."/] Whether through advertising…

Facebook launches new influencer tools, US states launch Google probe, programmatic advertising revenue growth and Google's expanded advert options

Facebook is aiming to make its platform better for influencers and public figures with the release of new tools that could help them find new audiences. 48 out of 50 US states have joined together to launch a probe into Google's advertising dominance in a bid to stamp down on anti-competitor behaviour. Programmatic advertising revenues in Europe saw a huge 33% increase in 2018, with display and video ads seeing good growth. Google has expanded existing digital advertising options for more campaign types to allow for great flexibility for advertisers. Get all the details on these stories with this week's news roundup.

Facebook launches new public figure tools

Facebook has launched new tools aimed at public figures in a bid to help influencers…

It is estimated that this year ad fraud will see $5.8 billion from advertisers, showing the growing issue

It comes as no surprise that ad fraud has grown into an increasingly huge problem for brands and the digital advertising industry as a whole. This year alone, it is estimated that fraudsters will steal $5.8b from advertisers in a variety of different schemes that, despite the industry’s best defensive efforts, still manage to slip past the technology specifically designed to circumvent these growing issues. As platforms such as audio and CTV/OTT become more and more in-demand for advertisers, the amount of fraudulent of illegitimate inventory is expanding in tandem, creating a seemingly defeated situation for strategies aimed at diminishing each of these loopholes. [si_guide_block id="79626" title="Download our Free Resource – 10 costly Google Ads mistakes" description="The guide covers mistakes that many people…

UK desktop ad viewability improvements, Google's first-price auction rollout, Facebook's political ad policies changes, YouTube's inappropriate content removal update

This week has brought with it the news that the UK is seeing great rates of desktop ad viewability, with viewability reaching a record high in the second quarter of the year - great news for digital advertisers! In other advertising news, after months of testing, Google is set to start rolling out its new first-price auction rollout, which has reportedly had good results so far. Facebook is also making changes to ad policies, this time relating to political ads and those that tackle social issues. These changes are aimed to provide greater visibility over political advertising ahead of the 2020 US elections. Our final big news story is the week is that YouTube has provided an update on its efforts to remove inappropriate content from the platform, with thousands of hate speech videos being…

A step-by-step approach to using identity-based targeting to drive relevance for your digital ad campaigns

One of the huge advantages that digital advertising has promised marketers is the ability to target audiences more precisely and deliver personalized content and creative. Whilst TV, billboards, print and radio can reach mass audiences at scale, highly targeted digital advertising gives marketers the opportunity to drive relevance and accuracy that no other media can match. Although digital advertising has always had a degree of targeting and personalization, the introduction of identity-based targeting has taken this to a new level. Identity-based targeting has now been adopted by many of the world’s largest advertising companies, opening up new opportunities on a range of channels including Facebook, Google, Amazon and Twitter.

The advantages of identity-based targeting

Good advertising always starts with a clear objective. For brands looking to build mass reach and frequency to drive awareness, broadcast media is a highly…

The successful launch of a new mobile app ad campaign requires a targeted UAC approach

When launching a new mobile app, you may not have an advertising account history to leverage or a customer list to create a lookalike audience from on Facebook and Google UAC. This makes a successful ad campaign launch difficult since most user acquisition resources you read assume you will have those two items to work off of. But, since your user lists and advertising accounts are brand new, you have to start from scratch to acquire app users. [si_guide_block id="100244" title="Download our Individual Member Resource – Product launch playbook" description="This playbook will guide you through the process of how to successfully launch your product online."/] Below, we outline the user acquisition process that will lead to the successful launch of a new app campaign.

Perform a competitive analysis

It’s quite easy to run a competitive analysis on Facebook. Start by making…

Everything you need to know to maximize the revenue of your digital inventory

It used to be that advertising meant newspaper ads and flyers. In today’s digital world, advertising has reached new levels. Advertising has evolved into a global marketplace and now requires many relationships that extend further than the typical publisher/advertiser bond we’ve all become familiar with. But no matter how complicated and complex this global industry may become, the relationships between publisher and advertiser (and everyone in between) are crucial in keeping up with changing practices. [si_guide_block id="N5697" title="Download our Premium Resource – Digital marketing planning spreadsheet" description="This Microsoft Excel spreadsheet has been created to help you create a clearer acquisition plan to improve leads and sales. The spreadsheet will enable you to create a budget for the year ahead to define and then optimize your investment in search marketing, display advertising, affiliate marketing and online PR."/]

Advertising relationships before the digital age

During…

Let us look at the rise Google Shopping

New research by Adthena uncovers the extent to which Google Shopping ads, commonly referred to as Product Listing Ads (or PLAs), have become the most popular ad format for retail advertisers, with ad spend now far in excess of text ads in retail categories. Google Shopping ads now drive 76.4% of retail search ad spend, generating 85.3% of all clicks on Adwords or Google Shopping campaign ads. This report benchmarks Google Shopping (PLA) ad spend across 40 million ads in the US/UK. From 267,000 competitors, encompassing over 1 million search terms. The data reveals the true extent of Google Shopping ad format adoption in the US/UK, among advertisers across retail categories such as Fashion and Apparel, Consumer Electronics and Home & Garden. “The bigger picture here is the shift in which audiences are consuming new ad formats,” says…

How programmatic marketing can help you target specific demographics

Over the last five years, the way advertisers have bought media and the way publishers have sold it has changed significantly. Influenced by technology, sophisticated platforms, and automated processes, advertisers have the ability to target groups in real-time, through a range of segmentation methods and demographics. In theory, this new way of buying should bring marketers and media planners closer together. With the new level of transparency, it’s surprising how many marketers still do not understand the programmatic media buying process. [si_quick_block id="58728" title="Programmatic marketing guide" description="This report is aimed at marketing managers and directors, digital marketing, and e-commerce managers who are looking to understand the key components of programmatic marketing from both an agency and advertiser perspective."] According to eMarketer, the total UK spend on programmatic advertising is expected to more than double from £1.99 billion in 2015 to £4.52 billion by 2019.…