What Does Google's Search Policy Update Mean for Your Ads?

Welcome to the WASK’s Weekly Newsletter! Your reliable source for digital marketing, social media, and Artificial Intelligence updates. Stay informed, and stay inspired with us!

Meta Introduces New Analysis Tools for Advertisers

Meta has launched two innovative creative analytics tools in its Business Suite: Creative Freshness and Creative Mix reports. Creative Freshness tracks the frequency of new content, offering insights on how often creatives are refreshed each week, helping advertisers maintain content variety, avoid burnout, and lower costs.

Meanwhile, Creative Mix provides a breakdown of advertising expenses across different media formats, highlighting the benefits of balancing images and videos for potentially improved conversion rates. These updates aim to give advertisers a deeper understanding of their creative performance and empower them to optimize ad strategies for better results.

Google Expands AI-Powered Results for Local Restaurant Searches

Google has announced that it is expanding AI-powered results for local restaurant searches. The new experience allows users to discover restaurant recommendations more effectively.

The system categorizes results for specific food searches, such as “restaurants with a view Chicago,” and includes articles and videos to help users make decisions. This update could significantly impact business traffic, especially during the holiday season, because it could change how restaurants appear in search results and how they connect with potential customers.

The development is part of Google’s efforts to integrate AI technology into its search function for local business discovery and restaurant recommendations.

Meta Releases Updated Affiliate Link Views in Shares and Comments

Meta has launched a new feature to make it easier for content creators to earn money with affiliate links on their Facebook posts. Affiliate product links are now more visible in Reels, videos, photos, and text posts.

With this innovation, affiliate links have been integrated into the user interface to be more visible. Meta also offers a new automatic detection system for affiliate links. The "paid partnership" tag will be suggested for detected links, and the information will be automatically filled in when adding an affiliate product link.

These features will make it easier for content creators to participate in affiliate programs. Meta announced that it is rolling out these updates globally to all professional profiles and pages.

Google Updates Ad Network Policy Against Search Spam

Google has announced a major ad network policy update that will go into effect in December 2024. This update introduces new oversight measures against ads that violate Google Search Spam Policies. Ads that direct users to sites that Google Search has manually removed will be automatically disapproved.

Additionally, manual action notifications will be sent to site owners via Google Search Console, increasing transparency and allowing advertisers to identify potential violations quickly. This update is part of Google’s efforts to protect ad network quality and align ad standards with search quality guidelines.

Instagram Introduces Artificial Intelligence Video Elements

Meta aims to make AI more prominent in the social media experience. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced that Meta’s Movie Gen engine, integrated into Instagram, will allow users to make major edits to their video clips. Users will be able to change backgrounds, clothing, and see themselves in different representations or Muppet versions.

This innovation may start a creative trend, but some believe it means moving away from the “social” aspect of the social media experience, as AI-generated images and videos are far removed from real-life experiences and do not align with personal creativity.

Still, these features can be useful for video editing and storytelling. While Meta’s AI video tools allow for new forms of creativity within the app, it’s important to remember that social media’s primary purpose is human connection.

X Announces Business Achievements and Rising Opportunities in 2024

X announced its achievements for 2024 and claimed that despite the platform’s rebranding efforts, user losses, and decrease in advertising revenue, its business opportunities have increased. X stated that video views have increased, and it has achieved more interaction with Gen Z users.

It also made statements about this year’s “revolutionary” innovations and original content. However, it is stated that the content agreements and innovations offered by X are not very innovative compared to other platforms in the sector and that it has difficulty preventing user loss.

Despite this, it was emphasized that the platform has a large user base and still provides significant interaction in areas such as sports. Even if X is not successful in 2024, it may have the potential to offer opportunities for brands in 2025.

Threads Adds a New Way to Re-Share Media with Creator Attribution

Threads has introduced a new feature that allows users to reshare media from someone else’s post while crediting the original creator.

Users can do this by long-pressing the media item or clicking on the reshare icon, and the post will display the creator’s username and a separate reshare count. Creators will have the option to turn this feature off in settings.

This feature can help prevent content theft while making it easier to share content that respects its original owners. However, the fact that shared media cannot be clicked through to the original content may be a negative for some publishers and artists.