1. In the coming months, eBay will launch new ad units, move products from beta into general availability, and further help brands connect consumers from search engines to their sites on the marketplace. The expansion of advertising offerings is part of the company's strategy to
support full-funnel ad strategies. Full-funnel ad campaigns are designed to reach consumers at every stage of the customer journey, from awareness to consideration to purchase. eBay's new ad units will include features that allow brands to target consumers based on their location, search history, and other factors. The company will also roll out a new platform that provides insights into how consumers interact with ads on the site. In addition, eBay will continue to invest in tools that help
brands track the performance of their ads and optimize their campaigns for maximum ROI. With these new capabilities, eBay is well positioned to help brands reach their customers across the entire funnel.
2. TV news networks saw strong ratings Thursday night for their coverage of the House Homeland Security Committee’s hearings on the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. CNN had the biggest prime-time audience with 5.48 million total viewers and 1.62 million in the key news demographic of adults 25-54, according to Nielsen live-plus-same day data. Fox News was next with 4.71 million total viewers and 1.28 million in the demo. MSNBC was
third with 2.96 million total viewers and 640,000 in the demo.
3. On Thursday, Facebook's parent company, Meta, announced that it will be halting development or production of several anticipated hardware projects. These include the company's augmented reality (AR) glasses, its dual-camera smartwatch, and its Portal smart display device. In a statement, Meta said that it is "refocusing" its efforts on the METAVERSE, a virtual reality platform that allows users to experience lifelike simulations of real-world
environments. The company also said that it is "exploring new ways to bring people together in AR and VR." While it remains to be seen how successful these ventures will be, it is clear that Facebook is committed to making its mark in the world of immersive technology.
4. YouTube has updated its ad requirements for the masthead, effective today. Ad bookings will be accepted for certain consumer product categories, including sports betting in the United States, only; and alcohol and prescription drugs in the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand. This change comes as YouTube looks to allow more advertisers on its platform in order to generate revenue. The company has faced criticism in the past for allowing ads that
are inappropriate for children or that promote controversial topics such as gun violence. However, with this latest change, YouTube is hoping to strike a balance between generating revenue and ensuring that its content is appropriate for all viewers. Only time will tell if this new policy will be successful.
5. LinkedIn is adding some new tools to help marketers maximize their lead generation and brand building efforts, including a new Business Manager dashboard, a new B2B aligned, LinkedIn-native consultancy, and updated CRM and API integrations. The biggest update is its new Business Manager platform, which provides a central dashboard to manage ‘people, accounts, Pages’, and their associated marketing activity. The platform will also offer an
insights tab with performance data for understanding how LinkedIn marketing is impacting business objectives. Other updates include the launch of a new B2B consultancy service called ‘LinkedIn Advantage’ and updated CRM and API integrations. These new features underscore LinkedIn’s commitment to helping marketers drive leads and sales through the platform.
6. Timberland is taking its boot design innovation platform into the metaverse for the first time through a partnership with game developer Epic Games/FORTNITE and creative studio Conceptkicks, per a news release. Metavision, a metaverse-focused agency, helped guide creative strategy on the activation. The brand's virtual showroom will be located on an island in Epic Games'Fortnite and will feature Timberland's new Oxblood collection. The
collection includes the brand's first-ever women's boot, theBrookton Oxford, as well as the men's Brookton Chukka and six exclusive colorways of the iconic 6-inch boot. In addition to being able to purchase the boots in the virtual showroom, visitors will also be able to engage in interactive experiences, such as boot customization and photo ops with Timberland-themed backdrops. The activation will run from March 18-21.
7. According to Ad Age, Vizio's new technology, Jump Ads, has the potential to radically change the way we watch TV. In March, Vizio launched its beta version of Jump Ads, which can prompt viewers to leave a linear TV environment and take them to a streaming environment. The technology is still in its early stages, but it has already garnered interest from major brands such as Coca-Cola and Lowe's. While some have praised Vizio for its
innovative approach to advertising, others have criticized the company for potentially intrusive ads. However, there is no doubt that Jump Ads have the potential to shake up the TV landscape. It will be interesting to see how the technology develops in the coming months.
8. At a time when the prevalence of "cancel culture" appears to be peaking in the United States, nonprofit free speech advocacy group FIRE is breaking new ads, as part of a multimedia campaign focusing on it. The campaign, created by DeVito/Verdi, features out-of-home billboards and print media buys equating cancel culture to a form of totalitarianism. The ads encourage people to "speak up" and "challenge orthodoxy" by saying things that may be
unpopular, in order to promote open dialogue and an exchange of ideas. The effort is designed to raise awareness of the problems associated with cancel culture and to encourage people to take a stand against it.
9. Roku is an unlikely hero in the world of streaming media. The company has built a thriving business by selling a not-insubstantial (15%-20%) portion of ad inventory for all of Netflix's key rivals, including Hulu, Amazon, and Google. This has made Roku a favorite among cord-cutters and cord-nevers alike. But if rumors of a Roku-Netflix merger are true, that could all change. Such a deal would be sure
to anger Roku's partners, and could even lead to them cutting ties with the company. It's hard to see how such a move would benefit Roku in the long run. So while a Roku-Netflix merger may make sense from a financial perspective, it could be a disaster for the company in terms of its relationships with other streaming providers.
10. Affiliate marketing is tipped to hit $8.2bn by the end of 2022, with as many as 80% of brands likely to be using affiliate campaigns this year. And driving this growth are the twin powers of ecommerce and messaging, with DCB and RCS both set to have a huge impact. These two technological advances are making it easier than ever for brands to reach their target audiences, and they're also providing new opportunities for affiliates to earn
commission. With more and more brands turning to affiliate marketing to reach their goals, it's clear that this form of marketing is here to stay. And with the continued growth of ecommerce and messaging, there's no doubt that affiliate marketing will continue to grow in popularity in the years to come.
11. According to SEO expert Chris Silver Smith, Twitter has removed the "rel=nofollow" tag from their hyperlink code. This means that all backlinks from the platform are now technically "do follow." This is significant news for those in the SEO community because it means that Twitter is now a potential source of high-quality backlinks. In the past, most SEO experts avoided using Twitter due to the "nofollow" tag, but this is no longer an issue.
As a result, Twitter may become a more popular platform for building links and generating traffic. This change could have a major impact on the way that SEO is performed in the future.
