Today in Digital Marketing - Chopify ✂️

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is Thursday, May 4th. Today, cut back commerce. Shopify chops 20% of its workforce. TikTok expands pulse ads. American regulators want new data restrictions on meta. The shift in YouTube viewing habits. And why a song from the Pixies is causing a whole lot of people digital grief. I'm Todd Maffin. That's ahead today in digital marketing. Shopify announced today it is laying off one fifth of its workforce, impacting more than 2000 employees. The company did not specify which areas of the business would be affected, but the layoffs are expected to impact all divisions. Last year, Shopify laid off more than 1000 employees, accounting for a tenth of its staff. The company is also selling its logistics business to Flexport, which will now serve as its preferred logistics partner.

Starting point is 00:00:55 Shopify has also sold its warehouse fulfillment company, Six River Systems. These changes come as the e-commerce giant released its first quarter results, which showed a 25% increase in revenue to $1.5 billion compared to the previous year. Looking ahead, Shopify expects revenue to continue growing at a similar rate in the second quarter of 2023 on a year-over-year basis. TikTok launched a new premium ad option yesterday called Pulse Premiere, which lets big brands optimize ad placement alongside popular content in the app. This feature builds on the existing Pulse ads,

Starting point is 00:01:31 which let advertisers run campaign alongside videos that are among the top 4% of performers based on views and engagement. With the expansion, brands will have more control over ad placement within the Pulse program. Pulse Premiere lets brands choose the location of their ads adjacent to content from premium publishing partners in categories like lifestyle and education, sports, entertainment, and more. This high-end ad placement, though,

Starting point is 00:01:55 will come with a hefty price tag, but it might be a worthwhile investment for major launches that cater to TikTok's audience. The company is also adding two more elements to its Pulse ad offering. First, seasonal lineups, which let advertisers run ads next to the biggest trending Pulse-eligible videos around a particular marketing moment or cultural event or season. And MaxPulse, which is a new buying mechanism

Starting point is 00:02:19 that lets advertisers run their creatives alongside the top 4% trending content across all categories on TikTok. The American trade regulator is pushing for Meta to stop profiting from children's data, a move some analysts say could threaten a big part of the company's business. Yesterday, the FTC proposed preventing the company from profiting off the data it collects about young users and accused the company of misleading parents and violating a privacy order from 2020. This is the third time the agency has targeted Meta for not protecting users' privacy.

Starting point is 00:02:55 In 2019, the company agreed to pay a $5 billion civil penalty following a previous FTC investigation into its privacy practices. These new proposed restrictions will include barring the company from monetizing data collected from users under 18, and it also called for new limitations on how Meta can use facial recognition technology. The FTC had also asked Facebook to address allegations that it misrepresented the level of control parents had over their children's communications through Messenger Kids. Also, the commission wants Meta to pause launching any new products or services until it receives written confirmation that its privacy program complies with privacy protections. For its part, Meta has vowed to contest the allegations, calling the FTC's move a political stunt and has 30 days to respond formally. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack,

Starting point is 00:03:56 fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. The future of TV advertising is YouTube? Internal data from the company indicates that almost half of all YouTube viewing in the U.S. today happens on TV screens. That's up from 30% just a few years ago. The report notes that this shift is due to the increasing availability of Internet-connected TVs, which makes it easier to access streaming services like YouTube on larger screens.

Starting point is 00:04:38 As more consumers turn to their TVs, Nielsen data indicates that YouTube has surpassed traditional TV networks and streaming services as the most watched outlet. Advertisers have taken notice of the trend, and media buyers quoted in a piece by The Information today say they plan to allocate at least as much budget to YouTube as to any individual TV network like Disney or NBC Universal. Sources say YouTube executives are also taking into account that the ad market is weak and that the company intends to be more flexible on pricing, cancellation terms, and even the types of ad packages it sells, possibly including other Google-owned products. It was only a matter of time Instagram is working on its first generative AI feature,

Starting point is 00:05:26 but this time it's not a chatbot, it's stickers. According to a screenshot posted by an app researcher, the platform is developing a process that lets brands and users enter a phrase to generate a custom sticker using AI, which could then be shared in the app. The feature is still in its early stages. There is no official information yet on how the process works or when it will be released. As its push to AI continues, Microsoft launched its ChatGPT-powered search engine to everyone today,

Starting point is 00:05:59 removing the waitlist and granting free access to its AI-enabled Edge web browser. The move has positioned company as the first company with a freely accessible AI search engine, which as Gizmodo points out today, could have a significant impact on the future of the web. Search results will now include more visual elements like charts and graphs. The tech giant also expanded Bing Image Generator to work with more than 100 languages. The company also said it would soon introduce a new actions feature for Bing and Edge, which lets external developers build features on top of Bing.

Starting point is 00:06:32 For instance, the bot might recommend a restaurant and then offer to book a reservation on OpenTable. Your move, Google. And finally, Google Pixel users beware. Setting your phone's alarm to this song, the 1988 hit song Where Is My Mind by the Pixies, might turn your alarm off. A Redditor discovered this after waking up late every few weeks and finally cracking the code. It turns out the Pixel's quick phrases feature lets you turn off the alarm with voice commands like stop and snooze. And lo and behold, the first line of the song is stop.

Starting point is 00:07:14 So every time that line is played, phones and other Google devices think it's a command and shut the alarm off. The Pixies have issued an apology. Busy day at the agency today, so I'll say goodbye. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow.

Today in Digital Marketing - Chopify ✂️

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