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How will cookieless advertising work? What actions do businesses need to take to future-proof their advertising plans?

Cookieless advertising: a quiet earthquake? When Google first announced the deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome, it quickly became the talk of the town. The industry press coined a new, ominous word: “cookiepocalypse”. Every other webinar or conference was about this topic – even though, at that point, the consequences were unclear. Then, Google postponed these changes; not once, but twice. Partly due to feedback they received from the industry around their Privacy Sandbox solutions, partly due to the scrutiny from antitrust authorities (especially in Europe). Speculations started that Google would just keep on delaying the deprecation, and that the fearsome “cookiepocalypse” would, in fact, never materialize. Some marketers got complacent. Some were distracted by newer trends, such as Generative AI. Cookieless advertising was no longer considered a hot topic. Was this wishful thinking? Speaking at DMEXCO…

A quick guide to different types of advertising for different purposes

This article explores different types of advertising online. Which ones are effective? Which among them actually help businesses reach their bottom line and business goals? In Digital Marketing: Integrating strategy and tactics with values, published 2014, Ira Kaufman and Chris Horton wrote that we’re well beyond the stage in which digital media is a fad. In fact, over the last 10 years, digital media has become the means by which consumers communicate with their friends and families, especially when making purchase decisions. This is the main reason why marketers embrace and invest in digital marketing and advertising. But, alongside these welcome developments in customer behavior and expectations, marketers are faced with increasing challenges - algorithm updates, changes in tracking, and increased noise in the digital landscape to name just three. As Anatolii Labinskyi put it 'change is…

Tips and tricks to help you get the most out of paid search on China’s largest search platform

With Google claiming less than 2% of the market in China, the search engine landscape is markedly different from that in most Western markets. While there are several key players, including Haosou, Sogou, and Shenma, in the space, Baidu is undoubtedly the first port of call for most companies looking to run search marketing campaigns in China.

So, why Baidu?

There are several reasons why advertisers turn to Baidu when looking to advertise their products or services to Chinese consumers, the most important of which are outlined here.

Highest market share

Baidu search has the highest market share across both desktop and mobile users. According to Statista, Baidu boasts 74% of the Chinese search market, with…

Apple's iOS 14 platform update has certainly not been without controversy. Increased customer privacy has caused problems for mobile ad providers. What do the platform updates mean for your digital marketing strategy?

Released on 16 September 2020, Apple's iOS 14 constitutes a huge overhaul in mobile customer experience. And the biggest change is yet to come! The delayed new iOS 14 opt-in processes, penned in Forbes as 'Facebook and Google's worst nightmare', have been penciled in for January 2021. This will at least give ad suppliers more time to adjust to the changes - and it looks like they're in for a busy couple of months. We'll be discussing what these changes mean for your business below. Plus, we'll take a whistle-stop tour of some of the platform's new features and how marketers can delight customers on their iPhone.

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Retailers, restaurants and service providers:…

In its recent comparative advertising campaign, Google promotes its Pixel 3a model as a cheaper and higher quality choice over Apple’s XS, putting it side-by-side with the Apple product in a face-off of the tech giants.

Why beat about the bush in advertising when you can directly compare your own product to a competitor’s higher-priced and (in Google’s opinion) inferior one? We’ve seen examples of this kind of advertising for many years, from supermarket chains’ regular competitor comparisons to the “Get a Mac“ campaigns of the noughties. It appears that Google felt it was high time that this time round a company went after Apple. Indeed, Google has set its sights on Apple, with billboards and video ads from the Alphabet-owned company claiming that the Pixel 3a provides better quality low-light photography at a fraction of the…

UK government setting stricter social media rules for children, Twitter addressing abusive content, UK marketing budgets increased at the start of year, Ryanair offers ad space on boarding passes and Amazon fake reviews giving search boost

There has been some interesting news this week, including the fact that the UK government is suggesting banning the 'like' button on social media for children in a bid to stop companies collecting their data. This is part of 16 new standards it is currently consulting on. Twitter is finally seeking to tackle abusive content head-on with changes to the platform meaning users have a bit more control. The UK has seen a rise in marketing budgets, with greater spend being reported in the first quarter of the year. This follows on from stagnant spend in the final quarter of last year. In an interesting move, Irish airline Ryanair is offering advertisers the chance to bid on space…

Facebook called "digital gangsters" by UK government, Google rolling out click share for Search campaigns, big brands pull out of YouTube advertising, Marketing skills gap increasing and Ikea announces new sustainable store opening with water-cleaning bath boats

A new parliamentary report has found that Facebook has broken regulations and has called on the UK government to do more to bring it and similar sights under regulatory control. Google has started rolling out click share for Search campaigns, giving you more insights into the success of your text ads. A number of big brands have reportedly pulled out of advertising deals with YouTube after concerns were raised that paedophiles are using the platform to create communities. The marketing skills gap seems to be increasing, despite investment in training. Ikea is advertising the launch of its new sustainable Greenwich store with life-size bath boats that are helping to clean up London's waterways. Find out more about these stories…

Google chief questioned by US Congress about political bias and data transparency, UK regulators banning harmful gender tropes in advertising, Marketers concerned about data freedom after Brexit and Facebook's pop-up attempt to re-build trust

One of the biggest news stories this week has to be Google being questioned by Congress about how search works, data privacy, China plans and political bias. In just under four hours of questioning, the covered a lot of ground, some of which our roundup will take a look at. When it comes to marketing and advertisiting in the UK, the big announcement was that negative gender stereotypes are going to be banned in adverts. In a bid to avoid stereotypes causing real-world harm, new regulations are st to come into effect in 2019. Our roundup also takes a look at the concerns that marketers have about the impact that Brexit could have on the free flow of data.…

Chart of the day: Online advertising grew 11.5% like-for-like in the first half of 2017 in Europe.

€2.6 billion spend on advertising was added during the first half of the year, across search, display and classifieds/ directories. Research by IAB and IHS Markit shows marketers are increasing online advertising spending. The report focuses on advertising in Europe only. In this chart of the day blog post, I will update you on latest research by IAB Europe and IHS Markit, with charts from their Adex Benchmark from the first half of 2017. Search advertising is leading and display advertising has grown the fastest, interestingly online video is up 20%. As shown in the chart above, search advertising dominates online ad spend, but there is a huge jump in growth of over 13% for display advertising. …

Chart of the day: Research by Advertising Association and Warc finds that digital dominates UK advertising spend

Magazine advertising continued to decrease, whilst digital magazine advertising is expected to grow. Regional newspapers and Direct Mail see the biggest decreases, whilst digital formats are expected to continue their recent growht. Some key highlights of the research include: Ad spend in the UK grew to £5.8bn, representing 3.9% rise year-on-year Overall for 2016 UK ad spend grew 3.7%, reaching a total of £21.4bn, this is also the seventh year of continued growth Digital ad spend is up 13.4% to £10.3bn for 2016.  45.4% to £3.9bn. The report predicts mobile advertising spend will slow over the coming years (2017: +30.4% and 2018: +20.8%) as the current boom dies down. Mobile accounted for 45.4% of that digital ad spend, meaning £3.9bn spent, however, the report predicts that mobile advertising…