Crumbling Chrome

[00:00:00] It is Thursday, November 21st. Today, Google's crown jewel will soon be for sale. LinkedIn

[00:00:07] spills the tea on data-driven ads. Threads gets a facelift for the followers' first crowd.

[00:00:14] And big changes ahead for this very podcast. I'm Todd Maffin. That's Ahead, Today in Digital

[00:00:22] Marketing. Chrome's future in the Google stack may be running out of bandwidth. Following

[00:00:28] its loss in the recent landmark monopoly case, Google received word that the U.S. Justice

[00:00:33] Department and several states now have a proposed remedy, forcing Google to sell its Chrome browser.

[00:00:40] The move follows the August court ruling that found Google had illegally maintained a monopoly

[00:00:46] in online search. And beyond Chrome, the government has asked the judge to give Google a choice,

[00:00:51] sell its Android operating system or stop making its services mandatory on

[00:00:58] Android devices. If Google fails to comply or these changes don't improve competition,

[00:01:04] the government could eventually force the sale of Android as well. The Justice Department in the

[00:01:11] U.S. also wants to block Google from making paid deals with Apple and others to be the default

[00:01:17] search engine on smartphones and browsers. And lastly, the government wants the court to require

[00:01:22] Google to let rival search engines display its results and access its data for the next 10 years.

[00:01:30] It's high stakes for Google. Chrome holds nearly 70 percent of the global browser market,

[00:01:36] while Android powers about 70 percent of mobile devices. Losing either could upend the company's

[00:01:42] $2 trillion empire. Google's counterproposal is due in December. A ruling is expected by the end of the

[00:01:50] summer. So while that plays out in Google's legal department, its commerce department is working

[00:01:58] on something else. The company is giving consumers the gift of price matching this holiday season,

[00:02:03] which may prove to be a challenge for brick and mortar marketers. The company announced some new

[00:02:09] Google shopping features this week, including updated listings in Google lens searches that will

[00:02:14] show consumers price comparisons for items at competing stores when they search in store. Now,

[00:02:22] shoppers can take a photo of an item and Google will show nearby stores with comparative prices,

[00:02:29] similar products and availability details. Google is also enhancing product searches within Google Maps

[00:02:35] by searching for items like a festive sweater. Shoppers can find nearby stores that stock the item and

[00:02:41] view its inventory. The feature supports a wide range of products from home goods to clothing,

[00:02:47] even grocery items. Finally, Google expanded payment options via its Google Pay system.

[00:02:53] Soon, shoppers will be able to pay with buy now, pay later options like Afterpay and Klarna.

[00:03:03] What ads perform best for B2B advertisers? LinkedIn has shared some new tips for effective ad strategies

[00:03:10] based on its top performing campaigns from the past year. First, the professional network suggests

[00:03:16] tapping into niche communities. Nearly half of LinkedIn users follow sports, while about four out

[00:03:22] of 10 are into fashion or automobiles. LinkedIn's data also suggests that ads tapping into users' emotional

[00:03:29] triggers like nostalgia, hope and FOMO tend to drive higher engagement. And the company says its data

[00:03:36] has found that humor plays an increasing role in ad success. LinkedIn found that funny content now

[00:03:42] receives 65% more engagement than non-humorous ads. As for ad design, LinkedIn says vertical aligned

[00:03:51] ads performed best. They say the key is to grab users' attention in a fast scrolling environment by using

[00:03:58] strong visuals, contrasting colors and dynamic movement. Quoting their study, quote,

[00:04:04] the most effective LinkedIn ads pair striking visuals with an emotional hook or intellectual surprise,

[00:04:10] a counterintuitive statistic, an unexpected perspective or a compelling human story can stop

[00:04:16] even the busiest member mid-scroll. We have a link to the complete report in today's email newsletter,

[00:04:23] which you can sign up to for free by tapping the link at the top of the show notes or going to

[00:04:28] todayindigital.com slash newsletter.

[00:04:34] Pinterest is rolling out new ad options for the holiday season along with a festive season hub

[00:04:39] to help businesses with its ad tools. Advertisers now have access to its new special offers feature

[00:04:45] for pin ads, which lets you add specific promotions like discounts, free delivery or other offers by

[00:04:51] choosing from various templates. These promotions will automatically display as a new visual element

[00:04:56] on standard video and shopping ads. Pinterest also recently updated its automated ad tools with

[00:05:02] the launch of its Performance Plus automated ad suite, which is another part of its holiday campaign

[00:05:07] push. These updates are included in Pinterest's 2024 festive season hub, which is a new resource center

[00:05:14] providing ad tips, insights and guidance for brands using its ad tools during the festive season.

[00:05:24] Back to LinkedIn for a moment. The company has added a new feature to its sales navigator platform

[00:05:28] that will do the lurking for you. This was announced yesterday afternoon. It's a new tool called

[00:05:34] Lead IQ and it provides a snapshot of a lead's professional background, interests and common connections.

[00:05:41] It compiles LinkedIn data into an overview of a lead's experience, achievements and activities.

[00:05:46] LinkedIn says this is particularly useful for preparing last minute meetings or prepping for interviews.

[00:05:52] Alongside Lead IQ, the platform also enhanced its account IQ tool in Sales Navigator,

[00:05:59] with more detailed insights that will help users identify

[00:06:01] how their products or services align with an organization's needs.

[00:06:09] One small step for Threads, one giant leap for mankind.

[00:06:13] Threads boss Adam Masari announced that starting today, the platform is making a major change to its

[00:06:19] algorithm to prioritize content from people and brands that users actually follow,

[00:06:25] which means less recommended content from accounts they don't follow.

[00:06:29] His post reads, quote, we are rebalancing ranking to prioritize content from people you follow,

[00:06:35] which means less recommended content from accounts you don't and more posts from the accounts you do

[00:06:41] starting today. For you creators out there, you should see unconnected reach go down

[00:06:46] and connected reach go up. This is definitely a work in progress. Balancing the ability to reach

[00:06:52] followers and overall engagement is tricky. Thanks for your patience and keep the feedback coming, unquote.

[00:06:59] This change follows other recent updates to Threads, including its new customizable feeds.

[00:07:05] Some analysts believe this is a reaction to users flocking to Threads competitor, Blue Sky.

[00:07:16] So yeah, we are planning a big change to the podcast and newsletter,

[00:07:22] the biggest change since we launched this more than four years ago.

[00:07:26] It is a change we think will bring you up to speed on even more developments in the digital

[00:07:31] marketing industry and start to give you some deeper background and context on why these changes

[00:07:37] matter to your day to day work, all while actually taking less time in your week to consume the show

[00:07:44] than it does now. And don't worry, this is not coded language for it's all going to a paid only model.

[00:07:50] None of that. There'll still be a free feed. There will still be an ad free premium feed.

[00:07:55] A lot of the direction of where this is going has come from you. Over the last couple of weeks,

[00:08:00] we've been asking if you could make any one change to the podcast, what would it be? We've received

[00:08:05] dozens of suggestions. A lot of them we are taking and implementing. Today is your last day to have

[00:08:13] that say. If you could change anything about the podcast, what would it be? Tap the link at the top

[00:08:18] of the show notes or go to todayindigital.com slash question. Tomorrow will be a special episode

[00:08:25] with all the details of what's next for this podcast and its companion newsletter. I'm Todd Maffin.

[00:08:33] Thank you for listening. See you tomorrow for that special episode.