September 15, 2017

The Figaro Digital Digest: 15th September 2017

The kids are back in school, X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing have started, and the weather is, well… less than desirable. It’ll be Christmas before we know it, so our weekly round-up makes the perfect reading during this fast-paced time of year.

What’s been happening in the marketing world this week? Let’s find out.

AdWords Announces Launch Of Dashboard Panoramic Views

Think back a month or two and you may remember Google Analytics getting a slight redesign; well, it’s now AdWords’ turn. On Inside AdWords this week, a statement read:

“Over the next several weeks, we’re rolling out dashboards: a single place in AdWords where you can bring together your most important reports and unearth insights about your business.”

Google believes that consolidating your most important stats in one view will help you to get a comprehensive understanding of your account whilst spending less time on reports and on identifying new opportunities instead.


(image: Inside AdWords)

Research Reveals Half Of Brits Use An Ad Blocker

Affiliate marketing network company Affilinet has surveyed over 2,000 UK adults and found that more than half use an ad blocker while browsing the internet.

Why? Well, 61.5 per cent said it was because online ads are ‘annoying’, 41.5 per cent said ads are ‘intrusive’, and 33.1 per cent said that ads they see are ‘irrelevant’. The study also found that men are more likely to use an ad blocker than women (48.7 per cent of men used one, whereas only 42.5 per cent of women did).

Facebook Announces Plan To Tackle Brand Safety ‘Uneasiness’

Social network Facebook has announced it will soon be introducing new controls over where ads appear and the type of content they may accompany in a bid to improve brand safety, measurement and visibility.

Revealed in an announcement by the VP of global marketing solutions, Carolyn Everson, at Dmexco on September 13th, the release is the first steps towards tackling a growing ‘uneasiness’ among marketers over the context in which their ads may appear.

Everson said:

“At Facebook, we take very seriously our responsibility to earn and maintain the trust of our advertiser partners—and give them the confidence they need to invest in us. That’s critical to their success and ours,”

“That is why we’re introducing new monetisation eligibility standards that will provide clearer guidance on the types of publishers and creators eligible to earn money on Facebook, and the kind of content that can be monetised.”

£3.4billion Is Left In Online Carts By British Shoppers Each Year

A report from Barclays claims that device switching is the reason behind £3.4billion worth of goods being left in online shopping baskets in the UK each year. The bank believes that customers mostly browse on their phones, before switching to a computer to make the purchase.

Its study has also found that a lack of discounts or a variety of delivery options were reasons for cart abandonment. 38 per cent said discount codes would incentivise a purchase, whereas 56 per cent wanted free deliveries. Barclays’ findings state that making online shopping more convenient could generate retailers an extra £10.5billion over the next five years.

For more news updates, guides and opinion pieces, take a look at a few more of our articles.