Bonded Bitesize – Your Midweek Roundup

Reddit launches lead generation ads

Reddit has introduced Lead Gen Ads, allowing marketers to collect customer information directly from their promotions within the app. These ads feature a ‘Sign Up’ CTA that leads users to a form for entering their details. The format is optimised for mobile, including auto-filled email fields for ease of use. Early tests show positive results, with companies like LaunchDarkly seeing a 30% reduction in cost per lead and a 25% increase in lead submissions.These ads can help businesses build connections and expand their networks by targeting specific Reddit communities, thus increasing brand awareness. Additionally, Reddit has integrated with Zapier, enabling automatic transfer of lead data to various CRMs, enhancing the utility of these ads. Both the Lead Gen Ads and Zapier integration are available to brands working directly with Reddit’s ad team.

Find out more about Reddit’s Lead Gen Ads here.

X shares insights into olympics engagement

Despite a significant revenue decline and limited growth, social media platform, X, is promoting high engagement during the Olympics to attract advertisers. With 87% of users planning to follow the event, X launched the “Portal to Paris” to centralise Olympic trends and clips, despite restrictions from the International Olympics Committee. Brands can leverage the new ‘Trend Genius’ ad offering to align their ads with trending topics. X hopes the Olympics will boost ad revenue and regain advertiser trust. The platform is relying heavily on this event to improve its financial performance and draw more interest from advertisers.

Apple says it took a ‘responsible’ approach to training its Apple Intelligence models

Apple has detailed its Apple Intelligence models, set to enhance iOS, macOS, and iPadOS with generative AI features. The company stresses that no private user data was used, relying instead on licensed and publicly available data, as well as open-source code. Apple addressed concerns about using data from YouTube subtitles, clarifying these models won’t be in their products.The training dataset, consisting of 6.3 trillion tokens, was fine-tuned with human feedback and synthetic data. Despite Apple’s emphasis on ethical AI practices, using public web data remains controversial and legally debated. Apple allows webmasters to block its data scraping but individual creators may still face challenges. Apple aims to position itself responsibly amidst these complexities.

LinkedIn to pay $6.6M to settle erroneous ad metrics suit

LinkedIn has agreed to pay about $6.6 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over allegedly inflated ad metrics. This settlement, pending approval by U.S. District Court Judge Susan van Keulen, addresses a 2020 lawsuit by TopDevz and Noirefy, which claimed LinkedIn’s erroneous ad metrics led to inflated ad prices. The settlement will compensate U.S. advertisers who purchased LinkedIn ads between January 1, 2015, and May 31, 2023. LinkedIn admitted to overreporting ad impressions and video views, affecting over 418,000 customers, and had already credited affected advertisers’ accounts. TopDevz and Noirefy argued that these incorrect metrics resulted in higher ad purchases and costs. The lawsuit was initially dismissed but was appealed before reaching the settlement.

OpenAI starts testing SearchGPT prototype

`OpenAI is testing SearchGPT, a prototype search feature that combines AI models with web information to provide fast, accurate answers with clear sources. Initially available to a select group for feedback, the best features will eventually be integrated into ChatGPT. Users can sign up for the waitlist to try it. SearchGPT aims to simplify web searches by delivering direct, up-to-date responses and allowing follow-up questions in a conversational manner. Partnering with publishers, it highlights high-quality content and prominently cites sources to respect and protect journalism. Publishers can manage their SearchGPT appearance and provide feedback. SearchGPT is focused on search, separate from OpenAI’s generative AI training, and offers insights on AI search product engagement and content performance.

Paris olympics soars 79% to 34.5M viewers

NBCUniversal reported a 79% increase in viewership for the first three days of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, averaging 34.5 million viewers across all platforms. This surpasses the 19.3 million average for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, which were impacted by COVID-19 disruptions. The viewership includes NBC, Peacock, USA Network, CNBC, E!, and other digital platforms. Advertisers saw 18% higher attention, 33% greater message recall, and a 67% increase in search likelihood. Peacock averaged 10.9 million viewers and garnered 4.5 billion minutes of viewing, surpassing Tokyo’s total. The River Seine Opening Ceremony drew 41.5 million viewers, nearly doubling Tokyo’s 21.7 million. The U.S. men’s basketball game against Serbia also performed well, averaging 10.9 million viewers.

TikTok records surge in sentiment toward Kamala Harris

Since President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, TikTok interest in Harris has soared. A Zelf report reveals over 85,000 TikTok videos about Harris, generating 1.8 billion views in a month, nearly doubling previous engagement. Positive sentiment about Harris has increased significantly. Similarly, former President Donald Trump saw a major surge in TikTok activity following a recent assassination attempt, with video posts rising from 50,000 to over 400,000 and views skyrocketing from 1 billion to 6 billion. Despite the boost, Trump’s positive sentiment has since declined. The report underscores TikTok’s role in shaping political discourse, with Harris using the platform to engage younger voters amid ongoing concerns about its potential U.S. ban.

Pinterest explores publisher partnerships to boost ad sales

Pinterest is testing a new advertising program that could transform ad strategies by leveraging the expertise of news outlets and publishers. The initiative involves an ad auction system with revenue sharing for publishers, aiming to utilise their existing advertiser relationships. This could provide publishers with access to larger deals and a broader advertiser base. Similar trends are seen on other platforms, such as LinkedIn’s Wire Program, which allows publishers to sell ads on distributed videos and is currently in beta testing. These moves indicate a broader shift by social media platforms to diversify revenue streams and enhance their appeal to advertisers. The success of these programs may shape future collaborations between social media platforms and traditional publishers.

Google streamlines ad creation with merchant center-ads integration

Google is introducing a new feature that integrates Google Merchant Center with Google Ads, improving ad creation for e-commerce businesses. This integration allows advertisers to use product images from Merchant Center directly in Google Ads’ AI image editor, streamlining the creation of high-quality visuals. Advertisers can link Merchant Center feeds with Performance Max campaigns, import and enhance product images, and save them to the Asset Library for campaign use. Performance Max campaigns can include up to 20 images. This feature aims to simplify ad creation, potentially saving time and enhancing ad quality. The effect on ad performance and adoption rates among e-commerce advertisers will be key to watch.

Read more about Google’s integration here.

Mail, Mirror, Express and Independent roll out ‘consent or pay’ walls

Mail Online, The Independent, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Express have introduced a “consent or pay” model for accessing their websites. Readers who refuse to accept third-party cookies must pay a subscription fee to access content. The Mirror and Express charge £1.99 per month, while the Mail Online charges £2.70, and The Independent’s fee is £4. This model, which reflects a growing trend among publishers, is designed to address declining cookie acceptance and revenue challenges. While these pop-ups offer ad-free experiences with no data sharing, they still display non-targeted ads. The approach aims to balance privacy concerns with monetisation needs, amid regulatory scrutiny and shifting industry standards.