Talk to the Hand

[00:00:01] It's Friday, October 11th. Today, Meta's new feature lets you pre-silence the haters.

[00:00:07] The only real question is, why did it take so long? Also, inside PayPal's plan to sell

[00:00:13] its buyers data, Blue Sky tries to cozy up to dissatisfied threads users, and Europe

[00:00:19] delivers bittersweet news to X. I'm Steph Gunn sitting in for Tod Maffin. That's ahead today

[00:00:25] in digital marketing. At long last, Meta is letting brands turn off comments on ads from

[00:00:33] the get-go. Advertisers on Facebook and Instagram can now publish ads with comments disabled before

[00:00:40] the trolls arrive, something Reddit and TikTok marketers have been able to do for years.

[00:00:45] The company announced several new brand safety controls for advertisers yesterday. First,

[00:00:51] Meta launched a live test that lets brands deactivate comments on ads before publishing,

[00:00:57] during ad setup. Previously, advertisers could only switch off comments on Facebook and Instagram

[00:01:02] campaigns after an ad was already running. However, the new feature comes with limited

[00:01:07] options. You can either turn off comments entirely or leave them open to everyone, with no option

[00:01:13] to restrict comments to specific groups like followers. And you can't play with it just yet.

[00:01:19] Meta says the new feature is only available to a limited number of businesses, for now.

[00:01:24] Meta is also rolling out more ad placement controls. Now, brands can block specific profiles on Instagram

[00:01:32] and soon Facebook, preventing ads from being placed there. These are ads that show up when scrolling the

[00:01:39] personal profiles of people, not brand pages, on mobile. So, this is presumably meant for brands to

[00:01:45] keep their ads from being associated with controversial figures. Meta says businesses will be able to upload a

[00:01:51] list of any public profiles where they don't want their ads to show. Meta is also adding support for

[00:01:57] third-party block lists for brands working with Meta business partners to ensure ads don't appear in

[00:02:03] unsuitable content categories. Finally, Meta is also updating its brand safety and suitability center,

[00:02:10] giving brands more tools to control where and how their ads appear with an updated interface.

[00:02:19] PayPal just jumped on the ad network train, joining the growing list of retailers cashing in on user

[00:02:25] data. The company launched PayPal Ads yesterday, its new ad platform that turns consumer shopping

[00:02:31] data into targeted ads for brands across the US. This new division, led by a former Uber and Amazon

[00:02:37] ad executive, will sell digital ads based on the shopping habits of its 400 million active users in the US.

[00:02:45] PayPal is currently selling display ads on its own properties, but plans to expand with video ads and

[00:02:51] self-serve options in the next year. It will also begin selling ad placements on merchants' websites next year.

[00:02:58] In one example, PayPal ads could include ads on order confirmation pages after a purchase is made.

[00:03:04] In another example, PayPal says it will use its data to help brands that sell items at multiple stores,

[00:03:10] like fashion brands, grow their sales at specific retailers. This could include advising brands on where to spend

[00:03:17] their ad money and which groups of shoppers to target for better results. The company says it expects that

[00:03:23] performance advertisers will be among the first to use PayPal ads, with branding-focused campaigns likely following

[00:03:30] as the platform introduces more ad formats.

[00:03:37] Instagram is on the brink of rolling out a new WhatsApp sticker for stories, to hopefully spark DM

[00:03:42] conversations, which could help brands drive connection with users in the messaging app.

[00:03:47] The sticker will be available to businesses that have linked their WhatsApp business accounts to

[00:03:51] Instagram, letting them prompt users to chat via DM. Quoting social media today,

[00:03:57] That could be valuable because both WhatsApp and DM connection are on the rise in most regions.

[00:04:03] WhatsApp in particular has seen a big surge in the US of late, as more people look to engage within private chats

[00:04:09] as opposed to posting their updates in public. Instagram chief Adam Osseri has noted several times

[00:04:15] that people now share a lot more in their DMs and stories than they do on the main feed.

[00:04:20] That's been a significant paradigm shift for online interaction,

[00:04:24] and now brands are working to find new ways to maximize connection in line with these trends.

[00:04:30] Unquote.

[00:04:31] Instagram is currently testing the new WhatsApp sticker with select users.

[00:04:39] As Meta tries to boost its DM game, Blue Sky is capitalizing on the growing frustration among Threads users.

[00:04:47] Blue Sky, the decentralized platform and Threads competitor, now lets users pin posts to the top of their profile,

[00:04:53] apply language filters, and customize fonts and text sizes.

[00:04:58] The platform announced these new features on the Threads account it created yesterday.

[00:05:03] The move comes as Threads users voice concerns over excessive engagement bait posts

[00:05:08] and reports of inaccurate moderation decisions, prompting many to seek alternatives.

[00:05:14] In response, Blue Sky, the company not owned by a billionaire,

[00:05:18] is hoping to lure these frustrated Threads users to switch platforms.

[00:05:23] The update also includes some quality of life improvements like swiping to delete DM conversations,

[00:05:30] sharing videos directly from the camera roll,

[00:05:32] and muting specific words in notifications and search results.

[00:05:37] Version 1.92 of the Blue Sky app is rolling out now.

[00:05:41] You can follow us on Blue Sky at todayindigital at bsky.social.

[00:05:50] X is dodging a regulatory bullet.

[00:05:53] The European Commission ruled this week that X, formerly Twitter,

[00:05:57] isn't important enough to be considered a gatekeeper platform under the Digital Markets Act,

[00:06:02] sparing it from strict regulations.

[00:06:04] Under the European Digital Markets Act, platforms designated as gatekeepers must let third-party

[00:06:10] systems interoperate with their services, let business users access their data,

[00:06:16] and provide ad performance info for independent verification.

[00:06:20] It's intended to promote fair competition in the market, preventing dominant platforms from

[00:06:25] overshadowing smaller players.

[00:06:27] Following its investigation, the European Commission determined that X does not meet the criteria

[00:06:32] necessary for gatekeeper status.

[00:06:35] Quoting social media today,

[00:06:38] which is no doubt a relief to Elon and co. because of these additional obligations.

[00:06:42] But still, that also means that the European officials have decided

[00:06:46] that X simply doesn't hold the market power or influence to require additional safeguards.

[00:06:53] In order to qualify as a gatekeeper platform,

[00:06:56] European officials need to determine that the company

[00:06:59] has a significant impact on the internal market,

[00:07:02] provides an important gateway for business users to reach end-users,

[00:07:07] and holds an entrenched and durable market position.

[00:07:11] X, according to European investigators, doesn't meet these thresholds.

[00:07:15] Which means, really, that EU officials simply don't see X

[00:07:19] as being a key player in the European market.

[00:07:22] Unquote.

[00:07:27] Finally, as we head into the holiday marketing season,

[00:07:30] TikTok has launched a new Fall Deals For You promotion this week to push more in-stream shopping.

[00:07:36] Throughout October, the platform will offer discounts on thousands of trending products

[00:07:41] from a range of big brands like Philips, Dyson, and Keurig on TikTok Shop.

[00:07:46] TikTok is also hosting several live shopping events

[00:07:49] where consumers can get discounts from popular brands.

[00:07:52] This campaign hopes to build momentum for TikTok's in-app shopping push,

[00:07:56] which remains a key part of its plan to boost revenue.

[00:07:59] This strategy has also already proven effective in China,

[00:08:03] where in-stream sales have become the primary revenue driver for the app.

[00:08:10] My apologies for getting the podcast out a little later today.

[00:08:14] It has been a while since I sat in the hot seat.

[00:08:17] If you have absolutely no idea who I am,

[00:08:20] I'm Steph, I'm the associate producer for the podcast.

[00:08:23] I mostly work behind the scenes,

[00:08:25] but on the odd occasion that Todd needs me to fill in,

[00:08:27] I get to host the podcast.

[00:08:29] And for the past year, I've been away on mat leave,

[00:08:32] so it has been a while.

[00:08:33] Just a reminder that there will be no show on Monday

[00:08:36] because it is Canadian Thanksgiving,

[00:08:38] so it's a long weekend for us here.

[00:08:40] And Todd is away on Tuesday,

[00:08:42] so I will be back to talk to you then.

[00:08:44] Today in Digital Marketing is produced by Engage Q Digital

[00:08:47] on the traditional territories of the Stunemuk First Nation

[00:08:51] on Vancouver Island.

[00:08:52] Our associate producer is me, Steph Gunn.

[00:08:55] Our production coordinator is Sarah Gilt.

[00:08:58] Ad coordination by Red Circle.

[00:09:00] And Mark Blevis is that moment just before

[00:09:03] Basil Smacks manual on the forehead with a spoon.

[00:09:07] I'm Steph Gunn.

[00:09:08] Thanks for listening.

[00:09:09] I'll talk to you on Tuesday.