That’s the first working week of 2018 over with, but did the new year start with a bang? Let’s find out as we round-up the latest digital marketing news of the week.
Instagram Is Testing Story Sharing Via WhatsApp
In October, Instagram updated its stories feature to allow users to directly share these on Facebook. Now, TechCrunch have revealed that the app is running a test which allows Instagram stories to be posted to WhatsApp as a status.
Both of these apps are owned by Facebook, so a connection may not be a huge surprise. Will it be rolled out to all users? We’ll have to wait and see.
Negative Reviews From Ex-Employees Are Now Against Google Guidelines
An employee is not a customer, however until recently a review left by a current or past staff member was not seen to breach Google’s guidelines. This has now changed.
On December 14th 2017 Google reviewed its policies and it’s now possible to remove negative reviews from disgruntled ex-employees. The guidelines state ‘posting negative content about a current or former employment experience’ is considered a conflict of interest and is therefore no longer allowed.
If your business has received negative reviews from employees you can now contact Google My Business and get the reviews removed.
Bank Creates Its Own YouTube Algorithm
In our November 24th Digital Digest, we wrote about research which revealed that good surrounding content could boost ad engagement. Now, 6 weeks on, US bank JPMorgan Chase has revealed its own solution to this placement conundrum.
The bank has developed an algorithm which ensures its ads are not placed around questionable content. Made by its internal media buying team, it has 17 filters that classify YouTube channels as ‘safe’ or ‘unsafe’.
Jake Davidow, the executive director of media and channel strategy at JPMorgan Chase, told Business Insider:
“When news broke about ads finding their way next to horrific pieces of content, we paused our efforts and pulled our ads from YouTube,”
“We wanted to figure out a scalable solution and make sure we got it right.”
Snapchat Is Considering YouTube-Like ‘Skip’ Option
Recent reports reveal that Snapchat is considering improving its user experience by giving people the option to skip ads, similar to the 5 second YouTube tool. Ad Age reports that it is believed this would stop Snapchat users bypassing ads after just a second.
Snap has declined to comment on reports, but what do you think? Is a skip option a good idea? Tweet us @Figaro_Digital with your thoughts.
For more news updates, guides and opinion pieces, take a look at a few more of our articles.