At Modo25, we like to stay on top of the digital world, with a compiled list of what to watch this week and things you might have missed. Some of this week’s picks cover being responsible; for both brands and consumers and to take responsibility for your activities online. Here are our 5 picks of what to watch in digital this week.
The fight against the 404bot: Two years since the introduction of ads.txt to protect against fake ads, fraudsters have now launched the 404bot to exploit these protections. The 404bot is a form of domain spoofing which falsifies a URL – when it doesn’t exist. Brands are being informed to work with verification companies with detection techniques and to regularly audit and update ads.txt files.
Consumers are still sharing data but only for a true value exchange: Privacy scandals are regularly making the headlines and with rising security fears, most people are concerned about who they should share their data with. However, figures show that consumers are still willing to disclose their data if the company is transparent and make it clear how and why their data is being used.
Hold advertisers responsible in 2020: Advertisers are being encouraged to consider social responsibility when it comes to their campaigns, rather than solely focusing on sales and traffic. Consumers are now savvier about shopping when it comes to their values and more people would like to see brands considering the ethical aspects of their advertising.
Yorkshire Tea embroiled in an accidental Twitter storm: Yorkshire Tea found themselves the latest victim of a Twitter storm, when Boris Johnson’s chancellor, Rishi Sunak, posted a photograph of himself with a large bag of Yorkshire tea bags. The company had to defend themselves profusely, confirming that the picture wasn’t staged, or they were involved financially. Yorkshire Tea ended their thread of Tweets by encouraging users to be kind online and to not forget that there are people behind the usernames.
Amazon introduces checkout-free shopping in its first grocery store: Following on from their Amazon Go convenience stores, Amazon has taken its model of checkout-free shopping to a larger grocery store. In the same way as their convenience stores, this new grocery store enables customers to ‘walk out’ with their goods. The store operates via the Amazon Go app, where shoppers scan a QR code on the way into the store and any purchases are charged to their account.
