Today in Digital Marketing - The Ad Change Google Didn’t Want to Make

Starting point is 00:00:00 Today, Google begrudgingly extends its ad placements, PayPal's plans to reduce cart abandonment, the new subscription tracking service for brands, how Amazon bribes its influencers, and will the ad market get caught up in the economic downturn? It's Tuesday, June 14th. I'm Todd Maffin. Here's what you missed today in digital marketing. Is Google's ad business about to break wide open? This week, Reuters reported that Google has offered to let rival ad intermediaries place ads on YouTube in order to resolve part of an EU antitrust investigation. opened a probe to examine whether the tech giant was giving itself an unfair advantage in digital

Starting point is 00:00:45 advertising by restricting competitors' and advertisers' access to user data. Quoting Reuters, the EU competition watchdog singled out Google's requirement that advertisers use its ads manager to display ads on YouTube and potential restrictions on the way in which rivals serve ads on YouTube. It is also looking into Google's requirement that advertisers use its services, display and video 360, and Google Ads to buy YouTube ads, unquote. Sources say that Google's proposal is part of its attempt to end the investigation and to avoid paying a fine that could reach 10% of its global turnover. Both Google and the commission declined to comment.

Starting point is 00:01:31 PayPal is eager to be your brand's digital payment provider. Last week at its investor conference, the company announced several ways it plans to improve its checkout experience for merchants and consumers. First, it's aiming to reduce the time it takes for merchants to take customers through a transaction. The company's CEO noted that the consumer experience of bouncing in and out of the PayPal app, quote, isn't positive and needs to change, unquote, and that it is working with each merchant to reduce the impact. Quoting the CEO again, quote, any reduction in latency leads to incremental improvement in checkout, and I think we can cut off several

Starting point is 00:02:10 seconds this year alone in our checkout, unquote. PayPal also plans to eliminate its reliance on passwords. The CEO said the company will be going toward a passwordless login so that consumers don't have to worry about their username and password to do a one-click checkout. Also, the company plans to draw more consumers in with its Buy Now, Pay Later services. It also said it'll be testing ways for merchants to use its archived consumer data to better tailor their checkout experience to individual consumers. According to the company, more merchants are now offering its buy now, pay later financing before the checkout process, and the company believes it can increase the number of online retailers offering that service. So how many subscription services is your brand or business using? Subscriptions are so popular now that even your business needs a software-as-a-service to manage its software-as-a-service subscriptions.

Starting point is 00:03:07 Similar to consumer-focused subscription management services like Truebill, there is now a service for enterprises called SpendFlow. Although it might seem counterintuitive to sign up for yet another subscription, the SaaS SpendFlow allows users to track their spending and usage at their company by providing them with a central place to keep track of it all. According to the company, since its launch six months ago, its brand customers have saved nearly 25% on average. TechCrunch reports it also offers assisted purchasing and says it can guarantee savings with proprietary benchmarking data. It monetizes by charging a fixed fee based on the total SAAS spend that it manages. And a quick disclosure, Truebill, mentioned in this story, has been a sponsor of this podcast. So want social media's biggest influencers to back your brand? Here's how the biggest online retailer in the world is luring social media stars.

Starting point is 00:04:06 Amazon's strategy for luring stars to join its influence program is simple. Bribe them by flying them to luxurious resorts. For three days in May, more than a dozen Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok stars convened in Mexico and its Amazon resort, as it was called, for sunset dinners and spa treatments. This according to CNBC.

Starting point is 00:04:30 The event also provided a workshop to help creators set up their own Amazon storefront and offered participants a chance to browse a pop-up shop of internet-famous items for sale on Amazon, visit the Kindle Beach Oasis, relax with a prime video movie night. And really, what is stopping you from doing the sale? Yeah, right. Budget. 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.

Starting point is 00:05:19 Agency analysts are predicting a strong ad market for the second half of the year. Group M announced earlier this week that the global ad industry would grow over 8% this year, while global media investment company Magna released its forecast today, predicting that global advertising revenues are expected to grow nearly 10% year on year to $816 billion in 2022. That's actually down from a prior projection of 12% growth, which the company attributed to two reasons. First, of course, the worldwide economic slowdown and the rising limitations of data-driven targeting negatively impacting digital advertising. Magnet predicts that digital ad sales will grow almost 15% to reach 65% of total ad sales in 2022, driven mostly by investments in digital video, search, and social media. Looking at other ad-supported media,

Starting point is 00:06:13 Magna forecast's audio ad spend will increase by 6% this year and total almost $17 billion. Meta this week announced new assistance tools for LGBTQ plus small and medium sized businesses that includes a new mini site with resources, events and more. The site focuses primarily on video tips covering business management, funding and so on. There are also case studies which show how various LGBT businesses have seen success using Meta's tools. The company also released a revised version of its LGBTQ plus cultural guide. The guide includes updated resources and insights for businesses to amplify the community on its platforms and beyond. Meta suggests a range of ways that brands can show their support during Pride Month, such as diversifying your spend,

Starting point is 00:07:05 accelerating inclusive representation, and supporting communities by amplifying underrepresented voices. A link to download the 2022 Global LGBTQ Plus Cultural Guide is available in today's premium newsletter. And finally today, another product will join MSN and Yahoo Messenger in the instant messaging graveyard. Google recently announced it will be shutting down its OG messaging app called Talk, which is also known as Gchat. That will be happening on Thursday.

Starting point is 00:07:38 The company also says it will no longer support third-party apps. So as of this Thursday, anyone who tries to sign in to GChat will see a sign-in error. Google is encouraging users to leave the past behind and transition to the confusingly named Google Chat, which is different than GChat and Hangouts and GTalk. Or was it Google Talk? Yeah, maybe it's a good thing they retired it.

Starting point is 00:08:13 Finally figured out why my coffee was tasting so weird this morning. It turns out I didn't clean the spoon from last night, and the spoon I used to stir my coffee was the same one I used for garlic yesterday. You'd think I would clean them, but no, I'm that lazy. Obviously, I need a break. Oh, on that note, by the way, tomorrow and every Wednesday through the summer, our associate producer, the intrepid Steph Gunn, will be with you in Place of Me,

Starting point is 00:08:34 so she will see you tomorrow. I will see you on Thursday. I love the people that I meet and the places that I go. I love the change and I'm not scared from here to there. But I tell you, I love nothing more than home sweet home and air.

Today in Digital Marketing - The Ad Change Google Didn’t Want to Make

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