Today in Digital Marketing - Wish Upon a Star

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

This week: Ads are hijacking websites, Meta adds reviews to ads, a TikTok bidder with big plans to transform its U.S. operations, the best video length for TikTok views, AI search is killing SERPs... and why a smile can boost sales by 20%..📰 Get our free daily newsletter🌍 Follow us on social media or contact us📈 Advertising: Reach Thousands of Marketing Decision-Makers.GO PREMIUM!Get these exclusive benefits when you upgrade:✅ Listen ad-free✅ Back catalog of 20+ marketing science interviews✅ Get the show earlier than the free version✅ Member-only monthly livestreams with TodAnd a lot more! Check it out: todayindigital.com/premium✨ Premium tools: Update Credit Card • Cancel.MORE🆘 Need help with your social media? Check us out: engageQ digital🌟 Rate and Review Us🤝 Our Slack.UPGRADE YOUR SKILLSGoogle Ads for Beginners with Jyll Saskin GalesInside Google Ads: Advanced with Jyll Saskin GalesFoxwell 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.Some 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's Friday, March 21st. This week, ads are hijacking websites, meta ads reviews to ads, a TikTok bidder with big plans to transform its US operations, the best video length for TikTok views, AI search is killing serps, and YA Smile can boost sales by 20%. I'm Steph Gunn sitting in for Todd Mathen. All that ahead in our Friday wrap up of the week in digital marketing. We start as always with the advertising news

that broke this week. Some website owners report that ads that block content have started automatically serving on their sites, forcing visitors to abandon pages because they can't close the ads. Craig McDaniel, founder of Sweepstakes Today, says his site is being hijacked by ads, including recent placements from Walmart and ACDC.

These full-page ads appear when users click links to the Sweepstakes page. He suspects the ad service companies are collecting data, which he is reluctant to share with advertisers. McDaniel traced the issue to Magnite. A spokesperson for the company said the publishers create ad units and make calls for ad fulfillment, but Magnite doesn't directly serve the ads. The ads pop up over content for five seconds before letting users close them. Publishers

decide whether to serve them, and a creative error could be the cause of the problem. President Trump's volatile tariff war has marketers on edge, when nearly 60% of US marketers and agency execs are extremely concerned about the impact on their businesses. Some agencies, like Wpromote, are exploring responses with clients, including shifting or cutting media spend. However, DigiDay reports many execs are holding off on decisions, waiting to see how political developments unfold. MetaNel lets advertisers optimizing for maximum value in sales campaigns include one-day attribution,

letting advertisers track conversions that occur within one day after a user views your ads. Note that not all advertisers qualify. Ad accounts must have generated at least 30 attribute-optimized click-through purchases with values in the past 7 days. The company is also adding ratings and reviews to Facebook ads. After a user makes a purchase from an ad, the platform may now ask them to rate and review their purchase experience.

All these ratings and reviews are collected on the Facebook page level and can be displayed on your ads. You can manage reviews in Meta Business Suite by going to All Tools and selecting Readings and Reviews under Manage, where you can also reply to or report reviews. If you don't want to show ratings, you can turn off this feature in the same section. Meta also now lets you add branding to your ads, including your logo, font, and up to three colours for the headline, font, and up to three colors for the headline, caption, and banner overlays.

By setting your brand preferences, Meta may use your presets for image generation in future ads. When apply this branding is toggled on, it will apply your branding presets to image generation and overlays where applicable. This option is off by default, so you'll need to manually turn it on, and you can make changes or turn it off anytime. Reddit now lets users block all ads from a specific advertiser for a year, with a new hide option in the ad drop-down menu. After a year, users can re-hide ads from the same brand if they choose. Google Ads now lets you hide all recommendations in one click. Previously, you had to hide each recommendation one by one.

Now there's one click to rule them all. Google has also updated Brand Connect, its platform for connecting creators with sponsored content, by adding a new central management hub to facilitate brand partnerships. Within Google Ads, you can now view potential collaborations in the Creator Partnerships tab, which displays videos featuring your brand that creators have made eligible for sponsorship. Double Verify has updated its keyword blocking policies as part of its News Accelerator program to minimize the impact on publishers. The company will now restrict keyword blocking to unclassified URLs only, and launch tools

to help advertisers optimize keyword blocklists, reducing excessive blocking of news content. And finally, Best Buy Ads announced a new tool called Social Plus that will let advertisers directly target its audiences on social platforms. The tool integrates the retailer's consumer insights with Meta's Advantage Plus shopping campaigns, currently limited to Facebook and Instagram, with plans to extend to other platforms soon. Social Plus does not have a self-service option yet, so advertisers must work with a Best Buy ads rep. Now for what's happening with the TikTok ban this week.

As TikTok's US future remains uncertain, advertisers are divided on whether to stay or pull out, leading to a drop in ad prices. The threat of a US ban has unsettled marketers, with some scaling back or walking away entirely. As a result, DigiDay reports TikTok's auction-based pricing system has driven costs down for those who remain, making it a buyer's market. Ad agency Jellyfish reported a 30 to 35% drop in CPMs as low as $4. Wpromote saw a 25% year over year decline, while Tenuity recorded a 40% year over year drop in CPMs.

As the TikTok bidding war heats up, one contender is making a bold promise, monthly payments for users. Wyoming billionaire Reed Rassner, who said he was making a bid worth more than $47 billion for TikTok's US business, says his plan involves a profit-sharing model that compensates both creators and regular users based on their value to the platform. Though it's unclear how exactly it would work. Perplexity, the AI search startup, proposed a bid to acquire TikTok and transform its

US operations today. Their plan includes rebuilding the platform's algorithm in US data centers under American oversight and making the recommendation system transparent and open source. Finally, US Vice President JD Vance, who is now overseeing the TikTok deal, indicated that the app's future is likely to be secured by the April 4th extension deadline. Vance recently told media that there will almost certainly be an agreement that addresses national security concerns while paving the way for a separate American TikTok entity.

To the world of social media. First it was LinkedIn, then YouTube, now Instagram is testing AI-generated comments on posts. Some users are now noticing a pencil with a star icon next to the comments field. Tapping the icon generates a list of suggested comments that users can choose from when replying to a video or image. The options seem pretty generic with comments like, love the cozy atmosphere and great photo shoot location. In other words, things you'd never actually comment. YouTube is continuing pushing brands towards shorts.

The platform has a new report looking at the platform's potential for brand promotions, positioning it as a prime destination for reaching Gen Z. 90% of Gen Z respondents watch both long-form and short-form videos on YouTube. Daily Shorts viewership among logged-in users is up 25% year-over-year, and the data suggests partnering with creators, who already have established audiences, is the most effective way to engage shoppers via Shorts Clips, with influencers driving nearly half of all social purchases.

New data shows longer videos get more views on TikTok, with consumers now more willing to engage with 3-minute clips rather than 30-second uploads. Instagram has already followed suit, recently expanding Reels to 3 minutes, and YouTube has also adjusted its shorts feed to accommodate 3 minutes. 60-90 second videos used to be the sweet spot, but now platforms are shifting to slightly longer content to drive engagement. TikTok videos longer than one minute see 64% more watch time than videos in the 30 to 60 second range.

Videos longer than one minute also get 43% more reach than videos in the 30-60 second range. As Meta begins rolling out community notes to replace third-party fact-checkers, a new report highlights issues with the system on X. The model Meta is following. Bloomberg's analysis found that on X, less than 10% of community notes actually make it to the app. This is because the platform requires consensus from users with differing political views

to be displayed, meaning the most polarizing misinformation often goes unchecked. A nice little update for social media marketers. YouTube is testing a new shorts editing tool that shows you where added elements like captions and stickers might be blocked by user interface features like comments, likes, and descriptions on screen. YouTube is also testing out a new option that will let viewers hide end screens from clips, which are those promotional thumbnails and product listings that pop up on screen in the last 10 seconds of a video that usually direct users to the creator's other content.

Threads finally lets you set the following feed as your default, along with several other updates like adding up to 10 topics to your profile, updated topic tagging for posts, and reply controls. The video player is also getting a much needed upgrade with pause, play, and skip buttons. And finally, LinkedIn has added Calendly integration for profile call-to-action buttons. And finally, LinkedIn has added Calendly integration for profile call to action buttons. Premium users can add a custom book and appointment button to their profile, which will direct users to their Calendly schedule. 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. Kinsta provides managed hosting for WordPress sites, offering lightning-fast load times, top-tier security, and human-only customer support. And thanks to their unlimited free, expert-led migrations, Kinsta ensures a smooth transition from other hosting providers so you won't experience any downtime. 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 over to search marketing. AI Search is quickly becoming a major traffic driver for retailers. New research from Adobe shows referrals surged by 1300% during the 2024 holiday season compared

to 2023, with Cyber Monday seeing an almost 2000% increase. While the rise is expected given AI Search was still emerging last year, the real story lies in the engagement metrics. Users referred from AI Search stay on sites 10% longer than those from traditional sites like Google or Bing. They browse through different pages 12% more, and they're nearly 25% less likely to bounce after visiting a link. This suggests that AI Search tools are directing users to more relevant pages than traditional search.

If your rankings took a hit, Google says that's a you problem. The tech giant confirmed that the volatility seen before the official announcement of the March 2025 core update was unrelated to the update itself. Any ranking shifts before March 6th were likely due to other system updates, not the core update. Google frequently makes smaller updates without notice. So far, the actual core update remains relatively calm. Google Maps is taking down 10,000 fake business listings and suing a scam network behind them.

The lawsuit alleges that a man linked to a broader scam network created fake business profiles on Maps and sold them for profit. The issue came to light when a locksmith in Texas reported someone was impersonating them on Maps, prompting the lawsuit this week. Google has confirmed that if searchers do not engage with your page in the search results, it might be removed from future rankings. Google's Martin Splitt said that if users aren't clicking on or interacting with your page, it could fall off the index. This could happen if the query is unusual,

not frequently searched, or if other pages perform better in meeting user needs. Over to the ever evolving world of AI. Google's new AI model now lets users generate or edit images just by asking. The Gemini 2.0 Flash Image Generation experimental feature lets users remove watermarks, add or remove objects, modify scenery, adjust lighting, and more. It's still a work in progress, but it's a glimpse into the future of image editing. Sorry Vincent van Grok. Federal court has ruled that AI-generated art can't be copyrighted.

So if you're using AI to create art or marketing content, you don't own the copyright. A new court ruling backed this up when an AI poetry author tried to claim damages for his AI-generated poetry being reused. The court ruled that they couldn't be credited as the author because the AI isn't human. The author argued that copyright law should keep up with technology, but the court sided with the Copyright Office, which states that only humans can hold copyrights. And after a year-long delay, MetaAI is finally rolling out in Europe, but with some limitations. The chatbot is a strictly text-based assistant for now and won't generate or edit images, answer questions about photos, or be trained on European user data.

It will be available across WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger in 41 European countries and 21 overseas territories. Over to podcasting. New data shows podcast consumption in the US has hit a record high, with more than half of Americans aged 12 plus listening to podcasts monthly. Overall 70% have listened to a podcast, and more than half of them have also watched a podcast. 75% have consumed podcasts in audio or video format, totaling around 210 million people.

Meanwhile, Gen Z hates video podcasts. A new study has found that 75% of Gen Z prefer audio-only podcasts, with just 5% primarily watching video podcasts. When it comes to platforms, 60% use Spotify as their main podcast app, with 90% of them sticking to audio. On the other hand, YouTube has a smaller share, with only 20% using it for podcasts, but more than half of that group watch video podcasts, some or all of the time. And finally, new research shows that photos of smiling service providers boost hospitality

bookings by up to 20% for platforms like Airbnb and hotels. Consumers tend to find smiling hosts more likeable and trustworthy, leading to higher booking rates. According to these studies' researchers, consumers seek reassurance about what they can expect. Smiling photos provide a visual cue of warmth and competence, reducing uncertainty and increasing the likelihood of a booking. Those were the top digital marketing stories over the last five days.

You'd have gotten all of the news earlier if you were signed up to our email newsletter, which comes out every weekday at 5pm Eastern and is 100% free. You can sign up for that at todayindigital.com slash newsletter. It's been a big week in our house. My little one took her first steps, it's been a long time coming, she's been standing for like the past few months but she just didn't want to walk. She's incredibly cautious and also incredibly long, she's in the 99th percentile for height, so it just looks like we have this little tiny baby deer walking around that you know

can open doors and snatch stuff off of counters. Make sure to follow us on social we're on Blue Sky, Mastodon, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok and more. You can go to todayindigital.com slash social or tap the link in the show notes. I'm Steph Gunn, thank you so much for listening and I hope you have a restful weekend.