The big news of the week was the release of Mary Meeker’s 2016 Internet Trends Report. The 216 slide deck available here is an important document in the digital VC community. Covering macro and global trends, some of the highlights include: global internet adoption is around 42%; the fact that Google and Facebook control 76% of the US digital advertising market; 20% of Google’s Android Search comes from voice; 50% of consumers are “concerned” about how their data is being used for advertising; and an interesting breakdown of non-tech companies buying out tech companies. There’s such a wealth of data and information in the report, it’s worth taking the time to read at your leisure.
In the ad fraud space, AdAge reported that the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) of which IPG is a member, had confidential meetings with the US Justice Dept and FBI to share information and setup a path for legal cooperation/ability to prosecute those who perpetuate fraud and malvertizing. TAG is also setting up a certification program, that validates media that meets anti-fraud requirements. The full text of that announcement is here and you should connect with your UM AdOps rep. to learn more.
Last week (5/24), Google held their search performance summit. There were a few product updates around search – but the two (2) you need to care about are 1. AdWord Ads are being redesigned and 2. Google Maps is becoming part of the ad inventory. The AdWord format changes involve some adjustments to headline and ad copy length, but by and large should provide the ability to write better ad copy.
The more interesting news though was for Google Maps. Google began by quoting stats that location searches are growing 50% faster on mobile and that 30% of retail searches start on mobile. Then introduced “Promoted Pins” which allow you to have location markers and specific location offers with clicks driven through to an advertiser’s Google My Business page. This is a cool development for our brands with a retail presence (or who sell things in physical locations), as previously the only real map based paid offering from Google was within Waze. Definitely reach out to your reprise contact to learn more about using this paid maps feature as soon as it’s available.
In the world of Facebook, specifically instagram. Instagram’s business tools are confirmed. But the more interesting rumor of the week is that Facebook and Instagram are exploring sharing revenue back with content creators on the platform. This feels like a move against YouTube’s own offering and feels like a sign that Facebook wants to be move towards more of a content creator platform than purely a social platform.
Joshua