Posts by Liam

Earlier this week X, formally known as Twitter, began rolling out their new private liking feature. This now means the posts and images you like on the platform will no longer be visible to the public.

Why is X making likes private?

Having private likes is already an option for users who pay for X Premium however Elon Musk rolled this out to the masses due to the importance of allowing ‘people to like posts without getting attacked’. Previously, all likes were visible and therefore any member of the X community could visit your profile (if accessible) and analyse all the likes that you had made since opening your account.

Whilst historic social media such as tweets can be searched via the search navigation, this wasn’t an option for likes and therefore some users believed that the public would be unlikely to find which posts they had liked in the past. However, in the last few years, we have seen a rise in cases of celebrities or public figures being criticised for their likes.

What has X said about this?

Haofei Wang, the director of engineering at X spoke a few weeks ago about the rollout and claimed that this update will give users more freedom. He is quoted as saying that ‘many people felt discouraged’ to like potentially risky comments due to the backlash they might receive, and that the X community shouldn’t have to worry about expressing support for a tweet.

Are there any issues with this approach?

Critics have argued that hiding likes means that bot farms can be deployed more effectively and that pornographic content will become more visible on the platform as the algorithm begins to predict that this is what users want.  Jack Dorsey the former CEO of Twitter questioned Wang’s post on X, quizzing him on what the difference between likes and bookmarks was. Others have criticised the move by suggesting that the platform has more pressing issues that should be resolved before this minor concern.

Instagram has rolled out new ad formats that prevent users from skipping. Currently, users are able to scroll or flick past an ad they don’t want to see whether it is a post, story or reel. However, the new feature called “ad break” will prohibit such skipping.

How will this impact Instagram’s user experience?

Being able to swipe or scroll past an ad has allowed users to experience a comfortable and quick UX whilst on the app. The expectation is that these ‘ad breaks’ will appear with a timer, which will count down to zero before users can continue with their journey. A similar system is currently employed by YouTube with their non-skippable and 5-20-second ads.

Why is Instagram testing this?

An official press release from Meta has stated that viewers, may on occasion, must “view an ad before you can keep browsing”. Meta further stated that the move was in part motivated by a desire to find solutions in a constantly evolving and dynamic ecosystem.

However, increasing ad revenue and results for advertisers is likely the core concern here.  Meta is keen to test new ad formats which will generate greater rewards for brands. Conversely, users have pushed back claiming that the company is sacrificing UX for money, with some even threatening to boycott the platform.

Is this a new concept?

Whilst non-skippable ads are a first for Meta, other competitors in the space have promoted these formats before. As previously mentioned, YouTube has been pushing non-skippable formats for years, as do many online publishers. Meanwhile, streaming services such as Netflix offer a tiered payment system for customers, whereby cheaper subscriptions require users to watch ads.

Whether this new trial will be a success is still unknown but a recent study from TikTok found that 70% of viewers were more engaged with brands and ads if they weren’t forced to watch their content.

Oracle has introduced a new artificial intelligence feature within the Oracle Fusion Cloud Customer Experience. These capabilities were unveiled in a bid to help sellers, service agents and naturally marketers improve deal cycles.

What are these new AI features?

The aim of these new additions is to generate sales quicker by reducing the workload on sales representatives and allowing them to focus on more urgent and important tasks. These new AI capabilities include:

• Gen AI-Assisted Answer Generation – this will enable service agents to decrease the amount of work they have to do. This is done by automatically creating bespoke responses to any customer questions. This will improve the customer experience as well with shorter waiting times. 
• Opportunity Identification – This will allow marketers and sales teams to generate further B2B sales and allow them to increase account revenue. It will do this by identifying potential targets in order to create more effective cross-selling and upselling. 
• Seller Engagement Recommendations – This feature will enable brands to leverage demographics and audiences by analyzing the data and then providing recommendations about certain products, how users and buyers engage and if there are any suitable contact points. 
• Gen AI Assisted Authoring for Marketing and Sales – Content creation can be very time-consuming for marketers and therefore the AI will be able to create content that will be attractive and engaging and therefore contribute positively to sales cycles. 

What has Oracle said about this?

The Vice President of Product Strategy Katrina Gosek has claimed that these new capabilities will play a huge part in revolutionizing UX, reducing the workload on departments from customer service to sales whilst also bolstering profits. Additionally, the Research VP, IDC, Aly Pinder had expressed her excitement about the fact that the Oracle Service updates a ‘good examples of how AI and machine learning models can improve customer experiences and create the efficiencies’. 

If you have any questions about Oracle & AI, and how it can help and support your brand please get in touch with us and we’d be happy to answer any questions!

Google has now stated that proximity to a searcher will no longer be the main factor for local ads and local service ad ranking. Other features are instead taking the lead as the predominant feature. 

What has Google now said about this change?

Google has stated that this change is a reflection of their growing understanding of how users search and what they find relevant. They believe there are better indicators to determine how local service ads are ranked.

A Google Ads Liaison, Ginny Marvin elaborated on the change by arguing that the LSA rankings had developed over time as the company began to recognise what worked best for consumers and that a business’ location was not necessarily the most influential indicator of relevancy.

In practice this means that the nearest restaurant to a user may not be the most attractive element. Therefore, they are highlighting more intriguing features. This doesn’t mean that proximity is no longer important and ad targeting will still be limited to certain areas as targeting an ad to Halifax, when your business is in Bristol would still be problematic. 

Why is it important for brands and marketers to understand these developments in Local Services Ads ranking?

Google’s update will have a major impact on the nature of how businesses engaged and connect with potential customers. If your company relies upon proximity as a method for creating leads or sales, then you will need to make some amends so that your PPC ads appear in front of the right audience.

Can a business still target areas far from their location with Local Services Ads?

Furthermore, Google Ads prevents businesses from targeting areas that they believe they can’t accurately service. This makes sense when you consider that a cleaning service in Sunderland would be wasting money if it was targeting ads outside the city. This method is a benefit to both the businesses and potential customers.

Google is set to implement a new spam policy targeted at addressing reputation abuse, commonly known in the SEO community as “parasite SEO.” This policy is scheduled to go into effect shortly after May 5, 2024. This change is part of a broader initiative that includes the recently completed March 2024 core and spam updates.

Understanding Reputation Abuse and “Parasite SEO”

What is Reputation Abuse?

Reputation abuse occurs when third-party sites host low-quality content that aims to leverage the ranking power of more reputable sites. For example, an educational website might unknowingly feature payday loan reviews to enhance the content provider’s search engine visibility. This practice can mislead visitors, causing confusion about the expected quality and relevance of the information.

Google’s Definition and Policy

Under the new policy, Google defines site reputation abuse as the hosting of third-party content primarily for search ranking purposes, without the site owner’s stringent oversight. Such content, intended to manipulate search rankings, will be flagged as spam. However, Google clarifies that not all third-party content falls under this category; genuine advertising content meant for regular readers, such as native advertising or advertorials, will not be affected.

Policy Implementation and Enforcement

Automated and Manual Actions

Starting May 5, Google will begin enforcing this policy through both automated systems and manual reviews. These actions are intended to ensure that content which abuses site reputation does not adversely affect the quality of search results.

Significance of the New Policy

Impact on SEO Practices and Webmasters

The introduction of this policy is significant for SEO professionals and site owners as it addresses longstanding concerns about the quality and fairness of search rankings influenced by parasite SEO. It’s a move towards maintaining the integrity of search results and providing users with more reliable and relevant information.

Why This Matters for Users and SEO Experts

Many in the SEO community have voiced concerns about the detrimental effects of parasite SEO on the fairness and quality of search results. This new policy aims to alleviate those concerns by enhancing the overall search experience for users and levelling the playing field for all webmasters.

Conclusion

As the implementation date approaches, it’s important for webmasters and SEO experts to review and adjust their content strategies if necessary. Embracing these changes will be crucial for maintaining visibility and relevance in Google Search results. This policy change underscores Google’s commitment to improving the quality of information available through its search engine, making it more useful and trustworthy for users worldwide.

The total digital advertising expenditure expanded by 11% to £29.6 billion in 2023, as reported by IAB and PwC.

By how much has spending increased in 2023?

The ad industry has bucked the trend against the UK economy as it grew strongly in the last 12 months. The economy has grown by only 0.1% however the growth in markets such as podcasting and connected TV (CTV) has helped to strengthen the market. The media spend in retail increased by 12% in 2023 with brands trying to gather first-party data with the degradation of cookies occurring this year. Group M has predicted that there will be further growth of 8.4% this year.

Why has spending increased?

Investment in podcast advertising has led the way with the increase. This form of advertising hit double digits in terms of growth (23%) whilst CTV rose by 21% and digital out-of-home advertising went up by 12%.

Paid Social advertising continued to be a key source of marketing for brands. Advertisers spent across Meta and TikTok aggressively and consequently the budgets rose by 20%. As society grows more and more reliant on technology and new forms of social engagement, advertisers are attempting to capitalise on social media.

In consequence, mobile advertising also made gains with a rise of 15% in 2023 – which equates to around £16.7 billion and a 10% increase on the 4% growth in 2022. Growth is likely to be driven by more and more young and old people adopting online shopping and spending more time on their devices.

Given the forthcoming (but delayed!) phase-out of third-party cookies, the landscape of digital advertising is changing significantly and industry analysis anticipates that this will continue to cause dramatic changes and growth in the ad ecosystem.

Google has recently announced some new advertising plans which will enable brands to make the most of YouTube shorts, the company’s fast-growing short-form video offering. YouTube Shorts has now reached over two billion monthly logged-in users and over 70 billion views each day across the globe. A new blog post has announced that there would be a new curated content selection, from which brands could place short ads next to popular videos.

What are YouTube Select short ads and how can they help brands?

The YouTube Select Shorts is the new platform for ads. Google has curated a platform that allows brands to choose popular and trending short-form content to place their ads against.

YouTube Select Shorts is a new advertising platform curated by Google that allows brands to place their YouTube Shorts ads alongside popular and trending short-form videos. This initiative benefits brands by providing audience targeting which will allow users to reach the right users who are more likely to engage. Additionally, there will be greater exposure across devices, with TVs showcasing YouTube Shorts with an increase of 100% by 2023 for YouTube Shorts viewership. Finally, this new initiative will provide brands with the opportunity to be present on a platform that has billions of monthly users.

How will the ABCD Framework support Short Ads?

Google has expanded the ABCD framework for Short Ads to improve the chances of success for advertisers. This includes format guidance so that marketers can properly elevate their strategy. A recent study by Kantar has found that by implementing the ABCD principles brands can expect to increase their short-term sales by up to 30%.

The framework has four key tenets: Attention, Branding, Connection and Direction.

• Attention: Googler recommends that brands install creative messaging, audio and imagery to engage customers.
• Branding: Maintain a strong brand message and raise awareness by using integrated branding from the start.
• Connection: With clear messages and emotional storytelling (whether that be humour or love for example) you should create a connection with the user.
• Direction: Point your audience in the right direction with smart CTAs and voiceovers.

The innovative collaboration suggests that Google’s robots may soon start producing advertisements for globally renowned brands such as Coca-Cola. WWP, one of the world’s biggest advertising groups has announced a new collaboration with Google, who will use Gemini (their AI tool) to help create ads.

How will WPP utilize Gemini AI?

Initially, there are a few ways in which Gemini will assist WPP brands. This includes Ad narration such as voice over for video creative, the generation of scripts for ad voiceovers and the creation of product images. For example, with regards to AI narration, the system will create bespoke and customizable scripts for voiceovers, which are then sent to Eleven Labs, a London-based start-up to create the voice. Whilst the product images will be created through Gemini 1.5 Pro and Universal Scene Description 3D file forms. This will make 3D images that can be cross-referenced against brand guidelines.  This landmark deal could mean that an AI will create ad campaigns for some of the biggest brands in the world such as Nestle. 

Why have WPP done this now?

WPP has an estimated 114,000 staff around the world and the UK ad revenue equates to approximately $18.9 billion. The company claims that this collaboration will improve their market efficiency and effectiveness. The company will integrate Gemini and merge Google’s expert knowledge of generative AI, data analytics and cyber security. The Google Cloud will combine with WPP’s patented marketing and advertising data. This incorporation will allow WPP’s clients to generate product-explicit content using gen AI. This should also allow WPP’s clients to get a better and more detailed understanding of their target audiences.

Should we be worried about this deal?

The deal reflects the growing importance of AI in the marketing world and it is certainly something that can help people manage their time and potentially make companies such as WPP far more effective and efficient. However, it is worth noting that with AI becoming more capable of replicating roles traditionally done by humans, it could lead to a drop in the reliance on physical staff. 

Meta has issued a denial that they have been providing Netflix with their users’ private messages. The claim has grown in notoriety over the last month, with Elon Musk claiming that this was true through posts on X, formerly Twitter. The accusation stems from a court filing within a class action lawsuit that Facebook is currently facing with regard to data privacy. 

What does the document claim?

The court filing alleged that Meta and Netflix had a unique relationship, with Facebook, a subsidiary of Meta, even reducing their budgets for Facebook original programming so they didn’t compete with Netflix – who were a large advertiser on the social networking site. In 2017, it was reported that Netflix was spending $150 million on Facebook ads. However, most problematically, it claims that Netflix was granted special access to Meta’s Inbox API which allowed the streamer “programmatic access” to Facebook user’s private messages. This has understandably led many to criticize Meta for illegally sharing their data with another company.

How has Meta responded to this?

Meta has denied the report’s accuracy with Andy Stone, Meta’s Communications Director pushing back by claiming Musk’s statement was “shockingly untrue”. Instead, he countered by stating that the Netflix agreement allowed users to private message friends about Netflix suggestions directly from their app and share this across Facebook. This is a standard practice across the media industry. In essence, he claimed that Netflix had access via a plugin, rather than being able to read individual messages.

Is this the first time Meta has been accused of selling data?

Unfortunately for Meta, this isn’t the first time they have been accused of data breaches. A New York Times article in 2018 stated that Netflix and Spotify could access private messages based on documents they had received. The blog post explained that the Facebook API was accessible for Netflix and Spotify, meaning they could see conversations about what people were watching or listening to. 

Whilst Stone denied that Netflix was snooping, it is worth noting that the company was granted privileges other brands were not. Indeed, the report claims that Netflix had access to the Titan API and conversely shared a bi-monthly report to Meta about user engagement.

As we delve deeper into the age of artificial intelligence, YouTube is taking significant steps to ensure transparency and integrity in the content shared on its platform. Here’s what’s new and how it affects creators and viewers alike.

Introducing Self-Labeling for AI-Generated Content

YouTube recently unveiled a feature that allows creators to self-identify their videos containing AI-generated or synthetic material during the upload process. This initiative aims to maintain honesty and clarity on the platform, requiring creators to mark “altered or synthetic” content that mimics reality. This could range from videos making a real person say or do something they didn’t, altering footage of real events and places, to showcasing a realistic-looking scene that never actually occurred.

What Needs to Be Disclosed?

Creators are now faced with the responsibility of disclosing any content that could potentially deceive viewers into thinking it’s real. YouTube provided examples to clarify the type of content needing disclosure:

• A fake tornado moving towards a real town
• Using deepfake technology to alter a real person’s voice in a narration
• However, YouTube delineates that disclosures are not necessary for content that is evidently fictitious, such as animation, beauty filters, or special effects like background blur.

Balancing Protection and Creativity

In November, YouTube introduced a nuanced AI-generated content policy, establishing two levels of guidelines: stringent ones aimed at protecting music labels and artists, and more lenient rules applicable to the broader creator community. For instance, deepfake music videos could be subject to removal at the request of the artist’s label. Yet, for average individuals impersonated through deepfakes, the removal process involves a more complex privacy request form, highlighting the challenges in managing AI-generated content.

The Honour System and Beyond

YouTube’s approach to AI content labelling largely relies on creators being truthful about their videos’ content. Despite the intrinsic challenges in detecting AI-generated content—owing to the historical inaccuracy of AI detection tools—YouTube is committed to enhancing its detection capabilities. The platform also reserves the right to add AI disclosures to videos post-upload, particularly when the content might mislead viewers, with more explicit labels for sensitive topics such as health, elections, and finance.

Looking Forward

With these updates, YouTube joins other social media giants in the quest to regulate AI-generated content, balancing innovation with integrity. This move is not only about adhering to a set of rules but also about fostering a culture of transparency and trust among creators and viewers. As the landscape of digital content continues to evolve, these guidelines will play a crucial role in shaping the future of content creation and consumption on YouTube.

For further insights on digital media trends and AI’s impact, resources like Pew Research Center and Statista offer valuable statistics and analyses on the technology’s broader implications.