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What’s happened recently in the realms of paid search and social media? Basis Technologies’ Robert Kurtz (Group VP, Search Media Solutions), Jenny Lewis (Director, Social Media Investment), Sofia Petrovsky (Director, Search Media Investment), and Mitch Wills (Director, Social Media Investment) have compiled all the latest news, trends, and resources for easy access.
Google has officially begun phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome. A new feature called Tracking Protection rolled out in January to roughly 1% of users globally, blocking cookies that track users’ browsing history across websites. While this is a small step toward Google's eventual removal of cookies, it is also a reminder for publishers and marketers to move swiftly toward adopting strategies for cookieless advertising. (Want to look into the cookieless future? Our guide to privacy-friendly advertising can be found here.)
An Adalytics report last December claimed some search ads appearing on the Google Search Partner Network (SPN) may have ended up alongside unsuitable content and on websites that violate Google policies. While advertisers are automatically opted into the SPN, they now have the option to opt out on Search and Shopping ad campaigns. Google is also temporarily allowing brands to opt out of the SPN on artificial intelligence-powered Performance Max (Pmax) and App Campaigns, though sources told AdWeek that could end March 1.
A recent study by Authoritas found that Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) displays links that are significantly different from the top organic search results for most search queries. The AI-generated summaries rarely overlap with traditional search results, with only 4.5% of links matching exactly. This means SGE is potentially surfacing lesser-known websites that might struggle to reach the top 10 organically while bypassing established top-ranking pages, which could impact organic traffic for some businesses.
The TikTok Marketing Partners Program announced new measurement partners: Cross-Channel (for attribution) and Lift (for incrementality). Cross-Channel partners will analyze the impact of TikTok ads across marketing touchpoints before users make a purchase, including multi-touch attribution and post-purchase survey. Lift partners measure the incremental impact of TikTok advertising, focusing on brand lift, sales lift, store visit lift, and tune-in lift.
TikTok and Ticketmaster are expanding their ticketing partnership into more than 20 new markets following a successful beta launch in the US in 2022. Certified artists on TikTok in participating countries can use an in-app ticketing feature to allow fans to buy tickets to their events directly within the platform. No news yet as to if or when this ticketing feature will be accessible to advertisers, but the successful integration could bode well for future event discovery and in-app purchase options for event-based advertisers on TikTok.
In the run-up to the 2024 elections, Meta has shared some of the steps it says it’s taking toward protecting elections online—not just during election periods, but at all times. In recent years, Meta has developed an approach it claims will ensure the integrity of elections on its platforms, that gives people a voice, helps support participation in the civic process, and combats voter interference and foreign influence.
Pinterest has released its annual trend report, Pinterest Predicts, harnessing the power of Pinterest’s predictive trend data to give consumers and advertisers a head start on what it believes will be the biggest and hottest trends for 2024.
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