PPC News in May 2020

Our roundup of the most important PPC news stories this month.

Each month we do the hard work for you and gather news related to Google, Facebook, Microsoft and other ad platforms that could affect your advertising strategies.

We cover the following ad platforms:

  • Amazon Ads
  • Facebook Ads
  • Google Ads
  • Instagram Ads
  • LinkedIn Ads
  • Microsoft Ads
  • Pinterest Ads
  • Reddit Ads
  • Snapchat Ads
  • TikTok Ads
  • YouTube Ads

We hope this will help keep you up to date with the latest trends in the wider PPC world.

Here is everything you may have missed in May.

Enjoy!

Amazon Ads

Skyrocketing Ad Growth in Q1
(5 May 2020) - Amazon's ad business just keeps growing. Q1 started off with whopping 44% yoy growth to $3.9 billion. Search advertising grew at 25% for Q1 before slowing to 6% at the end of March because of coronavirus. Sponsored Product ads were up 70% and Sponsored Brand ads up 131%.

Facebook Ads

Facebook Shops: Zuckerberg's new eCommerce play
(31 May 2020) - This month Facebook launched its biggest move into ecommerce yet. Facebook Shops will allow any business to get online and process payments directly from the Facebook app without needing their own website. The timing could not be better as many retail stores remain shut down under lockdown.

New options to send marketing emails via Facebook Pages
(31 May 2020) - You can now send marketing emails directly from Facebook Business Pages, making it easier to run email campaigns directly from Facebook.

Skippable Mid-Roll Ads coming soon
(19 May 2020) - Skippable mid-roll ads are being tested in Facebook for video content. Initially these were tested just for livestream video, not they've expanded to all videos.

Facebook In-Stream Ads continue to improve
(12 May 2020) - In-Stream Ads allow advertisers to place ads before, during and after video content users watch. Four new tools have been released to help advertisers control where their ads appear.

Google Ads

Google sued for $5 bln for tracking 'private' internet use
(31 May 2020) - Google was sued this week in a class action lawsuit accusing the search giant of illegally tracking internet use through browsers set in 'private' mode.

New retail category reporting metrics
(31 May 2020) - The retail category reporting enables advertisers to see pre-defined product categories across the Search and Shopping campaigns.

Google launches Discovery Ads, challenging Facebook
(27 May 2020) - Discovery Ads have finally rolled out globally. They can appear across YouTube Home and Watch Next feeds, Discover feed on the Google Search app and in Gmail Promotion and Social tabs.

Ads credits for SMBs start rolling out
(27 May 2020) - Google has allocated $340 mln in Google Ads credit toward SMBs to help during COVID-19. The amount varies by advertiser, but can be a maximum of $1,000 or the equivalent in local currency.

Instagram Ads

Instagram ads coming to IGTV, revenue to be shared with influencers
(27 May 2020) - Instagram will soon start showing advertisements on its IGTV video app. Revenue from those ads will be split with influencers who create content for the service. It will also roll out virtual badges that users can purchase when watching livestreams.

LinkedIn Ads

LinkedIn introduces new retargeting tools
(31 May 2020) - New retargeting capabilities tied to video ads and lead-generation forms, along with brand-safety integrations for the LinkedIn Audience Network have been added.

How to set up LinkedIn conversation ads
(19 May 2020) - Delivered via LinkedIn Messenger, Conversation Ads are a new version of their InMail offering.

Polls, live video-based events added to LinkedIn to boost engagement
(12 May 2020) - With much of the workforce is stuck at home, LinkedIn has launched new features to revive engagement on its platform.

Microsoft Ads

Microsoft takes on Zoom with new gallery view feature
(31 May 2020) - Microsoft Teams has announced a new feature to allow up to 49 people to participate in gallery view during video conference calls, a potential challenge to Zoom which is the only app to allow that so far.

Parallel tracking to become mandatory by end of this year
(7 May 2020) - Microsoft has announced that parallel tracking will be mandatory on all accounts created after May 31. For all existing accounts parallel tracking will be optional until November 15, 2020.

Pinterest Ads

New 'Shop' tab in Pinterest Lens Camera
(31 May 2020) - The new 'shop' tab will show the matching in-stock merchandise similar to a photo you take of something offline in the real world or even uploaded as a screenshot.

Lockdown fueling appetite for discovery
(27 May 2020) - Pinterest says that people being forced to stay at home under lockdown has many looking for inspiration on long put-off projects. The app is seeing record levels of engagement as a result.

Shopify merchants can now quickly turn catalogs into shoppable Pins
(8 May 2020) - The official Pinterest app in Shopify is now live and enables merchants to upload their product catalogs to Pinterest.

Reddit Ads

What is Reddit Premium? A guide
(28 May 2020) - Reddit Premium is a paid subscription service for Reddit that costs $5.99 per month and hides all advertisements. For heavy Reddit users, this could be worth the price.

Reddit gets new ad sales boss as its looks to broaden appeal
(18 May 2020) - Reddit's hiring of Harold Klaje, whose background also includes a stint at Google, comes as the social discussion site seeks to broaden and diversify its clientele.

Snapchat Ads

Snapchat enters eCommerce, launches Dynamic Product Ads
(31 May 2020) - Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs) will allow a business to effectively upload its catalog to Snap, before products are automatically put into a template and then shown to relevant app users.

TikTok Ads

TikTok coming after Snapchat with a new augmented reality ad format
(8 May 2020) - The “AR brand effect” ad will allow TikTok users to add interactive visual effects from advertisers to their TikTok videos that interact with the physical environment around them, according to people familiar with the plans.

YouTube Ads

YouTube’s Chase for Streaming-TV Ad Dollars faces hurdles
(31 May 2020) - Usage of YouTube on TV screens is growing, but it remains primarily a mobile channel for advertisers

Joe Rogan announces he is leaving YouTube for Spotify
(21 May 2020) - Most people don't watch YouTube. They listen to it. And Spotify's acquisition of the most popular podcaster in the United States Joe Rogan is a major hit to YouTube whose episodes will now be exclusive to Spotify.

YouTube relaunching premium ad offering as YouTube Select
(19 May 2020) - YouTube Select is meant to give advertisers access to a more curated, higher quality selection of creators and publishers.

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