Rabbbits Weeekly: 05.13.22
Are you speaking ads into existence? Plus, the usual headline roundup for ads, algorithms, audiences, attack vectors, analytics, and some assorted bits.
They’re Listening
Voice recognition tech made some waves with the recent reporting that Alexa interactions are used for advertising purposes. Which, really isn’t surprising. The purpose of the device is really to encourage more shopping, on Amazon.
Not long after I learned about a new use for it: factory floors. The article calls out that the factory use case is all “on the edge” so there are no data privacy issues or, say, things like big tech companies selling the interactions to the highest bidder (to be used in the Amazon ecosystem that already knows plenty about you if you use any of their services). [In all seriousness though, this seems like a great use case for the tech.]
I’ll leave you with the words of someone way more plugged into technology than I am: Ben Evans.
Facebook does not listen to your conversations (Google ‘recency bias’) but Amazon does use data from interactions with Alexa for its ad business. But note that this is only actual conversations with Alexa, not passive listening.
Algorithms
Missed Google I/O (or didn't care enough to dedicate that much of your time to it)? They have you covered with this recap. Which I will now recap here for you. More languages! Android stuff! Multisearch™ (mix image and text in your query)! Diversity and representation! More control over the ads you receive!
They showed off some AR glasses that have people excited, but I’ll wait to dig in more if they actually ship. (Remember, Snap has already shipped (at least) two versions of Spectacles and now a self-flying drone.)
Google is adding burner cards to Chrome. The aim is convenience and consumer security without having sites having to implement payment options like PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Shop Pay, you get the point.
Some more info on Goog's Topics and FLEDGE, especially if you want no part of it as an internet user.
It's not about duplicating content, it's about providing value. At least that's what Google's SEO King (unofficial title) says. In general, value add is what they claim their SEO ranking system is all about.
Maybe Zuck's big gamble on the metaverse came a little too early. It only took half a year to lose over $6B and now has to lose less and do it slower. (Meta is in a rough spot right now, the rest of 2022 could be very interesting.)
But he recently showed off his hobby's new VR headset. Well, kind of. They blurred it out, so it looks more like he is in witness protection and hallucinating.
Lots of interesting nuggets in here for social curious data nerds, but the big takeaway is that 40% of TikTokers are 30+.
Watch out YouTube, TikTok is coming for you. With over 40% of Gen Z spending more than 3 hours a day on The Trend Machine, it's expected to surpass The Mean Comment Machine for time spent this year. (And no, I still don't have an account.)
The news! On Facebook! Now in Snapchat form! Short video is to Facebook what Fetch is to Gretchen Wieners, they're going to make it happen or die trying (this last bit may not actually be hyperbole, we'll see).
TikTok is also (potentially?) going the Snapchat route and ditching Discover for Friends, at least for some users. This both feels like a throwback to the networks it's displaced and seems like a growth hack a la Facebook since the screen will encourage you to connect the app to your phone contacts or Facebook to find friends. Discover made TikTok, do users want another friend network?
But now it’s available on Twitter! Welcome to the verticalization of the internet.
Ads
Meta made a rare privacy first move, if a user opted out of tracking on any platform, they are now opted out on all platforms. They just didn’t tell anyone about this change or let advertisers know there might be a performance hit. For a company that is supposed to enable communication, they are really bad at it themselves.
The Search-as-ad-network Company updated their best practices guide for Performance Max campaigns with things like "provide creative assets if you don't want us to auto-generate them" and "this is the feature to enable if you want us to auto-generate text based on your website".
They’re also leveling up their responsive display ad features by, well, TikTok-ing them, basically. New mobile-first layouts will cobble your assets together into a full screen "experience" automagically. They've also added improved auto-cropping features to better fill frames you might not have images exactly sized for.
Google is adding some features and/or requirements to Merchant Center. They're all pretty in the weeds so, if you spend a lot of time there, check out their post. Otherwise, skip this one.
Ads go TikTok as Meta claims users want to see that real real in ads and not the airbrushing and photoshopping we see on magazine covers. Is this advertising's punk rock moment?
This is what good Snapchat ads look like, apparently.
How to win at Snap Ads (and probably elsewhere):
high contrast imagery - use bold colors and lighting to differentiate the lead image from the background (up to 40% higher swipe up rates and/or 2x more screen time)
minimized text - view rate up as high as 175% for ads when less than 5% of screen dedicated to text
Podcast ads are (still?) hot like Hansel, with total revenue projected to top out over $2B this year.
When working with influencers, is it for branding or conversions? If it's conversions, go micro. For awareness, go macro.
This is NYT so it's (potentially) gated, but the headline covers what I care about here: Netflix is targeting a Q4 launch for an ad-supported tier. Get you Black Friday ads ready...
More GDPR pop-ups in more places, now Google will require advertisers to get consent before running retargeting ads in Europe. BRB gotta check some accounts....
Analytics
I love a good trends / insights tool and this new one from TikTok could be very useful, since, you know, it's where everything happens these days.
Coming soon to Search Console: video! Or, at least, data on how your videos are being indexed. Or not.
Use it or lose it. That’s Google’s official policy when it comes to Search Console data. They seem to be testing the business strategy of trying to get more for less.
Universal Analytics' realtime reporting is more like nearly realtime reporting and they've updated the name to reflect that. "Right now" is now "In the last 5 minutes".
Add "high cardinality" to the list of things to be worried about in GA4. I don't know what that means yet, but I'll be keeping an eye out for my signal that it's time to figure it out.
Pinterest is going the modeled conversions route as well. This is the most recent way platforms have been handling the impact on their pixels from privacy measures. It's basically machine-powered pattern-matching predictions on whether or not a conversion occurred as a result of your ad.
TikTok and Foursquare are taking their relationship to the next level by integrating Foursquare Attribution into advertiser analytics. Which should help them figure out if their ads are working IRL.
Audiences
Shopify is launching Audiences, which will create custom prospecting audiences (using ML) that you can connect to Facebook and Instagram for ads (they say they'll add more soon, I'd imagine Google and Pinterest are next on the list).
2/3 of links on the web are dead. A good reminder that things on the internet aren't forever (unless it's an NFT diamond, in which case it definitely, totally, 100% is) and you might want to give your site a looksie if you link out a lot. You know, for the sake of the users.
Attack Vectors
Ransomware has led Costa Rica to declare a state of emergency.
The EU's ongoing battle between tech regulation (and safety) and privacy marches on. This time it's about scanning chat apps for child sexual abuse material. A thing I think we can all agree is a good idea, but the proposed implementation is freaking people out (to the point of saying the only mass surveillance machines that would be worse are China and the USSR, not great company).
The push for open banking in the US illustrates the tension between privacy and competition.
Passwords are so last year. Is a thing we might be able to say soon.
Assorteds & Alternates
Google is jumping aboard the web3 (crypto) train, or at least hoping to provide the tracks for it to roll on.
RIP iPod (if you're feeling nostalgic, there's an app for that)
A solar power plant, in spaaaaaaaaaaace