Tag: microsoft

Weekend Digital Media Round-Up: Google’s Short-form Video Carousel, YouTube’s Topic Filters, Amazon’s Expansion of Computer Science Program & more…

1.Google Adds Short-Form Video Carousel in Selected Search Results

Google has begun testing a new carousel of short-form video results for selected queries, providing direct links to relevant TikTok and Instagram Reels video clips. [Source: Social Media Today]

2. YouTube’s Desktop Site Now Has Topics Filters for Recommended Videos

YouTube has introduced Topic Filters to help users navigate more content on its platform. It is currently only accessible to a limited number of signed-in users via the desktop site. [Source: Digital Information World]

3. Amazon eyes launching its computer science education program in India

Amazon is planning to extend its computer science program Future Engineer to India, demonstrating its growing interest in the education space in the world’s second-largest internet market. [Source: TechCrunch]

4. Google Store adds ‘Subscriptions’ page to advertise paid YouTube services, Stadia Pro, more

The Google Store is now prominently advertising its offerings with a dedicated “Subscriptions” landing page. [Source: 9to5 Google]

5. Microsoft roadmap reveals new features coming to Chromium Edge

Microsoft is testing new features that can improve your web experience without ruining the browser’s stripped-down style. [Source: Windows Latest]

6. Larger Cache Size to Increase Performance of the Partitioned Cached Feature, says Google Chrome Team

Google is trying to experiment with increasing the storage size for the browser cache after introducing the partitioned cached feature a while back. [Source: Digital Information World]

7. Amazon Agrees to Acquire Wondery in Deeper Push Into Podcasting

Amazon.com Inc. agreed to acquire podcasting company Wondery, as the dominant audiobook purveyor moves to strengthen in another sound-based medium. [Source: Bloomberg]

8. Google Chrome To Reduce RAM Consumption With New Technique

Google developers have tried again and again to limit consumption. Now Google has come up with a new way to reduce occupancy. [Source: Research Snipers]

9. Apple’s App Store Small Business Program goes live for some developers

Apple began to roll out a new App Store commission structure through its Small Business Program, lowering fees to 15% for developers who earn less than $1 million a year. [Source: Apple Insider]

10. Google is Working on ‘Chrome Cart’ Shopping Module for Chrome

A new experimental flag was found in the Chromium code which is called “NTP Chrome Cart Module.” [Source: Chrome Story]

December 31, 2020
Weekend Digital Media Round-Up: Google’s URL2Video Process, LinkedIn’s Company Engagement Report, WhatsApp’s Payment Feature & more…

1.Google’s URL2Video Converts Web Pages Into Short Videos In Seconds

Google researchers introduced a new AI system that converts a web page into a short video, known as URL2Video. [Source: Analytics India Magazine]

2. LinkedIn Launches Company Engagement Report For B2B Marketers

LinkedIn’s new Company Engagement Report is rolling out now and offers data to help B2B marketers understand if they’re reaching the right audiences. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

3. WhatsApp rolls out payments in India

WhatsApp has finally expanded its payment feature to more users in India, which is the world’s second largest internet market. [Source: TechCrunch]

4. Facebook rolls out free offline-to-online guide for SMBs to go digital

Facebook announced an offline-to-online guide and new resources for SMBs, which will be available publicly for free. [Source: YourStory]

5. Snapchat Launches ‘Snap Connect’ Educational Insights for Marketers

Snapchat has launched a new expansion of its Snap Focus education platform for marketers, called the ‘Snap Connect.’ [Source: Social Media Today]

6. WordPress 5.6 May Break Sites on December 2020

WordPress 5.6 will make jQuery Migrate Helper Plugin “useless” which means some sites may break again. [Source: Search Engine Journal

7. New GPT-3 solutions can help speed up PPC ad and landing page copy creation

GPT-3 is Open AI’s powerful autoregressive language model that is capable of generating human-like natural language. [Source: Marketing Land]

8. Facebook Tests New Options to Add Motion Effects to Still Images in Feed

Facebook is testing some new visual effects options for still images posted to News Feed, which add simulated, video-like movement to your pictures. [Source: Social Media Today]

9. Snapchat Lets Users Display Follower Counts

Snapchat is finally giving users the option to display how many followers they have on their public profile. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

10. Microsoft Advertising promotion extensions available in time for the holidays

Promotion extensions are now available for Microsoft Advertising accounts in the U.S. These are similar to Google Ads promotion extensions, including the ability to select from a list of events or occasions such as Christmas, Black Friday or Cyber Monday. [Source: Search Engine Land]

November 6, 2020
Weekend Digital Media Round-Up: Google’s App Comparison Feature, Facebook’s Insights on Ad Performance, Instagram’s extended live stream limit & more…

1.Google tests a helpful app comparison feature on Google Play

Google is testing a new feature that could improve discovery for Android apps on Google Play, allowing users to understand the differences between similar apps. [Source: TechCrunch]

2. Facebook Shares New Insight on Ad Performance Based on Frequency

Facebook has published a new report which looks at the impact of ad frequency, and when your audience has seen your messaging too much to be effective. [Source: Social Media Today]

3. Instagram Extends Live Stream Time Limit to 4 Hours

Instagram users can now stream live up to four times longer than before following a significant extension to live stream time limits. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

4. YouTube Adds New Viewing Options, Including Improved Chapters and Simpler Format Switching

YouTube has rolled out some new tweaks to its playback options, making it easier to switch viewing format as you watch, turn on captions, find specific parts of each video, and more. [Source: Social Media Today]

5. Google Ads Report Editor gets a new look

Google Ads has rolled out a new look for Report Editor. It is now set up more like Data Studio with the dimension and metrics panel on the right. [Source: Search Engine Land]

6. Pinterest Rolls Out 5 New Updates For Merchants

Pinterest is rolling out five new updates squarely aimed at helping merchants set up a storefront, generate sales, and measure their results. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

7. Audible further expands into podcasts

Audible, the Amazon-owned audiobook company, is further expanding into podcasts with the addition of approximately 100,000 podcasts to its service. [Source: TechCrunch]

8. LinkedIn Makes Virtual Events Easier to Find

LinkedIn is rolling out new discovery features for virtual events designed to boost attendance by making them easier to find. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

9. Apple eyes the TikTok generation with an updated version of Clips

Apple is rolling out an update to its video creation app, Clips, which brings much-needed support for vertical videos, allowing for sharing to TikTok and the “Stories” feature in other social apps. [Source: TechCrunch]

10. Microsoft Clarity, the company’s tool for visualizing user experience, is out of beta

This tool aims to provides site owners with visual heatmaps, session playbacks, filters and metrics to help them improve their user experience. [Source: Search Engine Land]

October 30, 2020
Weekend Digital Media Round-Up: Google’s New Tools for Retailers, Facebook’s New Ad Options, WhatApp’s New Business Features & more…

1.Google releases promotions, pricing updates for both advertisers and users this holiday season

Google announced consumer-facing updates in Shopping that retail marketers should pay attention to — particularly as it relates to the importance of pricing and promotions. [Source: Search Engine Land]

2. Facebook Announces New Advertising Options for the Holidays, Including Product Tags in Instagram Ads

Facebook has announced some new ad tools to help retailers make the most of the season, and finish out 2020 in the strongest possible way. [Source: Social Media Today]

3. WhatsApp Announces New Business Features, Flags Coming Charges for Some Business Services

WhatsApp has announced that it will focus on expanding its in-app shopping options, and give brands new tools for managing their interactions to maximize its business potential. [Source: Social Media Today]

4. Instagram rolls out fan badges for live videos, expands IGTV ads test

Instagram is introducing a new way for creators to make money by rolling out purchasable badges in Instagram Live. [Source: TechCrunch]

5. Google moves one step closer to ads that can deliver personalization and privacy

Google is now replacing individualized targeting with group targeting using an algorithm to assign people to interest-based cohorts. [Source: Search Engine Land]

6. Instagram Adds New, Post-Level Age-Gate Tool for Branded Content

Instagram is looking to add another level of protection for both brands and users by enabling businesses to set minimum age requirements for branded content. [Source: Social Media Today]

7. Twitter Updates Tweet Creation Process in Ads Manager

Twitter has launched a new update for the Tweet Composer element of Ads Manager, which will make it easier to see how Prompted Tweet will look like before the launch of the campaign. [Source: Social Media Today]

8. Facebook Relaunches Spark AR Partner Network to Maximize AR Potential

Facebook has re-launched its Spark AR Partner Network Program, aiming to connect both brands and creators with AR experts to help build new experiences. [Source: Social Media Today]

9. Proactively building negative keyword lists in Google Ads is now more important than ever

Google plans to begin restricting terms within the search query report, to show only those that had been searched by a significant number of users. [Source: Search Engine Land]

10. Facebook Updates Messenger API to Incorporate Instagram Direct, Enabling New Connection Opportunities

Facebook’s updating its Messenger API to also incorporate Instagram Direct into advanced messaging workflows. [Source: Social Media Today]

October 23, 2020
Weekend Digital Media Round-Up: Google Analytics New Tools, Snapchat’s ‘Sounds,’ Bing’s Revamp to Site Explorer & more…

1.Google Analytics Gets 4 Powerful New Features

Google Analytics is receiving a significant update with four new features designed to improve marketing decisions and get better ROI. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

2. Snapchat Adds ‘Sounds’ Option to Include Song Clips within Snaps

Snapchat has announced a full launch of its new ‘Sounds’ functionality, which enables users to add song clips into their Snaps. [Source: Social Media Today]

3. Bing revamps Site Explorer in new Bing Webmaster Tools

The tool will now provide SEOs information on Microsoft Bing and then give more data on clicks, impressions, links, errors, warnings, indexing issues and much more. [Source: Search Engine Land]

4. Google Disables Request Indexing Feature

Google is disabling the “Request Indexing” feature of the URL Inspection tool within Search Console. While this is temporary, the feature will be disabled for at least a few weeks. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

5. WordPress can now turn blog posts into tweetstorms automatically

The company is now making it possible to turn your existing WordPress blog post into a tweetstorm with just a couple of clicks. [Source: TechCrunch]

6. Google Ads brings YouTube into Attribution fold, expands data-driven attribution to more advertisers

Google has added YouTube in its Google Ads attribution reporting and is making its data-driven attribution model available to more advertisers. [Source: Search Engine Land]

7. Google Reportedly Turning YouTube Into a Shopping Site

A report from Bloomberg indicates Google is in the early stages of transforming YouTube into a shopping site. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

8. Facebook & Instagram Drop Support For WordPress Embeds

Facebook and Instagram are dropping support for embedded content on WordPress sites starting October 24. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

9. Google tests local ads in Maps auto-suggest results

Google is testing ads for local businesses in Google Maps auto-suggest search results, aiming to improve experience for our advertisers and users. [Source: Search Engine Land]

10. Google launches a slew of Search updates

Google announced a number of improvements to its core search engine, with a strong focus on how the company is using AI to help its users. [Source: TechCrunch]

October 16, 2020
Weekend Digital Media Round-Up: Google’s ‘Web Stories’, Instagram’s New Features, Snapchat’s ‘First Commercial’ Ad Option & more…

1.Google adds ‘Stories’ to its search app for iOS and Android

Google announced it’s introducing a Stories feature to its Google app for iOS and Android, which now reaches more than 800 million people per month. [Source: TechCrunch]

2. Instagram Releases New Features to Celebrate its 10th Birthday, Including Stories Map

Instagram is celebrating its 10th birthday with the launch of several new features, along with the previously announced IGTV Shopping update. [Source: Social Media Today]

3. Snapchat Launches ‘First Commercial’ High Impact Ad Option to All Advertisers in the US and UK

After several months of testing, Snapchat is launching its ‘First Commercial’ ad option to businesses in the US and UK. [Source: Social Media Today]

4. Google My Business Changes to Insights & Video Uploads

Google My Business is giving business owners more data to work with in a series of updates to performance reports. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

5. Instagram Adds New Audio Features for Reels, Including Option to Save Sounds for Your Clips

Instagram has added some new audio features for Reels, in order to further align the tool with TikTok usage trends. [Source: Social Media Today]

6. Bing Officially Rebrands As ‘Microsoft Bing’

Microsoft is officially rebranding its Bing search engine as ‘Microsoft Bing,’ unveiling a new logo and new colors. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

7. Instagram will automatically hide offensive comments on your posts using AI

Instagram has introduced measures to reduce abusive comments on the platform using AI which will automatically block offensive comments. [Source: The Next Web]

8. Google Announces New Advertiser Insights, ‘Performance Max’ Automated Campaigns

Google is launching new insights tools for advertisers to highlight key trends and market shifts, while it’s also rolling out new automated campaign options. [Source: Social Media Today]

9. Microsoft’s Digital Marketing Center for search and social management adds features, opens beta

Microsoft Digital Marketing Center is now available in open beta in the U.S. This will allow SMBs to manage automated search and social campaigns across Microsoft, Google, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for free. [Source: Search Engine Land]

10. LinkedIn Stories Launched in India With Localised Stickers

LinkedIn has launched its ‘Stories’ feature in India, aimed to help members share their everyday professional moments with their communities in a more casual, creative, and authentic manner. [Source: Gadgets 360]

October 9, 2020
Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s New Shopping Section, Instagram’s New Boomerang Modes, LinkedIn’s New Features for its Business Pages & more…

1. Google Introduces a New Shopping Section in Search Results

Google is rolling out a new addition to search results this week which makes it easy to shop for popular products. This new section will show up when searching for clothes, shoes, and accessories. This new feature will help drive organic traffic to merchants. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

2. Instagram Adds New Boomerang Modes and Capability to Trim Boomerang Loops

Instagram has added some new options to its Boomerang camera mode for Stories, including ‘SloMo’, ‘Echo’ and ‘Duo’ variants. The new options add more ways in which you can use the Boomerang mode to liven up your Instagram Stories. [Source: Social Media Today]

3. LinkedIn Brings 3 New Features to LinkedIn Pages

LinkedIn pages are gaining three new features designed to facilitate more community engagement and form stronger relationships with followers. The new features include invite to follow, LinkedIn Live integration, and new posting options. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

4. Google Ads Introduces Bid Simulator Support for Smart Bidding

Google Ads is rolling out bid simulator support for the Target ROAS (return on ad spend) bid strategy, as well as a new budget simulator. This marks the first-time bid simulator support has been available for a smart bidding campaign. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

5. TikTok is Developing a Feed of Curated Content, Similar to Snapchat’s Discover Stream

The rising video app TikTok is investigating the possibility of a curated content stream, similar to Snapchat’s Discover surface. The added curation would give TikTok’s moderators more control over the viewing experience, ensuring that advertisers don’t end up having their ads wedged in-between controversial posts. [Source: Social Media Today]

6. Responsive search ads available globally in all Microsoft Advertising interfaces

Markets can now set up responsive search ads in their Microsoft Advertising accounts. The system then automatically serves headline/description combinations predicted to improve click-through rates. You have the option to pin headlines and descriptions if you have to ensure specific content always shows. [Source: Search Engine Land]

7. Google Ads Makes Parallel Tracking Mandatory for Video Campaigns

Google Ads is making parallel tracking available for video campaigns, which is optional for now but will soon become mandatory. Parallel tracking is designed to improve mobile site speed by bringing visitors directly to the landing page while measuring the ad click in the background. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

8. Facebook Backs Off on Plan to Bring Ads to WhatsApp

Facebook is reportedly reversing course on its plans to insert ads into messaging platform WhatsApp. That would mean that while WhatsApp has more than 1.5 billion users, it won’t be contributing significantly to Facebook’s overall revenues anytime soon. [Source: Social Media Today]

9. Google Chrome: Third-party cookies will be gone by 2022

Third-party cookies have been living on borrowed time, given their increasing rejection by the major browsers. Google announced support for third-party cookies in its Chrome browser would be phased out “within two years.” The company seeks to replace them with a browser-based mechanism as part of its “Privacy Sandbox” initiative. [Source: MarTech Today]

10. Google Expands Domain Name and Icon Listings in Search Results to Web Queries

Google is expanding this new format to web-based queries. In addition to brand icons to the left of the domain listings in each result, the format for Google ads has also been updated, with a bold ‘Ad’ notifier beside the top paid result. [Source: Social Media Today]

January 17, 2020
Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google Chrome’s Warning For Slow Pages, Facebook’s New Fundraising Tool, Instagram’s New ‘Reels’ Mode and more…

1. Chrome May Warn Users of Slow Pages Before They Click

Google Chrome announced a plan to introduce badging as a way to encourage publishers to improve site speed. Google proposed a contextual menu on links that will tell users, before they click, that a site is slow. The goal is to reward fast sites. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

2.Facebook Rolls Out New Fundraising Tools and Options Ahead of Giving Tuesday

Facebook has announced a new set of fundraising and cause awareness tools to assist non-profits in boosting their activity. Facebook is adding its fundraising stickers to Facebook Stories. Facebook is also expanding its charity donation tools within gaming live-streams. [Source: Social Media Today]

3.Instagram Goes After TikTok with New ‘Reels’ Mode

Instagram has launched a new feature which aims to replicate the key functionality of rising app TikTok. But rather than taking on parent-company Facebook’s usual tactic of launching a separate app, Instagram is adding its new ‘Reels’ feature as an element within Instagram Stories, using the app’s scale to try and beat TikTok at its own game – and blunt its potential to take away younger users. [Source: Social Media Today]

4.Facebook Releases New Overview of Content Removals, Fake Profiles and Enforcements

The Social Network has released its latest Community Standards Enforcement Report, which outlines all the content removals and actions it’s taken as a result of posted material that breaks its established rules. [Source: Social Media Today]

5.Google expands Local campaigns inventory, BOPIS offers for Shopping campaigns

The new features, including new Maps inventory for Local campaigns, are rolling out over the coming weeks. Shopping campaigns are also getting updates for brick-and-mortar promotions and optimization. [Source: Search Engine Land]

6.Instagram’s test to hide like counts expands to the US and across the globe

Instagram, which has been running a test to hide like counts on posts in seven different countries, announced today that it is expanding the test globally. This follows an announcement last week that the test would be expanding to the US as soon as this week. [Source: The Verge]

7.LinkedIn adds Data Validation to Sales Navigator

LinkedIn launched Data Validation, a feature designed to help users manage their contacts and ensure they have the most up-to-date contact data. Data Validation will automatically flag contacts who are no longer with the company listed in users’ CRM. [Source: MarTech Today]

8.Microsoft Advertising talks intelligence, UI updates, audience solutions in SMX keynote

The growing complexity of the consumer’s digital footprint means advertisers need to understand the advanced technologies and innovations that drive meaningful brand engagement. Microsoft is setting out to help reimagine how advertisers serve customers and grow your business, deliver more engaging customer experiences that unlock new revenue and fuel future growth. [Source: Search Engine Land]

9.Snapchat Publishes New Insights into Snapchat User Buying Behavior [Infographic]

Snapchat has published a new research report which looks at how Snap users research and purchase, and how brands can connect with them via the app and if you’re looking to reach younger audiences, it’s worth taking note. [Source: Social Media Today]

10.TikTok Tests Social Commerce Links in Videos

TikTok continues to race towards full monetization with a new test of options to add links into user bios and eCommerce URLs directly into uploaded videos. [Source: Social Media Today]

November 15, 2019

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