Today in Digital Marketing - Inside the Slow Crumbling of the 'Google Network'

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is Friday, July 26th. Today, the untold story behind the slow decline of Google Network revenue. Reddit launches lead-gen ads, a massive acquisition in the influencer marketing space, and Elon Musk is siphoning your brand's content for fun and profit. We'll tell you how to turn off the tap. I'm Todd Maffin. That's ahead today in Digital Marketing. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack,

Starting point is 00:00:32 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 tech journal The Information has an interesting piece up this morning about Google's ad business shifting focus. For eight straight quarters now, ad sales on other companies' websites have declined.

Starting point is 00:01:04 Google calls this the Google Network. You may know it elsewhere as Audience Network on Meta or other platforms' partner networks. All this while ad sales on Google's own properties like Search and YouTube have grown. According to analyst Richard Kramer quoted in the piece, Google is driving ad spending to its own properties, primarily through its Performance Max format. This makes sense, as Google knows its own users best, making ad targeting easier. But the piece says the shift hurts ad-dependent websites like news outlets, while benefiting only Google. After all, it keeps 100% of ad revenue on its own sites compared to just 30% on others.

Starting point is 00:01:48 The timing is interesting, as for the past couple of years, Google has faced regulatory scrutiny over its ad tech operations. Most recently, the American Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in January of 2023. That is set to go to trial in September. So while Google is less generous about sharing a piece of the pie, Reddit has introduced a new program that shares ad revenue with sports leagues like the NFL, NBA, and NASCAR. Here's how it works. Leagues post content, advertisers buy ads to run beside that content, and Reddit will split the revenue with the leagues. This approach has been successful on YouTube and X, encouraging users to watch more content and generating reliable ad revenue. Reddit says it plans to expand the program to entertainment and lifestyle genres, partnering with producers who have engaged fan communities.

Starting point is 00:02:41 Quoting from the information, quote, platform every day, averaging from roughly 20 minutes per day after first creating an account to more than 35 minutes a day after being on Reddit for five years, unquote. Still with Reddit for a moment, the platform has introduced its own lead gen ads, letting marketers collect customer information directly from their app promotions. Here's how it works. These ads will include a sign up or a call to action button. When tapped, users are taken to a sign up form to enter their details. That form will auto populate the email field. Reddit says its lead gen ads are now available to all advertisers globally. The company also introduced a new integration with Zapier,

Starting point is 00:03:42 which will also make it easy to send lead information directly into your CRM. That integration is currently only available to brands working directly with Reddit's ad team. X, the former Twitter, plans to use your brand's past and future content as training material for its anti-woke, snarky AI bot. They've turned on a setting that shares your account's posts, interactions, and inputs with Grok. The AI bot is only available with a premium subscription. It's known for its sarcastic and somewhat cringy responses.

Starting point is 00:04:18 It comes in two modes, regular for straightforward answers and fun for more edgelordy sarcasm. Elon Musk X's owner says he wants Grok to be the funniest AI. Luckily, there is a way to nope out of it. Go to settings and privacy, then privacy and safety, then data sharing and personalization, then Grok and look for the box that you can uncheck. Publicist Group said this week it plans to acquire Influential,

Starting point is 00:04:52 an influencer marketing company and platform, to expand its influencer marketing services. The deal is expected to close in late August, but financial terms weren't disclosed. Publicist Group says it plans to focus on building out a creator network to work on social campaigns and affiliate channels. Influential's founder and CEO will lead influencer marketing services for the company. This acquisition comes as influencer agencies and platforms focus on improving their talent and management technology. Analysts say this makes the space ripe for more acquisitions, particularly from holding companies looking to invest in and expand influencer marketing units.

Starting point is 00:05:33 Don't forget about our email newsletter. It is free. It comes out every day. It contains everything you hear in the podcast and more. Links to learn more about the stories we cover, videos, charts, illustrations. You can sign up by tapping the link in the show notes or going to todayindigital.com slash newsletter. Thanks for having me. Our theme is by Mark Blevis, ad coordination by Red Circle. I'm Todd Maffin. Have a restful weekend, friends, and I will see you next week. No more confusing menus.

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Today in Digital Marketing - Inside the Slow Crumbling of the 'Google Network'

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