Ghost in the Machine

[00:00:00] It is Wednesday, October 30th. Today, Google on the hot seat after it admits a rep made ad campaign changes without the advertiser's knowledge.

[00:00:10] Platforms report a generally strong Q3, one ad tech firm wants to make cars your next billboard, and Google is fined more money than exists on the planet.

[00:00:23] I'm Todd Maffin. That's ahead, today in Digital Marketing.

[00:00:28] A haunted house, but it's your Google ad account mysteriously getting taken over by an ad rep without your consent.

[00:00:37] Ginny Marvin, Google Ads liaison, confirmed yesterday that a Google ad rep recently made unauthorized changes to a client's account without approval.

[00:00:47] The issue was first flagged by Andy Youngs, co-founder of the PPC People, who posted about noticing changes to their ad accounts and campaigns on LinkedIn.

[00:00:55] Quoting from his post, quote,

[00:00:57] We've just had a Google rep actively make changes to a client account without authorization from us or the client.

[00:01:04] The changes they made include writing new ad copy, adjusting headline pinning, and changing a bidding strategy.

[00:01:12] Those changes don't even show up in the account change history, unquote.

[00:01:17] Following an investigation, Marvin responded to the post, saying,

[00:01:21] We did not properly follow our processes for ensuring approvals.

[00:01:25] She said the issue was a mistake and that Google is taking steps to prevent similar breaches.

[00:01:35] From ad mishaps to strong earnings, Google published its third quarter earnings report yesterday, beating revenue expectations.

[00:01:42] Ad revenue climbed 10% year over year.

[00:01:46] They're at about $66 billion now.

[00:01:48] Search and Other, the company's largest segment, was up 12% year over year to nearly $50 billion,

[00:01:54] driven by demand from financial services and retail marketers in particular.

[00:01:59] YouTube saw a 12% increase in ad sales during the period, bringing in nearly $9 billion of revenue.

[00:02:05] Despite its success, Google faces a turbulent landscape, with recent regulatory scrutiny looming over its operations.

[00:02:14] In August, a landmark ruling determined that Google maintains an illegal monopoly on search, jeopardizing its primary revenue stream.

[00:02:21] The company plans to appeal this decision, which could let competitors gain ground in the search market.

[00:02:27] Google is also facing a separate antitrust challenge from the Department of Justice

[00:02:31] concerning its ad tech network, which recently wrapped up a three-week trial.

[00:02:34] During discussions with investors, executives refrained from addressing ongoing litigation,

[00:02:40] but reinforced their argument that Google's dominance stems from a superior product.

[00:02:50] Google's ad business isn't the only player thriving in Q3.

[00:02:53] Reddit also posted its third quarter results yesterday, surpassing expectations.

[00:02:57] The platform raked in nearly $350 million in total revenue for the quarter, up almost 70% year over year.

[00:03:06] $315 million of that $350 million came from ad revenue, which saw a 55% increase from the previous year.

[00:03:13] In terms of demand, performance revenue from mid and lower funnel campaigns made up 60% of Reddit's Q3 ad revenue

[00:03:20] and fueled more than half of its revenue growth, according to the company.

[00:03:24] Spend from mid-market, small and medium-sized business advertisers grew 80% year over year,

[00:03:29] while the number of ad-driven clicks also doubled this quarter.

[00:03:33] On the user growth front, Reddit's average daily user count reached 97 million in the quarter,

[00:03:40] up nearly 50% year over year.

[00:03:43] With strong gains in both U.S. and international markets,

[00:03:46] the platform also surpassed 100 million daily unique users several times during the period.

[00:03:57] Snapchat's Q3 report card is also in, showing mixed performance results.

[00:04:01] While its ad business is steadily improving, there are signs of stagnation in user growth.

[00:04:07] The platform generated $1.37 billion in revenue in the third quarter.

[00:04:12] That is a 15% increase year over year.

[00:04:14] Ad revenue reached $1.25 billion, a 10% rise from the previous year,

[00:04:19] largely fueled by a 15% increase in direct response ad revenue.

[00:04:25] Snapchat added 11 million users in Q3, bringing its total now to 443 million daily active users.

[00:04:33] But its North American daily active users remained flat at 100 million,

[00:04:37] a number that hasn't changed in more than two years.

[00:04:40] On the usage front, Snap reported a 25% year-over-year increase

[00:04:45] in total time spent watching content within the app,

[00:04:48] while Spotlight, its TikTok-like short-form video feed,

[00:04:52] has more than 500 million monthly active users in Q3.

[00:05:00] LinkedIn has a new bot designed to take on the role of job recruiter.

[00:05:04] The platform's new hiring assistant tool will let HR managers

[00:05:08] automatically generate a list of LinkedIn users who are well-suited for advertised positions.

[00:05:14] According to LinkedIn, it will build a pipeline of qualified candidates

[00:05:17] tailored to your hiring goals.

[00:05:19] It identifies top applicants, even drafts outreach messages,

[00:05:22] and responds to basic questions about job roles.

[00:05:26] It can also schedule interviews, take notes, and manage follow-up.

[00:05:30] LinkedIn says it's currently testing the tool with a small group of customers,

[00:05:33] with plans for a broader rollout expected next year.

[00:05:40] Stick, that's spelled S-T-I-C, a new player in the ad tech industry,

[00:05:45] is revving up on advertising by turning cars into ad placements.

[00:05:50] Through its app, car owners can sign up to receive removable ads from participating brands,

[00:05:56] which they can stick on their cars.

[00:05:59] Brands can target the areas where they want to advertise,

[00:06:01] and drivers are free to just go about their daily lives while earning up to 14 cents per mile driven.

[00:06:09] The stickers track the driver's whereabouts and also calculate ad impressions based on how many people see them.

[00:06:15] Stick can also target ads based on the location of the car and the time of day.

[00:06:19] The service is currently only available in, you guessed it, California,

[00:06:24] but it plans to expand to Las Vegas and New York.

[00:06:31] And finally, a Russian court has fined Google 20 decillion dollars.

[00:06:38] That is 20 with 33 zeros at the end.

[00:06:42] For what?

[00:06:43] Well, for blocking content from Russian media stations, of course.

[00:06:47] And the fines, warns the country, could get even bigger.

[00:06:51] Sure.

[00:06:52] Just so we put this in context,

[00:06:54] the World Bank pegs global GDP at about 100 trillion dollars.

[00:07:00] So Google would need more money than exists on Earth to cover the fine,

[00:07:06] which it fell a little short of yesterday,

[00:07:08] reporting 88 billion dollars in quarterly revenue.

[00:07:11] Should we start a GoFundMe?

[00:07:16] That is it for today.

[00:07:17] See you tomorrow.