PPC News: Facebook backs off WhatsApp ads, Google pushes 'Privacy Sandbox'

Our roundup of the most important PPC news this week.

PPC News Roundup is a weekly roundup of all news related to the major PPC and digital advertising platforms. Published on Fridays, “PPC News Roundup” will help you stay up-to-date on all the important PPC ads news you need to know.

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Amazon Ads News

Amazon is expanding its video-advertising business

The online retail giant is in talks with multiple publishers to sell some of their ad inventories on other streaming platforms through its demand-side platform, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The move would enable Amazon's marketers to reach broader audiences while still using its valuable data to target and measure their ads.

Google's greatest worry in 2020 is Amazon

While other companies have traditionally been painted as being Google's primary competition — Microsoft on the productivity front, Apple or maybe even Samsung on the mobile end, and Facebook or any number of messaging apps from a social, news, and general time-spent-online perspective — Amazon, above any other entity, has the power and reach to drive a spear straight into the center of Google's heart. And as 2020 gets going, that possibility seems more pressing than ever.

Amazon in India: Jeff Bezos announces $1bn Indian investment

Bezos said that Amazon will invest $1bn (ÂŁ770m) in digitising small and medium businesses - allowing them to sell and operate online.

Facebook Ads News

Facebook backs off controversial plan to sell ads in WhatsApp

Facebook Inc. is backing away from efforts to sell ads in WhatsApp, in a retreat from a controversial plan that drove the creators of the popular messaging service to resign more than 18 months ago, according to people familiar with the matter. It will other ways to monetize the messaging service used by 1.5 billion people.

Facebook tweaks ad policy for 2020 politics

Facebook Inc. announced limited changes on Thursday to its approach to political ads, including allowing users to turn off certain ad-targeting tools, but defied critics’ demands that it bar politicians from using its ads system to spread lies.

Google Ads News

Marketers, ad agencies ask Google not to kill cookies too soon

Marketers and advertising agencies have expressed alarm over Google’s plan to phase out support of third-party cookies in its Chrome internet browser. Cookies are a way to gather information on internet activity and form the backbone of digital advertising.

Google pushing Privacy Sandbox as alternative to third-party cookies

Google wants ad targeting, measurement and fraud prevention to be in line with the standards set in its privacy sandbox. The company claims this will get rid of improper tracking while continuing to allow ad targeting within Chrome.

New look to paid, organic search results in Desktop

Google is rolling out an updated look for paid and organic search results on desktop, bringing it more inline with the look of mobile search results. The updated design includes a more prominent “Ad” label for paid results, at least in Google’s estimation, as well as favicons next to organic results.

New organic ‘Popular Products’ listings in mobile search results

The listing are powered by product schema and retailer feeds submitted to Google Merchant Center.

Google Ads Introduces Bid Simulator Support for Smart Bidding

Google Ads is rolling out bid simulator support for the Target ROAS (return on ad spend) bid strategy, as well as a new budget simulator. This marks the first time bid simulator support has been available for a smart bidding campaign. Previously, bid simulators have only been available for campaigns using manual bidding or Target CPA.

Instagram Ads News

Meet the man taking away likes from Instagram

Adam Mosseri, chieftain of Instagram, wants to keep the platform a safe, special space. That means learning from the mistakes of its parent company: Facebook.

Instagram messages on the web could pose an encryption challenge

Facebook is building end-to-end encryption for all its messaging apps, and some say that is a security risk.

More creative options in Boomerang

Instagram has added new creative options in its Boomerang feature, bringing its editing and trimming options in line with Snapchat and TikTok.

Microsoft Ads News

Microsoft introduces new ad tools for retailers at NRF

Microsoft has revealed two new tools — Microsoft PromoteIQ and Bing for Commerce — for retailers looking to improve their e-commerce and digital shopping experiences, the company said in a blog post.

Microsoft vs Slack: New global ad campaign for Teams

Microsoft will launch a new ad campaign or its Teams tool this weekend. The campaign will try and show how the tool can move past an 'old way of doing things'. This comes as Microsoft and Slack are competing with their chat products.

Microsoft Advertising to deprecate average position after all

Microsoft has followed in Google's footsteps and is also getting rid of average position for its ads.

The metric will be phased out in April.

Pinterest Ads News

Pinterest now 3rd largest social media app in USA

Pinterest has surpassed Snapchat as the third largest social media app in the United States, according to a new eMarketer report. The company's user base and revenue are expected to grow quickly moving forward.

TikTok Ads News

TikTok might be testing a curated content stream

As it works to address advertiser concerns around ad placement alongside controversial content, TikTok is exploring the idea of a curated content stream, similar to Snapchat’s Discover dashboard.

YouTube Ads News

How much YouTube pays influencers for 100,000, 1 million, and 150 million views

The numbers are not as high as people expect, with between $500-$1000 per month on videos with 100,000 views and videos with 10 million views just 2,000. But YouTube influencers often get most of their money through brand sponsorship.

Adtech Industry News

Break up big tech's 'monopoly', smaller rivals tell Congress hearing

Small tech startups continually see their services copied by big tech after enjoying mutually beneficial relationships between each other.

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