In this week’s digital round-up, we cover an ad awareness campaign by the Advertising Standards Authority to boost trust in advertising, Google’s compliance with new EU regulations, a potential TikTok ban in the US and what it could mean for marketers, a positive IPO for Reddit, Google’s search spam update, and new features for deeper customer insights in Google Analytics.
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Watchdog’s ad awareness campaign increases consumer trust
Consumers who saw or heard the latest awareness campaign from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) are more than twice as likely to trust the ad industry, and individual adverts, according to new figures. In an ongoing campaign by the ASA and Advertising Association (AA), trust in online ads hit 36% among those who had seen the campaign, compared to 15% among those who had not seen the creative. “We’re delighted that our UK-wide cross-media ad campaign continues to drive trust in the ASA and, by extension, trust in the ad industry,” says ASA chief executive Guy Parker.
Google complies with DMA: New features for European shopping searches
Google has begun implementing changes to its search results in the European Economic Area (EEA) to comply with the European Union’s recently enacted Digital Markets Act (DMA). The aim of these regulations is to increase competition and user choice. Google introduced new features to display organic merchants, such as “Products” and “Product Sites” tabs. It also added features to highlight aggregators and suppliers. Google removed some unspecified features and increased data transparency measures. In a nutshell, these changes are part of a larger effort by the EU to regulate large tech companies.
What’s the deal with the latest TikTok ban?
The latest bill against TikTok comes as the ByteDance-owned platform continues to stoke national security concerns stemming from its Chinese ownership and handling of U.S. data. The bill, dubbed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, was passed rapidly by the House in a landslide 352-65 vote last week and now heads to the Senate. If the bill progresses, President Joe Biden has already stated that he would sign it into law, giving TikTok 165 days to sell or be banned in the U.S. Any action against TikTok is likely to send marketers into something of a scramble — 67% of U.S. B2C marketers report that their organisation plans to increase investment in TikTok this year, per Forrester’s 2024 Marketing Survey.
Reddit’s IPO got off to a favourable start. Reddit sold $748 million worth of shares, and shares of AI infrastructure group Astera Labs also soared. This positive trend is seen as a sign of market strength, with strong deals in Europe adding to the mood. The sustained reopening of the IPO market could benefit dealmakers and ease strains on private equity firms. However, the pace of IPOs is expected to be steady, with companies needing to demonstrate growth and profitability to attract investor interest. Several companies are expected to go public soon, both in the US and Europe, with investor interest focused on more mature and profitable companies. Preparing for an IPO takes time, and companies may debut in late 2024 or even 2025 if market conditions remain favourable.
Google’s March spam update complete
Google has now finished their March 2024 spam update after 15 days. Their updated documentation said: While Google’s automated systems to detect search spam are constantly operating, we occasionally make notable improvements to how they work. When we do, we refer to this as a spam update and share when they happen on our list of Google Search ranking updates.
Google have said that SpamBrain is their AI-based spam-prevention system. From time-to-time, we improve that system to make it better at spotting spam and to help ensure it catches new types of spam.
New tools in GA for more insightful measurement of campaigns
Google is updating Google Analytics to provide more insightful measurement for businesses. The enhancements include:
- Deeper integration with Ads and Commerce: Improved measurement across Ads and Commerce products to provide better insights into customer journeys.
- Enhancements for data control and privacy: More controls for managing data and privacy settings to comply with regulations and meet user expectations.
- Better understanding of customer behaviour: New tools to analyse customer interactions across different channels and devices, enabling businesses to make data-driven decisions.
- Streamlined reporting: Simplified reporting features to make it easier for users to access and understand their data.
These updates aim to help businesses better understand their customers and improve their marketing strategies.
For more information on any of these stories or for support with your digital marketing campaigns, whether that’s in paid search, SEO, PR or any of our other digital services, we’d love to help. Get in touch by sending us an email to team@modo25.com
