Bonded Bitesize – Your Midweek Roundup
Bonded Bitesize – Your Midweek Roundup
Bonded Bitesize – Bringing you your midweek roundup of the latest in digital and media.
Stay connected with recent updates from Microsoft, Google, Meta & many more!
Google rolls out Ads Editor version 2.5 with 16 new features to improve the efficiency of campaigns
Google has rolled out its latest version of Ads Editor, with 16 new features and updates to help advertisers improve the efficiency of their campaigns. These new features include the ability to add deep links to App Install Ads, automatically create AdStrength assets, a new ‘Asset source’ column in ad level asset reports and additional fields in Discovery product ads. In addition, there is now support for in-feed video ads, a text mode for selecting videos, broad match keywords campaign setting as well as support for video view campaigns. For the full list of changes, read Google’s announcement here.
Paramount Global to combine My5 with Pluto TV to bring UK audiences ‘supersized’ free streaming service
Paramount has expanded its EyeQ ad platform globally, merging Channel 5’s video on demand service, My 5, and Pluto TV to UK viewers - creating a one-stop shop for advertisers that was previously only available in the US. Olivier Jollet, EVP and General Manager of Pluto TV commented, “As an early pioneer of FAST globally, we’ve seen incredible growth and excitement for Pluto TV in markets around the world. By joining forces with our leading BVOD platform in the UK, we are offering audiences, partners, and clients a supersized free streaming destination that we know they’ll love”.
Meta rolls out ad-free Facebook and Instagram subscription in Europe, costing up to €12.99 p/m
Meta has begun rolling out its ad-free offering for Facebook and Instagram to users across the EU, EEA and Switzerland - giving them the choice to remove sponsored posts from their feeds. For those wanting to remove ads, the subscription will cost €9.99 per month on the web, and €12.99 per month on iOS and Android - while currently these prices cover both platforms, the company has already revealed that as of March next year an additional fee of €6 (web) or €8 (iOS/Android) will be charged for each additional account listed in a users account centre.
Amazon brings sponsored ads to its streaming service, allowing brands that sell on Amazon to reach more customers
Amazon Ads has expanded its sponsored ads portfolio with a self-service streaming TV ad solution for brands of all sizes. Sponsored TV will allow brands to run streaming TV campaigns with no minimum spend to reach audiences watching content on Amazon Freevee, livestreamed entertainment on Twitch and third-party streaming TV services through Fire TV apps. Amazon is positioning this service as a good option for small and medium-sized brands who are intimidated by the cost of TV advertising, as well as the need for TV-quality creative.
TikTok pilots 15 minute video upload limit for select users, pushing further into long-form content
TikTok has been spotted testing a new 15 minute upload limit, up from its current maximum of 10 minutes. Spotted by social media consultant, Matt Navarra, the increased length suggests the platform is looking to push into long form content that has the potential for integrating in-video ads. TikTok has been gradually increasing its video upload limit since the app's inception - from 15 seconds, to 60 second, three minutes, five minutes and then ten minutes.
Facebook has introduced an API to enable third-party apps to create and share Stories content
Facebook has announced that they are releasing a new Facebook Stories API that allows developers, creators and brands to use the desktop or web-based application of their choice to create and publish Stories. This will enable brands that use third-party scheduling software like Sprout Social to schedule Stories ahead of time, as well as feed posts and reels. Facebook has commented that any third party apps that have already been through its approval process will not have to so again to access this new API - so we should start seeing this feature fairly quickly.
Elon Musk rolls out test of xAI’s first AI chatbot, named Grok, to become part of X’s Premium offering
Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, has rolled out a test of its first AI chatbot, named Grok. According to xAI, Grok is an AI chatbot modelled after the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, that is able to not only answer users questions, but also suggest which questions to ask. Grok ‘has a rebellious streak’ and will answer ‘spicy questions’ that are rejected by most other AI systems - with Musk himself labelling it as ‘anti-woke’. The chatbot sources its data from X - through the company’s updated user agreement - allowing it to use people’s posts in real time to inform its answers. Once fully rolled out, it is expected the chatbot will become another perk reserved for X’s costly Premium+ subscribers.
Meta is rolling out A/B testing for creators and an Achievement hub to track their progress
Meta has announced that it is adding a range of new tools to help creators test their content and understand their performance on Facebook. Firstly, Meta is adding a new A/B testing option for Reels creators, allowing them to experiment with their thumbnails and captions. This tool allows creators to test up to four different options, to see which variations see the most engagement after 30 mins. Secondly, a new ‘achievements hub’ in Meta’s Professional Dashboard will display creators' various achievements, offering badges and rewards as incentives to drive specific post types and behaviours.
TikTok announces CRM partnership for B2B lead generation to help simplify lead conversion for advertisers
TikTok and HubSpot have announced a CRM partnership for B2B lead generation, allowing for real-time lead synchronisation from TikTok to HubSpot’s Smart CRM. According to TikTok, “This new integration enables HubSpot customers of all sizes to accelerate sales, organise their contacts, and better serve their customers”. With this integration advertisers can sync their TikTok and HubSpot accounts in real time, deploy lead-generating ads, engage leads using HubSpot’s Marketing Hub to create personalised campaigns across channels and leverage the platforms AI-powered reporting.
YouTube is testing new generative AI features including a comments summariser and a conversational tool
YouTube has announced that it is testing the integration of two new generative AI features into its viewing experience. Firstly, a tool that can organise large comment sections into easily digestible topics - that users can use to jump between discussions or creators can use to draw inspiration for new content. Secondly, the platform is also experimenting with a conversational AI tool that lets users get answers to their questions related to the video they’re watching, as well as recommendations for related content. These features are currently being tested on a limited number of users in the U.S.
Google has launched a new Ad Review Center for AdSense, Ad Manager and AdMob
After listening to feedback from publishers and partners alike, Google has rolled out a new and improved Ad Review Center for AdSense, Ad Manager and AdMob, designed to improve the user experience for advertisers. This new Ad Review Center has an improved layout that maximises the area advertisers have to view their ads, as well as new easy-to-use filters. Google has also made bulk actions easier to complete, simplified the image search and improved the detail view by adding an expandable ‘Ad info’ and ‘Related ads’ tabs to access more metadata.
TikTok to start selling fresh food through TikTok Shop in the US to tap into #foodtok
Mike Westgate, the Head of Home, Living and Retail for TikTok Shop U.S. has revealed that the platform is planning to allow the sale of perishable goods on TikTok Shop - meaning users may soon be able to order their groceries from the app. Westgate explained that the company is looking to “forge partnerships with retailers to do deliveries to support perishable products”, having previously tested a similar scheme last August in the UK.
YouTube is cracking down on users with ad-blockers, claiming they are violating their Terms of Service
YouTube is continuing to crack down on users avoiding ads on the platform via the use of ad-blocker technology - warning users that they are breaking YouTube’s Terms of Service by doing so. The company has confirmed that this is part of a ‘global effort’ to urge users to purchase a YouTube Premium subscription, or allow ads - having experimented with different warning formats since June. In some cases, YouTube has been known to prevent users from viewing more videos unless they disable their adblock.
LinkedIn reaches 1B members & unveils new AI job search and summary tools for premium subscribers
Microsoft, LinkedIn’s parent company, has recently revealed that the platform now has 1 billion members, and to celebrate it is rolling out several new AI-powered features to its Premium subscribers. These new features include AI generated summaries and personalised career advice. LinkedIn explained, “Our new AI-powered experience will analyse your feed’s posts (from the commentary to the article to the conversation) and reveal salient opportunities for you in one simple click”. Their new job seeker experience helps identify the best way for users to position themselves to new jobs, helping research roles and companies as well as preparing the user for interviews.
Google launches generative AI tools for product imagery for U.S. advertisers via Product Studio
Following a similar announcement from Amazon last week, Google has now released its own AI tool for generating product imagery for U.S. advertisers. This new tool will be able to generate backgrounds for product imagery based on text prompts, and can also help improve low quality images or remove distracting backgrounds to help make an image more visually appealing to audiences. Google is rolling out this tool as part of its Product Studio to U.S. merchants, alongside other updates such as a “small business” attribute and additional info on merchant knowledge panels.
