Bonded Bitesize – Your Midweek Roundup

Meta launches ads on Threads

Meta is introducing ads on Threads, tapping into its 300 million monthly active users and transforming it into a potential advertising platform. Advertisers can now extend their existing Meta campaigns to Threads with minimal effort by selecting it in Ads Manager. Initially, a small-scale test will feature image ads in users’ home feeds. With three in four users already following at least one business, the platform presents an opportunity for early adopters to gain market share. Meta is closely monitoring the ad experience, offering brand safety tools and user controls. The rollout will expand gradually based on user feedback and engagement, positioning Threads as a key player in Meta’s broader advertising ecosystem.

Google Commits To Cracking Down On Fake Reviews

Google has agreed to crack down on fake reviews in the UK, targeting businesses that boost ratings dishonestly and those who post misleading reviews. The CMA’s agreement with Google introduces sanctions, including ‘warning’ alerts on offending business profiles, disabling new reviews, and deleting reviews for repeat offenders. Google will also enhance its reporting tools to allow consumers to flag fake or incentivised reviews. The CMA will monitor Google’s progress over three years, ensuring fair competition and consumer trust. From April 2025, new legislation will empower the CMA to fine firms up to 10% of their global turnover for breaking consumer laws. The regulator is also investigating Amazon’s review practices, with updates to follow.

Netflix doubles ad revenue in 2024, targets another doubling in 2025

Netflix increased revenue by 16% to $10.2bn in Q4 2024, adding 19 million subscribers and reaching 302 million total. Ad-supported plans are gaining traction, accounting for over 55% of Q4 sign-ups in ad markets, with subscriptions growing 30% quarter-over-quarter. Netflix exceeded its Q4 ad revenue target, doubled ad revenue year-over-year, and aims to double it again in 2025. The platform is enhancing its ad stack, launching in the US in April to improve advertiser flexibility and monetisation. First-party ad tech will enhance targeting, measurement, and programmatic availability. Looking ahead, Netflix plans to expand into live programming and gaming, tapping into a $140bn market outside China and Russia.

New Google Ads Performance‬‭ Max‬‭ Features

Google has introduced new Performance Max features to give advertisers greater control, transparency, and insights. Key updates include campaign-level negative keywords, a high-value customer acquisition goal, brand exclusions, demographic exclusions, and device targeting. Search reporting has been enhanced with a usefulness indicator for search themes, while asset group improvements allow segmentation and performance downloads. Advertisers can also set ‘URL contains’ rules for product feed campaigns. These changes aim to refine AI-driven ad campaigns, improve targeting, and provide deeper performance insights, helping brands optimise their strategies within Google Ads.

TikTok Launches Tool To Automate Shopping Campaigns For UK Retailers

TikTok has launched ‘GMV Max’ in the UK, an AI-powered tool designed to streamline campaign creation for TikTok Shop sellers by automating audience targeting, bidding, and creative selection. The tool, which aims to maximise Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), can cut campaign setup time in half and scale high-performing assets. After a rocky start in Western markets, TikTok Shop is now gaining traction in the UK, with 200,000+ active small businesses and 6,000+ daily Live shopping sessions. The tool previously led to a 30% GMV increase in the US, where TikTok Shop saw record-breaking Black Friday sales. TikTok is also expanding ecommerce efforts in Europe, including a recent launch in Spain.

Amazon Is Letting Advertisers Analyse 5 Years Worth of Consumers’ Shopping

At CES in Las Vegas, Amazon Ads announced an expansion of its Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC), allowing brands to query up to five years of purchase signals for more comprehensive measurement. Previously limited to 13 months of data, the extended lookback period aims to help brands better assess key metrics like customer lifetime value and new-to-brand purchases, particularly for products with longer life cycles or seasonal goods. This enhancement enables brands to track customer behavior across multiple categories and make year-over-year comparisons, offering more precise insights for long-term and seasonal product strategies. The feature is available in limited beta and is part of AMC’s Flexible Shopping Insights.

LinkedIn Updates Attribution Model, Provides New Ad Response Insights

LinkedIn is introducing a new hybrid attribution model to give B2B advertisers a more accurate view of the customer journey. By combining multi-touch attribution (MTA) and marketing-mix modelling (MMM), the updated system aims to eliminate blind spots in traditional rule-based and data-driven attribution methods. The new methodology leverages AI and neural networks to track audience responses more precisely across touchpoints. Early testing shows significant improvements, with LinkedIn’s new system attributing 150x more credit than last-click models. The rollout has begun for all advertisers on LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, promising better ad performance insights.

Instagram TikTok-ifies The Grid

Instagram has revamped its profile grid, replacing its classic square layout with a more vertical, TikTok-style display to better showcase vertical photos and videos. Launched on the same day TikTok faced a temporary U.S. ban, the update aligns with Instagram’s push to dominate short-form video, alongside extending Reels to three minutes and introducing a new mobile editing suite. Instagram head Adam Mosseri acknowledges the disruption to curated grids but promises future updates, including grid reordering and direct grid posting, to give users more control over their profiles.

Meta announces a new CapCut rival called Edits

Meta has announced ‘Edits’, a new video editing app set to launch on iOS next month, with an Android version to follow. Revealed just after ByteDance’s CapCut was removed from app stores due to the TikTok ban, Edits aims to equip creators with advanced tools, including a high-quality camera, idea-tracking features, and the ability to share drafts with collaborators. Instagram head Adam Mosseri emphasised that the app is tailored for serious creators rather than casual users, reinforcing Meta’s strategy of filling market gaps—similar to how it launched Reels after TikTok’s India ban and Threads as a rival to X.

LinkedIn tests personal post boost option

LinkedIn is testing a new feature that lets individual users pay to boost the visibility of their posts, expanding beyond the existing business page boost options. Currently available to limited U.S. Premium Business subscribers, the feature allows users to amplify text posts, images, articles, videos, and newsletters. This move encourages personal branding and increases engagement, offering a more accessible way to reach a wider audience. Unlike LinkedIn’s Thought Leader Ads, this tool puts control in the hands of users, though it has raised concerns about limiting organic reach and pushing users to pay for visibility. A wider rollout is expected in 2025.