Daily Minute Master Series – August 20, 2019

Social Media

Twitter Launches 6-Second Video Ad Bidding, Providing New Options for Video Marketers

Twitter is launching a new video ad option in the form of 6-second video ad bidding, which will see advertisers only charged if and when their video ad is in view for six seconds. According to EyeSee, which conducts studies of audience engagement based on advanced eye-tracking technology, 3 seconds is actually the hot spot for video ad recall and response. That should, theoretically, mean that Twitter’s new 6-second bidding option will be more than enough time to ensure optimal response. To clarify, video advertisers will still publish their on-platform video ads as normal, but this new option will enable them to choose to only be charged when their video is viewed for 6 seconds. The idea is that this will provide a more flexible option for advertisers, enabling them to optimize for completed views, while also putting more reliance on Twitter’s system to showcase their content to relevant audiences who are more likely to watch.

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Reddit Previews Coming Live-Streaming Capacity in New, Week-Long Project

Reddit is looking to get in on the live-streaming action – though it’s doing so in its own, unique way. Late last week, a new Reddit called r/pan began sharing cryptic messages. The series of posts have ended up being the precursor to what Reddit’s labeling its version of the Public Access Network (PAN), which will enable Redditors to broadcast, in real-time, on a dedicated PAN channel. Reddit says the option to broadcast is coming to all users this week, but it’s rolling out in stages, so some users will have it before others. The addition makes sense, from a functional standpoint, but it also seems destined for controversy, with Reddit being more open to questionable content, and welcoming of related discussion. Reddit has long sought to distance itself from editorial interference in what users discuss on the platform, with no ID requirements and profiles being optional on the network. The initial r/pan experiment will run for a week, giving users a glimpse at Reddit live-streaming, and providing Reddit with insight into what it will need to do to stay on top of content issues. 

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Marketing

Voice assistant usage now at ‘critical mass’ as Google Assistant crowned smartest

 A new estimate from eMarketer pegs the number of monthly users of voice assistants at roughly 112 million, up from 102 million in 2018. The firm characterizes this as “critical mass,” although it still represents a minority of internet users (40%). By 2021 eMarketer says about 123 million people will be using voice assistants at least monthly. More voice search and engagement happens on smartphones than smart speakers, which eMarketer says are used by 77.6 million people. Separately, last week, Loop Ventures released its latest comparison of virtual assistants. The study found, “Google Assistant was once again the best performer, correctly answering 93% and correctly understanding all 800 questions. Siri was next, answering 83% correctly and only misunderstanding two questions. Alexa correctly answered 80% and only misunderstood one.” The report also expressed surprise at the continuing rate of improvement in accuracy. Ultimately Google Assistant is in the strongest position and will likely become the dominant voice assistant, with corresponding advertising and commerce implications for marketers and brands. An open question is whether or how much voice will eventually supplant traditional search on mobile devices.

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Advertising

Google Ads to remove accelerated ad delivery option next month

Google Ads announced a coming change to ad delivery options that will start September 17. The accelerated delivery option will be removed and standard delivery will be the only option for Search and Shopping campaigns, as well as for campaigns with shared budgets. Any Search or Shopping campaigns and shared budgets using accelerated delivery will be switched over to standard delivery automatically by October 1. Google says, the way that accelerated delivery works can make it an inefficient option. Google recommends choosing the maximize conversions or maximize clicks bidding strategies to indicate your performance priority for campaigns that had been using accelerated delivery. And, of course, use ad scheduling to manage when your ads are shown and bid adjustments to increase and decrease bids during certain times of day. (Though Google’s ad scheduling only takes your account’s time zone into account.)

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