The Friday Five: IG Lets You Earn Money from Reels, 70% Of UK Consumers Hiding Data from Brands, and Twitter Considering Purging Old Accounts

Welcome to The Friday Five, your weekly roundup of the top technology, social media, and marketing news stories from around the world.

In this week's edition, we highlight Google's new search generative experience and its Android system's new feature that warns users about unknown AirTags.

We also delve into how social media scammers are getting away with fraud, Meta's expansion of its Ads on Reels program, the impact of personal privacy concerns on advertisers' ability to reach users, and Twitter's plans to purge inactive accounts, which raises concerns for deceased users.

Check all that out, and more, below!

1. Google Gets Talkative: Unveils Rival to Microsoft's Chatbot and Anti-AirTag Stalking System

Google is introducing a generative artificial intelligence (AI) system to its search engine.

Search Generative Experience will generate responses to open-ended search queries, similar to rival chatbot ChatGPT from Microsoft.

While the system is in an experimental phase and only available to a limited number of users, the announcement shows Google's determination to improve its AI offerings.

This move follows Microsoft's integration of GPT-4 into its Bing search engine earlier this year.

Google also announced a new feature for its Android system that will proactively warn users about unknown AirTags.

These small devices developed by Apple track personal items like wallets and keys.

The technology giant said the "unknown tracker alerts" would go live this summer after reports of AirTag stalking incidents.

Additionally, Google unveiled a $1,799 phone that opens and closes like a book and removed the waitlist for its conversational chat service Bard, which will soon be available in 180 countries and territories.

For more on Google's news, check out this BBC article.

2. How Social Media Scammers are Getting Away with Fraud, Leaving Banks to Pick Up the Tab!

The UK banking industry body, UK Finance, has called on social media companies to take responsibility and reimburse victims of online fraud, stating that they are profiting from the scams happening on their platforms.

In the second half of 2022, 78% of authorised push payment scams (where a victim approves a transaction) began online, and approximately three-quarters of those began on social media.

UK Finance’s chief executive, David Postings, stated that the burden of reimbursement should be shared and that tech companies should be contributing, particularly as they profit from the fraud.

While Postings welcomed measures in the online safety bill that will require social media platforms to remove scam adverts, he believes that the government has missed an opportunity by not including rules on reimbursement.

TSB has also urged social media firms to take financial liability for scams occurring on their platforms.

The total amount lost to all types of fraud in the UK was down 8% in 2022, reaching ￡1.2 billion, but unauthorised fraud losses remained at ￡726.9m, and authorised push payment losses were reduced by only 17% to ￡485.2m.

For more on these scams, head to The Guardian.

3. Meta's Expanding Ads on Reels Program Pays Creators for Their Reel Talent

Meta is expanding its Ads on Reels program, which monetizes creator content on Facebook and Instagram.

The tech giant has been testing the program since last year, and it's now inviting thousands of more creators to join, including those who previously participated in the Reels Play bonus program on Facebook, which was recently shut down.

The monetization program now pays creators based on the performance of their public reels, rather than the earnings of ads on their reels, which means that the better a creator's reel performs, the more they can earn.

The payout model is designed to be more fair to creators by ensuring they're rewarded for their engaging content, while also optimizing the ad experience for advertisers and viewers. The company is also testing a similar program on Instagram in select markets in the coming weeks.

Meta is also testing a performance-based payout model for In-Stream ads on Facebook with a small group of creators, indicating its commitment to supporting creators who make all types of content.?

For more on this new feature, head to Tech Crunch.

4. Personal Privacy Concerns Impacting Advertisers’ Ability to Reach Users, Reveals Study

Online advertisers are already feeling the impact of Google's decision to turn off third-party cookies in 2024, as a new report from Nano Interactive reveals the rise of private browsing is significantly impacting advertisers' ability to target users online.

The Tipping Point report surveyed 2,000 UK consumers and found that 70% are accessing the internet in ways that mask their personal information on a weekly basis, such as browsing in private or incognito mode, using Safari as their main browser, or regularly clearing their cookie cache.

This means that advertisers are unable to access crucial data and insights to target their ads effectively.

The report also found that people who use private browsing are spending almost half (48%) of their time online in this mode, and the problem is growing, with almost a third (29%) spending more time browsing privately compared to a year ago.

The reason for this growing trend is that ad tracking was cited as the number one reason for people becoming more conscious of online privacy, with 42% saying it had made them more privacy-conscious in the past three years.

For more on this head to Marketing Tech News.

5. Twitter to Purge Inactive Accounts, Raising Concerns for Deceased Users

Twitter users, including Elon Musk fans, are pleading with him not to remove inactive accounts belonging to deceased users.

Musk announced that Twitter is planning to purge accounts that have been inactive for several years, which may cause follower counts to drop.

However, it's unclear when this will happen, and what counts as activity remains ambiguous.

While Twitter considers an account inactive if the user hasn't logged in for 30 days, the company has rarely taken action against users' accounts for simply not logging in for a month.

Many Twitter users are worried about the fate of accounts belonging to deceased family members and celebrities who have not logged in for years.

Deleting dormant accounts would remove their accounts and any associated history.

Although Musk appeared to say consideration would be made for deceased celebrities, it doesn't address the concerns of users with deceased loved ones who aren't celebrities.

Twitter previously considered purging inactive accounts in 2019 but backtracked due to the backlash over the possibility of removing accounts belonging to deceased loved ones.

For more head to Mashable.

Thank you for taking the time to read this week's edition of the Friday Five! We hope you found the topics covered informative and thought-provoking.

Remember, the Friday Five is published every week, so make sure to tune in again next week for more interesting and engaging stuff. Whether you're looking to stay up-to-date on current events, learn something new, or simply pass the time, the Friday Five has got you covered.

We look forward to bringing you more great content next Friday!