Another week and some more digital news for you. Our top stories are from Google and Apple who have both hit headlines this week – one for better reasons than the other.
Here are our five to watch this week in digital marketing.
Google Ads introduces country-specific fees
Google Ad users should expect to see fees increase as of November 1st, 2020. For ads served in the UK, there is an increase of 2%.
Google says this is in accordance with new digital services tax. These include Regulatory Operating Costs or DST Fees which could be charged in addition to advertising costs every time an ad is served in a specific country.
It’s unlikely that we will see any kind of change in how many people use Google Ads. It’s an incredibly effective and useful ad platform. These price increases can be chalked up mostly to inflation and these new tax demands. Read more here.
Apple’s iOS 14 update catching out app data grabs
While iOS updates usually aren’t that exciting – this one is certainly causing a stir.
Over the past few weeks, the latest update is proving itself to be quite the data regulator. The iOS 14 update requires developers to declare what data they will collect via their app. Users now have the ability to choose exactly which data they want to share. The update is also forcing developers to get users’ permission if they want to track them for advertising purposes.
While this might not sound revolutionary and may already be familiar to you, the biggest talking point from the update is the privacy notifications it provides. Major apps are essentially being ‘ratted out’ by the update which can now tell users’ all of the data that a particular app is accessing.
One such app was Instagram, which was flagged by users who were notified that their camera was being accessed and used without their permission. While Instagram denied this was the case and that the camera notifications were ‘just a bug’, it will be interesting to find out exactly how much of our data is being captured. You can read more here.
Independent shops don’t want commuters to return to the office
Independent shop owners claim to have noticed a boost in business since the easing of lockdown.
As such, they aren’t too keen for commuters to start heading back into the office and returning to their familiar big chain stores.
Many shop owners across the country have reported a business boom as people turned to them when big brands ran out of supplies. The same applies to local coffee shops and cafes who have also noticed a bigger footfall than usual. With people working from home, they tend to stick to their local high-street and independent shops in a bid to support the economy. Read more here.
Should Google Ads run more like the stock market?
Antitrust scholar, Dina Srinivasan, is to release a paper in the Stanford Technology Law Review on why Google should be run like the stock market.
Her reasoning for this is that when you see an ad online, its more than likely that the advertiser used Google to buy it. Google then put the space up for sale and Google’s exchange then matched the two together. So, Google essentially runs the largest exchange and competes as the biggest buyer and seller on that same exchange.
Because of this, Google has a monopoly over digital advertising – and people are starting to take action. You can read more here.
M&S and Ocado delivery disaster
M&S recently bought a 50% share in Ocado’s retail business. The reason this was a big deal is that it was the first time M&S would be offering online shopping.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, M&S joined with Ocado by making more than 6,800 products exclusively available through Ocado’s online shop. The move put M&S into direct competition with Waitrose, who ended their partnership with Ocado this year.
However, not everything has gone to plan. The surge in demand for M&S food deliveries proved to be too much for the Ocado fleet. This resulted in mass delivery cancellations that left customers disappointed and frustrated.
The deal M&S has with Ocado comes at a crucial time as they have announced they are to cut 7,000 jobs. Read the full story here.
That’s it for this week – lots of stories we will be keeping a close eye on! Have any caught your eye?
