Today in Digital Marketing - Data Pirates: Has the Ad Tech Industry Finally Gone Too Far?

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's Monday, April 3rd. Today, Google's mysterious algorithm update, ad tech firms accused of data theft, inflation's strain on brands and consumers, and how to boost engagement on LinkedIn. I'm Todd Maffin. That's ahead today in digital marketing. No, it's not just you. Google seems to be at it again with a search ranking update. Search Engine Roundtable's Barry Schwartz reporting that he's seeing early signs today of a Google search ranking algorithm update that apparently started sometime this morning. While automated tracking tools have not yet detected the change, some SEO professionals have noticed changes in their traffic. Several of them reporting significant fluctuations in ranking and traffic this morning, with some experiencing reversals from the broad core update in March. Marketers on different forums have also reported unexpected search results, such as random pages ranking for incorrect search terms and search results for unrelated topics, while others are observing general volatility. Although automated tools are still

Starting point is 00:01:05 not showing any significant changes, Schwartz notes, it's still early and things may heat up later today and tomorrow. There is newfound resentment among website publishers about ad tech firms selling data scraped from their websites and packaged into contextual segments that advertisers use to target their audience. Although the practice is not new, Adweek is reporting today that it is sounding the alarm among publishers preparing for the deprecation of third-party cookies. As the cookiepocalypse near, site owners are investing in alternative signals like contextual data to monetize their audiences. Consequently, publishers claim that third-party ad tech firms are violating their intellectual

Starting point is 00:01:51 property by packaging and selling this data. People Adweek spoke to expressed concerns that buyers might choose contextual segments from these firms rather than the publisher's bespoke offerings at a time when their revenue is already under threat from economic headwinds. In response, the UK trade body Association of Online Publishers wrote an open letter urging ad buyers to hold ad tech companies accountable. The report notes that publishers are becoming increasingly frustrated with contextual scraping because the practice has only been recently adopted by content verification companies that were previously seen as allies in the fight against invalid traffic

Starting point is 00:02:30 and brand safety threats. The Association of Online Publishers has set up meetings with Integral Ad Science to check to see whether it would be possible to uncouple the contextual targeting function from its web crawler. The company recently said it would look into re-engineering the product to allow for unbundling, but it was unlikely. With inflation, rising prices, and supply chain issues, customers are changing their shopping habits. Forbes has an interesting think piece up today looking at what it means for brands as customers become more frugal.

Starting point is 00:03:06 Should brands be concerned about losing customers? Several retailers, including Target, Best Buy, and Macy's, noted that consumer demand is beginning to weaken, with customers pulling back on discretionary spending like clothing, electronics, and home improvements, and are instead shifting their budgets to necessities like groceries and household items. Over the next six months, a recent survey found that 95% of consumers will adopt cost-saving behaviors. As shoppers tighten their wallets, the piece points out that they are paying more attention to retailers and are willing to try new products if it helps them save money. They're more price conscious, less loyal to brands, trying to make every experience matter.

Starting point is 00:03:48 This presents an opportunity, of course, for some brands to invest in customer experience and strengthen relationships to build bridges for future sales. In order to build relationships, the piece suggests brands need to be mindful of the tactics they use to attract customers by empathizing with them and meeting them where they are, rather than pushing the same products and experiences that this could

Starting point is 00:04:09 come across as inauthentic and self-serving. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, 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. Another Clubhouse clone bites the dust. This time it's Spotify pulling the plug on its live audio app. A company spokesperson confirming today that its standalone Spotify Live app will be discontinued. Spotify said based on internal analysis, there's no longer room for the app,

Starting point is 00:04:56 but users can still use the main Spotify app for live audio rooms. The live functionality was integrated with the main app last year and rebranded from its previous app, Greenroom. The streaming giant says it will continue to explore live features on its main platform. Which brings us to another episode of... Nobody asked for this! This time, shockingly, it's not a meta company. It's LinkedIn, which has decided to join the ranks of its fellow social media platforms by incorporating algorithmically recommended posts into their feeds with the introduction of suggested posts. Like Instagram's implementation of this, the new feature uses algorithmic recommendations to display content that you have absolutely no interest.

Starting point is 00:05:42 Oh, I'm sorry. I read that wrong. That may be of interest to users. Which, I mean, let's face it, could possibly mean expanded reach for B2B marketers. Suggested posts will appear along with a label that says, you guessed it, suggested in users' feeds. As Social Media Today points out, algorithmic recommendations can lead to significantly higher engagement and what some people consider a more compelling feed, which is why Meta and Twitter and now LinkedIn are trying to squeeze more recommended content into users' feeds, aiming to boost discovery and keep consumers scrolling. Working on a special project for the podcast, which I think you will like.

Starting point is 00:06:24 It's in its early days, but I'm very excited. Difficult to keep the secret under wraps. Even Steph doesn't know. I'll tell you about that in the coming weeks. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow. I'm back then, still I'm here, I'm here Just waiting for the bus to come Gonna head out, wanna see, just see Just waiting for the bus to come.

Starting point is 00:06:49 Gonna head out, wanna see, just see. The city that brings lots of fun. Goodbye, bye, bye. I really gotta fly.

Today in Digital Marketing - Data Pirates: Has the Ad Tech Industry Finally Gone Too Far?

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