Daily Minute Master Series – November 20, 2019

Social Media

Instagram’s Testing a Display New Layout for IGTV Content

As discovered by reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong, Instagram is still working on new ways to get more people engaging with IGTV content. Instagram is working on a new format for IGTV content which would switch your main feed into a vertical scrolling list, leading you through to the next video in stream. Instagram’s also looking to add categories into your IGTV discovery listings – for comparison. IGTV seemingly hasn’t taken off as Instagram might have hoped as yet, but with Snapchat’s original programming seeing big viewer numbers this year, you can bet that Instagram will be looking to give IGTV another push in 2020, which this new discovery format could play a part in. With younger viewers becoming more attuned to short-form, episodic content online, IGTV seems well-placed to potentially capitalize on this. Whether that happens or not is another thing entirely. 

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Snapchat Says Political Ads on its Platform Are Fact-Checked, Adding to Debate

Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel has said that his platform fact-checks all ads, including those from political candidates, adding even more fuel to the ongoing debate. That seems like a logical stance to take, though as Facebook has repeatedly noted, there are a lot of gray areas in such calculations. Where do you draw the line on misinformation? An obvious untruth is easy for people to pick out, but what about a claim like ‘President Trump has improved the American economy and created millions of jobs’. Is that true? It is and it isn’t in varying measure, and it’s more nuanced claims like this – from politically-affiliated groups in the US, and in every other nation where these platforms operate – that can make such processes difficult to enforce in a fair and measured way. 

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Marketing

Google brings audio news aggregation to smart speakers, phones

Google has launched what it calls “Your News Update,” an audio news feed that you access through the Google Assistant. Sources, which Google paid to license, include ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN, AP, Politico, USAToday and many others — though apparently not NPR. Users need to set up the audio feed as a news playlist, through the Google Assistant app. News aggregation is a mixed blessing for publishers. It can deliver traffic, branding and (some) monetization but for some it can also reinforce usage of the aggregation site, rather than drive traffic to the source. In the past few years Google has been trying to build appealing consumer news products, while also boosting traffic and revenue for publishers.

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Google testing car rental comparison ad unit in search results

Google is testing a sponsored widget for car rentals in the search results. The ad unit allows users to enter the kind of rental they’re looking for, along with the dates needed. Ads appear below with offers from car rental agencies, including the day rate and car model. The example above shows offers from Priceline and Thrifty. The sponsored car rental widget puts a comparison function at (or near) the top of the page and could conceivably drive higher engagements than individual listings and ads. Currently, car rental search results typically include a number of text ads followed by a local pack. Google runs similar sponsored widgets for Flights and Hotels in the search results. As far as I’m aware, this is the first foray into a special program for car rentals. Presumably, as with Hotels, Flights and Shopping ads, the car rental offers are powered by data feeds. It’s also another example of Google enabling users to research and take actions from right within the search results.

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