Today in Digital Marketing - Microsoft's Biggest Bet Yet to Capture Google's Ad Business

Episode Date: January 4, 2023

Microsoft is planning its biggest offensive yet against Google's search engine... personalized ads hit another roadblock... Twitter reverses a major ad policy... And where marketers plan to invest this year. ✅ Follow Us on Social Media✨ GO PREMIUM! ✨   ✓ Ad-free episodes  ✓ Story links in show notes  ✓ Deep-dive weekend editions  ✓ Better audio quality  ✓ Live event replays  ✓ Audio chapters  ✓ Earlier release time  ✓ Exclusive marketing discounts  ✓ and more! Check it out: todayindigital.com/premiumfeed 🤝 Join our Slack: todayindigital.com/slack📰 Get the Newsletter: Click Here (daily or weekly)Or just The Top Story each day on LinkedIn. ✉️ Contact Us: Email or Send Voicemail⚾ Pitch Us a Story: Fill in this form📈 Reach Marketers: Book Ad🗞️ Classified Ads: Book Now🙂 Share: Tweet About Us • Rate and Review------------------------------------🎒UPGRADE YOUR SKILLS• Inside Google Ads with Jyll Saskin Gales• Foxwell Slack Group and Courses Today in Digital Marketing is hosted by Tod Maffin and produced by engageQ digital on the traditional territories of the Snuneymuxw First Nation on Vancouver Island, Canada. Associate Producer: Steph Gunn. Ad Coordination: RedCircle. Production Coordinator: Sarah Guild. Theme Composer: Mark Blevis. Music rights: Source AudioSome links in these show notes may provide affiliate revenue to us. Our Sponsors:* Check out Kinsta: https://kinsta.comPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It is Wednesday, January 4th. Today, Microsoft is planning its biggest offensive yet against Google's search ad business. Personalized ads hit another roadblock. Twitter reverses a major advertising policy. And where marketers plan to invest this year. I'm Todd Maffin. Here's what you missed today in digital marketing. Another sign that using personal data for targeted ads may be in danger. Earlier today, European Union authorities hit Meta with more than $400 million in fines after finding the company illegally required users to accept personalized ads on Facebook and Instagram. Last month, we reported that the social media giant was in hot water over its ad

targeting ultimatum. Now it knows the price it must pay. According to regulators, Meta violated the GDPR by giving users a binary choice, either give permission to collect ad targeting data, or stop using our platform. In today's ruling, the Irish Data Protection Commission directed Meta to bring its data processing operations into compliance within three months. This, of course, could have significant consequences for Meta's entire ad business, a business already hit hard by Apple's changes last year. In response, the social media giant said it was disappointed by the ruling, believes its current approach respects the GDPR, and that it plans to appeal the findings and fines.

Is Microsoft waging an AI search war? The company is said to be launching a version of Bing shortly that uses the AI technology behind ChatGPT to take on Google. If you've played around with ChatGPT, you'll know that sometimes, if you ask it the same kind of questions you'd ask Google, it will give you quite a detailed answer. Rather than Google's results, which usually offer snippets of webpages it thinks might have the answer in them. ChatGPT doesn't always get it right, but it usually does. And when it does, the response is much more helpful than the regular search results. According to reports, Microsoft could launch the new AI version of Bing as early as March. Meanwhile, we recently reported that Google's management issued a code red following

the launch of the AI chatbot, which has raised concerns about Google's search feature. Both Microsoft and OpenAI declined to comment on the plans. In the latest saga of policy reversals, Elon Musk is lifting Twitter's ban on political ads, as the company desperately seeks to grow revenue. Yesterday, Twitter said that it would relax its advertising policy for cause-based ads in the U.S. and align its advertising policy with TV and other media outlets. Under its previous management, Twitter allowed cause-based advertising with some restrictions, including one that prevented advertisers from using micro-targeting to reach specific groups of people. Political ads have been prohibited on the platform since 2019. It also restricted ads related to social causes.

Twitter's then-chief executive Jack Dorsey tweeted, quote, We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought, unquote. But as Business Insider points out today, political advertisers spend billions of dollars a year, and Mr. Musk is looking for any way he can cut costs and drive revenue. And in a strange way of reassuring advertisers that his platform is a safe bet, he recently compared the company to, quote, a plane headed toward the ground. 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. plans. In 2023, two-thirds of UK SMBs plan to acquire new customers despite data indicating that acquiring new customers is five times more expensive than retaining existing customers. The study found that just a tenth of SMBs' budgets will increase this year. A third of respondents said when it comes to priorities, Facebook marketing will still be part of their marketing strategy, followed by 15% to focus on LinkedIn, 5% will look to TikTok, and another 5% will prioritize Twitter. Besides social, a fifth of SMBs will be focusing on email marketing, and it looks like SMS marketing might be sent to its grave, at least over there in Britain,

with only 1% prioritizing that technology for this year. It's been a long time coming, but Nielsen has officially announced the launch of Nielsen One Ads today. The company said its new cross-platform measurement product will hit the market next week. According to the company, the offering will provide a consistent, comparable, and deduplicated view of ads across screens, including linear, connected TV, desktop, and mobile. It will also offer measurement of content and ads at the second-by-second level rather than today's industry standard of minute-level audiences.

Later this year, it will include advanced audience data and outcome measurement to support a campaign from end to end. And finally, B2B marketers are on a quest for more automation. According to some new research from SageFrog, AI and automation are the top strategies B2B marketers plan to experiment with this year. Still up at the top of the2B marketers plan to experiment with this year. Still up at the top of the list, plans for 2023 include video marketing investment and more influencer marketing. The data comes from SageFrog's survey of more than 900 B2B marketers.

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Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow.