Not Your Grandma's Influencer

[00:00:01] It is Friday, March 7th. This week, why 5 is better than 25, Google's new secretive rating system, Snapchat's map algorithm is revealed, and the generation that is using buy now, pay later services more than credit cards. I'm Todd Maffin. All that ahead in our Friday wrap-up of the week in digital marketing.

[00:00:24] We start today with an interesting study out this week showing that if you want better sales, aim for the top 25, not the top 5. Researchers found that consumers are more likely to choose, pay more, and rate products higher when they're ranked well in a longer list, like a top 20, rather than a shorter list, like a top 5.

[00:00:47] According to the study's researchers, people use lists to narrow down choices and pick the best options so they judge based on rank. Rankings focus attention, making listed items feel more important, boosting their appeal and purchase likelihood. And position matters. Consumers favor products in the top 10 because we mentally categorize long lists into round number tiers, like a top 10 or a top 25. Longer lists make ranking differences seem less significant.

[00:01:17] For example, the gap between 4th and 5th feels less noticeable in a top 25 than a top 10. All right, to the advertising news that broke this week. Google is now testing triple serving ads on the same search page with the same advertiser appearing in three different placements. It was only in December that the company confirmed double serving ads, something previously against its own policy.

[00:01:45] Now it is testing ads at the top, in the local pack, and at the bottom. It's also displaying its display ads network with more inventory and creative tools. The inventory comes from new third-party connected TV inventory across various platforms, including Major League Baseball and Fox News. Google Display Inventory is now available for demand gen campaigns, expanding beyond just video ads. And there are some enhancements to ad placements, some collaborative ad galleries, and some new templates.

[00:02:12] The company also said this week it plans to explore ads in its new AI mode, using insights from ads in AI overviews to shape its approach. But ad buyers warn that what works in AIOs may not translate well to AI mode. If you've lost track of this whole thing, AI mode is Google testing not giving you links as a return, but instead just a summary, kind of like ChatGPT would. Ads are also coming to Microsoft's AI called Copilot.

[00:02:42] They're launching two new features in the AI chatbot to lure advertisers. One is called a showroom ad. This is a split screen, kind of mimicking in-store guidance with brand interaction on one side, and Copilot handling follow-up questions on the other. And then something called Ad Voice. This explains why ads appear based on user queries with branded AI agents, letting brands engage directly with Copilot responses. Back to Google here for a second.

[00:03:10] The company is expanding vehicle ads to include RVs and campers. This will let dealerships advertise their inventory on the platform. Dealerships still have to have a valid license in the states, territories, or provinces in which those RVs or campers are located or sold. And here's a new curveball for Google ads store ratings. The mystery shopping rating. According to a Google rep, your store rating isn't just about customer reviews. It also includes this new secret score.

[00:03:39] This week, a site owner asked why their rating didn't improve with four and five star reviews. And Google said the overall rating factors in both consumer reviews and this mystery shopping rating. The company has yet to clarify how this rating works, when it's applied, or what the hell it is. Do you prefer manual audience targeting for your meta campaigns? Now you'll need to click further limit the reach of your ad at the ad set level.

[00:04:07] Meta's new setup for leads and sales campaigns auto-enables all Advantage Plus options by default. Manual options are still available, but require a few extra steps. And you have to get past that somewhat passive-aggressive wording. A new study looks at adult advertising on X focusing on compliance with its own adult content ad policy. Unlike other social platforms, X allows adult content in posts but bans it in ads.

[00:04:33] The study found that nearly 40% of ads violate this policy. And only 63% of these non-compliant ads were eventually removed. It also found inconsistencies in the moderation of such ads across multiple languages. Instagram this week shared some new features for its upcoming video editing app called Edits. It's set to launch next week.

[00:04:59] Seen in the beta was the ability to manage multiple video projects at once via a Projects tab. A Cutouts editing tool will let you isolate specific elements in clips. Edited clips will feature a new Made With Edits tag on Instagram. Snapchat has outlined how it ranks content on SnapMap with three main factors at play. First, the platform does still use human moderators to make sure the content follows community guidelines. Second, contextual content.

[00:05:28] Snaps from nearby locations are used to add context for map listings. So, for example, a photo of a hamburger might show up with other food-related posts or linked to a restaurant. And recent content takes priority, with city stories showcasing the latest posts from that location, while place stories are ranked by how many users have favorited them. The OG website Dig is making a comeback thanks to its founder Kevin Rose and a Reddit co-founder.

[00:05:55] This time, the duo believes that AI, of course, is key to creating a new, better social platform. The new Dig will stick to its roots, apparently focusing on content and links. Users will share a link people can vote on and comment on the links, with the most popular content appearing on the homepage. You can get an email when it launches by going to its website, digg.com. TikTok is channeling its inner Groupon,

[00:06:19] the app reportedly expanding its U.S. business by hiring in Seattle, L.A., and New York to build a local services team that will help small businesses and creators facilitate promotional opportunities. This follows an initiative that started last year in Southeast Asia offering vouchers for restaurants, hotels, and flights. TikTok Live, meanwhile, is projected to generate $77 billion in sales by 2027.

[00:06:44] Despite the roadblocks, TikTok's live shopping sales, fueled by features like gifts and subscriptions, reached $1.7 billion in 2023. The platform has described live viewers as a committed user base with more than 60% of them watching it daily. And finally, with LinkedIn, they have opened their first ever offline experience center. It's in London. It offers a space for in-person professional interactions and events.

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[00:08:02] It's the perfect opportunity to see why Kinsta is trusted by thousands of businesses worldwide to power their websites. Visit kinsta.com to get this limited-time offer for new customers on select plans. Don't miss out. Get started for free today. To search marketing now, I mentioned this earlier, Google rolling out what it calls its AI mode, A new search engine that delivers AI-only results.

[00:08:30] In this mode, the traditional blue links are gone, With its AI called Gemini completely taking over the results. It skips the standard web links and generates a response to user search, Which can include web summaries and shopping data and knowledge graph content. It is experimental. It's currently only available to Google One AI premium subscribers in Google Labs. Why the change? Well, it turns out a new report finds that one out of three active web users

[00:08:58] Only conduct between one and 20 Google searches per month. Only 10% spend their time on image search. Even fewer visit maps, news, or shopping, which was one quarter of 1%. Google's ranking algorithms seem to prioritize business hours, Especially in local searches. Troy Hawkins of the Sterling Sky Agency in Canada found that a dentist Without listed hours, unranked businesses marked as open now.

[00:09:28] So does admitting your hours have the same effect as listing open 24-7 in Google's eyes? Sterling Sky tested that by removing business hours from several profiles, And it found it negatively impacted rankings during the hours the business was open. Profiles with hours listed? Google prioritizes those that they can confirm when they're open when users search. Profiles without hours listed, though, seem to rank higher after hours when other businesses are closed.

[00:09:57] Hawkins notes that without listed hours, Google assumes your business might be open, Pushing your rank above competitors that are specifically marked closed. To the week's commerce news now, And Amazon's drone deliveries hit turbulence in Texas, As residents of College Station fought back against its fleet of what they call flying chainsaws. After relentless local pushback,

[00:10:26] The e-commerce giant is grounding its fleet and shutting down operations by September. The FAA received about 150 complaints against Amazon's plan to double its daily drone flight. At peak capacity, drones could have flown by homes every 58 seconds for 15 hours a day. For the first time ever, a new survey shows that Gen Z used buy now, pay later, More than credit cards over the holidays.

[00:10:55] During the holiday period, 55% of Gen Z said that they used BNPL, While 50% used credit cards. This is the first time BNPL has a lead over credit card usage in that demographic. For the full year, 45% of Gen Z used BNPL, Compared to 50% using credit cards. That's the full year of 2024. Among all consumers, a third used buy now, pay later services last year, Up 4%, while credit card usage dropped 6% last year.

[00:11:26] Some retailers are reporting a bug in Google Merchant Center for the past several days, Which has stopped them from adding shipping rates and costs. The issue happens in step four of the process, Preventing some merchants from finishing their setup and running ads on Google Ads Or listing products on Google Shopping. A Google Shopping specialist suggested a temporary workaround. Manually adding shipping rates via the data feed instead. Google has yet to respond to the issue.

[00:11:53] And finally, in Commerce News, Google has updated the product analytics section in Merchant Center next. Organic conversions are now called purchases, And traffic can now be specified to PDPs instead of products and labels. 29 days till doomsday. TikTok's April 5th deadline looms, but it might not be final.

[00:12:16] President Trump in the U.S. indicated yesterday he would extend the deadline for the platform to find a U.S.-based buyer if a deal isn't reached. If the Chinese government agrees to a sale to a U.S.-based entity, several potential suitors have emerged. Reddit's co-founder Alexis Onehan is advising a bid led by ex-Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and Kevin O'Leary of Shark Tank. Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, reportedly joined a bid with the founder of Employer.com.

[00:12:45] Major players like Microsoft, Oracle, and Perplexity are also said to be in the mix. And finally, when you think of influencer marketing, you probably think of brands collaborating with younger creators to target Gen Z or Gen Alpha. But that's shifting. Digiday has a great piece up today about the rise of silver influencers. Creators from Gen X, that's around 45 to 60 years old, and boomers past 61, catching marketers' attention.

[00:13:13] To reach more senior shoppers, brands are partnering with influencers from the same generations. These generations are, of course, shifting their consumption habits, many spending more time on Instagram and even TikTok. They're expanding their reach beyond their own age groups, pulling in fans from multiple generations. And the term people seem to be settling on for them? Grand fluencers. Yeah, that hurts me as much as it hurts you.

[00:13:44] I think I mentioned this Buy Canada viral video that I had. It's kind of gone even crazier. I started doing stuff about Nanaimo, my hometown, and I accidentally invited a couple of thousand Americans to come up. It seems like about a thousand of them actually will. And then I started doing these, I don't know what you call them, we would call them rants in Canada, after a fellow named Rick Mercer, who is a comedian in Canada, who famously did these rants, as he would just kind of walk around the city streets and talk to the camera.

[00:14:13] So definitely inspired by Rick Mercer's rants. And those have gone kind of their own crazy version of viral. So it's certainly been interesting. I have never really been on this side of things going, you know, millions of views viral. Part of it's really exciting. Part of it is kind of terrifying. But I think I'm enjoying the ride. So for those of you who have come over here from being over there, welcome.

[00:14:41] And for everyone else, we will be back to normal stuff, of course, as usual. Well, those were the top digital marketing stories of the last five days, which you'd have seen way earlier if you were signed up to our email newsletter. That comes out every single weekday at five o'clock Eastern time. It is completely free. Sign up at todayindigital.com slash newsletter. Follow us on social media. We are on Blue Sky, Mastodon, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, and more. Go to todayindigital.com slash social or tap the link in the show notes.

[00:15:10] I'm Todd Maffin. Thanks for listening. Have a restful weekend. I will be back Tuesday with our Google Ads correspondent, Jill Saskin-Gales. I'll be back Tuesday with our Google Ads.