Today in Digital Marketing - Spendemic Slowdown

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's Friday March 28th. This week, Meta's new ad placement you're going to hate. Global ad spend is on track to drop nearly $20 billion as economic pressures rise, how to get more YouTube shorts views with zero extra effort, plus the perfect ad length for peak impact. I'm Steph Gunn sitting in for Todd Mathen. And just a little note from Todd before we start, he's been on a medical leave for the past couple of weeks, but he will return next week. All that ahead in our Friday wrap up

Starting point is 00:00:34 of the week in digital marketing. We start as always with the advertising news that broke this week. Meta is putting ads in Facebook notifications. These ads will only appear to people who've engaged with an ad or shown interest in a brand's content, but still this could be a tough sell for users who didn't ask for it. Other updates include expanding Advantage Plus catalog ads to partnership promotions, a new Google-style AI model display for clothing showing how items look on various models,

Starting point is 00:01:05 a new checkout process for Advantage Plus shop ads, which will let advertisers gather customer details and tests for location-based ad extensions, showcasing nearby stores with available products. Meta has also agreed to stop targeting ads at one UK Facebook user following a legal fight, potentially paving the way for others to opt out of personalized ads. Tanya O'Carroll, a tech policy expert, argued that its targeted ads qualify as direct marketing under UK law, granting individuals the right to object. Metta said that its ads target groups of at least 100 people, not individuals, so did not count as direct marketing. The UK's data watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office, disagreed, stating that organizations

Starting point is 00:01:52 must let users opt out of their data being used for targeted advertising. Meta disagreed with the ruling, but settled the case. Google is testing the removal of the green Google screened checkmark from local service ads, with some ads showing the badge and others not. Anthony Higman shared an email from Google, confirming that this is part of a test where all local service ads will be shown without the badge. This change has sparked backlash, with Higman arguing that the green checkmark has been a key selling point of the platform, building trust and distinguishing these ads from regular PPC ads. He's calling it a money grab since legal advertisers already pay about $600 per call for this premium

Starting point is 00:02:35 ad placement. AI's role in media buying is undeniable, but DigiDay reports that marketers are growing increasingly wary of tools like Google's Performance Max and Meta's Advantage Plus, which promised efficiency but have raised concerns about transparency and control. Now advertisers are pushing back, reallocating budgets to more traditional methods, as they face diminishing returns and unclear ad placements. Some media buyers report cutting Google spend by half, particularly on Performance Max and shifting some of that budget to the open web. Despite the pushback, these platforms are still thriving, with Meta's Advantage Plus generating $20 billion in revenue in Q4 2024 alone.

Starting point is 00:03:21 While marketers are seeking more control, it remains to be seen whether this will result in a significant shift or just a temporary reaction to growing frustration. As for ad updates regarding the trade war, Magna released its US 2025 ad forecast this week signaling a challenging year ahead as economic uncertainty reshapes marketing budgets. While total ad spend is still expected to grow in the mid-single digits, traditional media faces stagnation while digital continues its upward trajectory. Total ad spend is set to decline by nearly $20 billion as economic pressures mount, US trade tariffs, tighter EU regulations, and weak consumer confidence are squeezing margins,

Starting point is 00:04:06 forcing brands to pull back. The risk of stagflation or even recession continues to grow across major economies. Work has downgraded ad spend growth forecasts to 6.7% in 2025 and 6.3% in 2026, resulting in an almost $20 billion cut. Auto, retail, and tech brands are cutting budgets as supply chain costs rise. One bright spot, digital ad spend remains strong, with Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta projected to control

Starting point is 00:04:37 more than half of the market by 2029. Now over to Search. Google has completed its March 2025 core update, which rolled out from March 13th to the 27th. This update improved how Google ranks helpful and relevant content globally. The overall impact seemed less widespread than past updates. The company hasn't provided a specific date for when independent sites will start ranking higher in search results. While Google said it would make improvements by March 2025, not all sites impacted by previous updates will recover. A Google spokesperson said that the

Starting point is 00:05:18 process will be gradual and while some sites may see improvements, others may not recover due to ongoing algorithm changes. Is ChatGPT's search engine a threat to Google, or is it just another overhyped tool? Joy Hawkins of Sterling Sky analyzed traffic data and found ChatGPT's traffic is a tiny fraction of Google's, with Google driving more than 1 million visits compared to chat GPTs 1,000, less than 0.1% of Google's traffic. Even Yahoo pulls in 36 times more. The big question is whether consumers will switch, but Hawkins notes that quality of results matters. For instance, in a search for best board game stores in Vaughan, Google highlighted a top store with strong reviews, while ChatGBT provided outdated and inaccurate information. Looking at search quality, Google still leads.

Starting point is 00:06:21 To the world of social media now. Starting March 31st, YouTube will start counting every play or replay of a short, just like TikTok and Instagram, meaning that if it starts playing, it counts. Previously, views only counted after a set watch time. The company said view counts may increase under the new system. Despite the change, YouTube will still track the old Shorts metric as engaged views in its analytics dashboard. Monetization and YouTube Partner Program eligibility will also continue to be based on engaged views. So yes, Shorts might rack up more views, but advertisers and YouTube's algorithm still care about who's actually watching. YouTube is testing a new system to

Starting point is 00:07:04 avoid overwhelming users with too many notifications. Some users subscribe to all notifications from channels, but later turn off YouTube notifications completely. To fix this, YouTube will stop sending push alerts to users who aren't engaging, though they'll still see updates in the app. TikTok is shutting down its standalone photo sharing app, Notes, less than a year after its launch. Users are being notified that the app will be discontinued on May 8th, with the prompt pushing them to explore Lemon 8 instead. Over to Meta, traffic referrals from Threads have seen a dramatic surge for some publishers, with Newsweek seeing its highest social referral

Starting point is 00:07:45 traffic to its site on a single day in five years. According to the company, social traffic has increased nearly 10 times compared to last March, with referral traffic from threads growing 20 times since January. Digiday reports the boost follows Metta's January announcement of more publisher support, particularly for political news. Politico reported its highest-ever referrals from Threads in February, with March referrals up nearly 50%.

Starting point is 00:08:15 Forbes saw a 711% year-to-date increase in traffic from Threads, with its posting frequency more than doubling since December. Despite this growth, referral traffic from threads still represents a small portion of overall traffic, leaving questions about its long-term value for publishers, audience, and revenue strategies. Instagram now lets users share other people's posts directly to their followers' feeds using a repost feature, kind of like retweeting on X. Before, you could only share posts to stories. This change could help boost engagement, though it's unclear how often repost will be shown. Instagram hasn't shared full rollout details yet, and the impact

Starting point is 00:08:58 on its recommendation heavy feed is still unknown. Instagram is also removing the option to add text notes to feed posts and reels. The feature added last year after success with notes in DMs didn't really catch on. Instagram says it's trying to simplify the app by cutting tools people don't use much. Notes in DMs will stay. And what was that about free speech?

Starting point is 00:09:21 Nearly two months ago, Elon Musk publicly criticized Reddit for blocking links to accent protest of his alleged Nazi salute. Alongside his public comments, Musk also privately messaged Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, sources say. Following their exchange, Reddit imposed a 72-hour ban on the White People Twitter subreddit, which hosted a thread about Doge employees citing violent content.

Starting point is 00:09:48 The thread Musk flagged was also deleted. Reddit declined to comment on the specifics of Musk's influence but doubled down on its commitment to enforcing its policies. Musk didn't respond to a request for comment. Between juggling client meetings and keeping up with what's changed in the marketing world, who has time to stress about website security? But security is important, what with bots pummeling your brand site by the hundreds every hour looking for a way in.

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Starting point is 00:10:42 Ready to experience Kinsta's hosting for yourself? Get your first month free when you sign up at Kinsta.com today. It's the perfect opportunity to see why Kinsta is trusted by thousands of businesses worldwide to power their websites. Visit Kinsta.com to get this limited time offer for new customers on select plans. Don't miss out. Get started for free today. Now for influencer marketing. Instagram has updated its creator marketplace with new features available in the partnership ads hub in Ads Manager. The platform now suggests creators based on their affinity to a brand, using AI insights from their ad content,

Starting point is 00:11:24 audience similarity, and past partnership experience. Brands can search for creators using specific terms like soccer moms with dogs or gadget unboxing, with filtering options across 20 plus verticals. New features include creator cards with playable reels, direct email contact, experienced creator badges, and active partnership ads. And a new study found that 96% of sponsored posts on X are undisclosed, with even conservative estimates showing at least 80% of paid content goes unmarked. Despite stricter disclosure rules, the rate of undisclosed posts has barely changed. These posts are often more common among young brands

Starting point is 00:12:06 with large followings. And data shows many consumers can't tell the difference between organic and paid content without proper labeling. As for what's up with AI this week, most marketers are talking AI, but not walking it. A new study shows 70% of agencies, brands, and publishers have yet to fully integrate AI into their campaigns, despite acknowledging its potential.

Starting point is 00:12:34 Only 30% of media companies have fully integrated AI into their media strategies. Agencies and publishers lead in AI adoption while brands lag behind at about 20%. While 85% use general AI tools, few are using custom solutions or proprietary tools. Half of the companies not yet using AI plan to adopt it by 2026. Three months after releasing Gemini 2.0, Google launched Gemini 2.5 Pro this week. The new model can process multi-modal input

Starting point is 00:13:09 from text, audio, images, videos, and large data sets. Plus, it can analyze entire code repositories for coding projects. It's available now in AI Studio, Experimental, and for Gemini Advanced users, with a Vertex AI rule out coming soon. Pricing details are still to be determined. Some updates in commerce and delivery services.

Starting point is 00:13:35 Instacart is launching StoreView, a new feature where shoppers can make money by taking videos of store shelves. This will let the grocery delivery service track product availability and identify out of stock items. The videos will improve predictive models for restocking and help Instacart estimate product availability for next day deliveries. Storeview will roll out with select retailers and expand to more US and Canadian stores in 2025. The company is also rolling out second store checks soon, which will send a second shopper to find out of stock items at another store

Starting point is 00:14:16 with no extra delivery fees for customers. DoorDash is launching new banner ads to promote additional items customers can add after completing a purchase. With the Double Dash feature, customers can add items from stores like 7-Eleven without extra fees. These new ads appear directly beneath a message prompting users to add more items. The company is also selling sponsored product ads within the Double Dash experience, which will appear just below the Double dash banner as customers wait for their orders.

Starting point is 00:14:46 DoorDash is also teaming up with retail media tech company TopSort to let advertisers buy sponsored product ads across DoorDash and other retailers-owned websites in a single media buy. And finally, how long should an ad be? A recent study found most ads reach their peak impact in about 10 seconds. After that, extra time doesn't improve recognition, and can even make the ad less appealing. However, atypical ads—those with unexpected narratives or unconventional creative approaches, need more time to resonate. Atypical ads take longer to be recognized, with brand recall improving up to 70 seconds.

Starting point is 00:15:34 Optimal engagement for atypical ads falls between 20 to 30 seconds, up to three times more than longer typical ads. than longer typical ads. Those were the top digital marketing stories over the last five days. You'd have gotten all of this news earlier if you were signed up to our email newsletter. So what are you waiting for? It comes out every weekday at 5pm Eastern and it is completely free. You can sign up at todayindigital.com slash newsletter. I'm on vacation next week, so again,

Starting point is 00:16:08 Todd will be back in action. My family and I are heading to Roatan, an island off of Honduras. We'll be traveling with my 18 month old, who has flown before. We actually went to Scotland last year to visit family, but now she's way more mobile and vocal. So wish me luck. Don't forget to follow us on social media. We're everywhere. Blue Sky, Mastodon, YouTube, and more.

Starting point is 00:16:34 Go to todayanddigital.com slash social or tap the link in the show notes. I'm Steph Gunn, thanks for listening. I hope you have a restful weekend.

Today in Digital Marketing - Spendemic Slowdown

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