This week’s digital news roundup includes TikTok expanding its AR Program, Utah’s Lawsuit Against TikTok, Instagram’s Holiday Stickers and Snapchat’s Bitmoji Update, Meta’s Threads, Microsoft’s Holiday Guide, Google Indexing Bug, Reddit’s Boost 2.0 as well as X’s premium Tiers.

Table of Contents

TikTok Expands AR Creator Rewards Program, Boosting AR Engagement Globally

TikTok has expanded the Creator Effects rewards program to additional areas to improve (AR) involvement within the application. It was initially launched in six countries in May. Still, the program is now available to creators from various countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, and many other countries. TikTok has also reduced the requirements for entry for creators by reducing the required videos for obtaining the badge. Creators now need to attain the Gold badge with five effects that have been published and at least three utilized in 1,000 videos.

Furthermore, TikTok is lowering payout thresholds, allowing creators to receive more often. However, the maximum amount for one effect is $14,000, while the maximum monthly amount paid to the creator is restricted to $50,000. This new feature is intended to boost excitement for creating effects, attract new creators, and help keep TikTok ahead of the ever-changing AR trends, specifically in the face of competitors with Snapchat, Apple, and Meta in the AR market. This is a sign of TikTok’s commitment to the long-term viability of its app by being up-to-date with the most recent developments regarding AR engagement.

Utah Files Lawsuit Against TikTok, Alleging Addictive Algorithmic Practices

Utah’s state has initiated legal action to stop TikTok and its main company, ByteDance, in response to concerns about the algorithmic sorting processes that result in an addictive experience, especially for children. The lawsuit filed by Utah claims that TikTok utilizes extremely powerful algorithms and manipulative features. Some of these have similarities to slot machines, leading to youngsters being addicted to the site.

The leading social media marketing company in Mumbai states that the lawsuit, however, raises doubts about the extent to which TikTok’s actions constitute fraudulent behavior due to its model of adjusting content to users’ preferences like traditional TV. The state is seeking civil penalties and an injunction to deter TikTok from violating state law regarding deceptive business practices, in line with a wider trend of state-based legal challenges to TikTok in the U.S.

These legal challenges stem from claims that social networking platforms employ features designed to be addictive and manipulate users’ brains through activating dopamine release, causing legal concerns about the appropriate limit for addictive behavior and deceitful behavior in this regard.

Instagram Tests New Stickers to Boost Engagement for the Holiday Season

41st Week Roundup – Instagram Tests New Stickers to Boost Engagement

Instagram is testing new stickers designed to increase the engagement of users and engagement, with a particular focus on the coming holiday season. One of these stickers is an “App” sticker created to allow users to advertise other apps on their Stories directly. This could be an excellent tool for advertising special offers, products, or creative tools, and marketers could use it to promote app promotions in the run-up to the sales event of the holidays.

In addition, Instagram is testing a “Secret” sticker that will only be seen by users who reply to the Story with a text message. It could be an interesting method to encourage direct responses and increase engagement. The platform also tests a “Music Choose” sticker that lets customers upload their most-loved tracks, creating an experience of sharing a mixtape between friends.

The experts from the leading social media marketing company in Mumbai say that these updates align with Instagram’s current shift towards more private group sharing, focusing on smaller group chats and more private interactions as users shift away from posting on public platforms. Instagram’s strategy seems designed to keep users active and prevent them from moving into other apps during the holidays.

Snap Users Express Discontent Over Latest Bitmoji Update

Snapchat’s latest Bitmoji update, which includes advanced hair texture, face shading, body proportions, and face shading for avatars, has been met with mixed feedback from users. Although the update offers a more technologically sophisticated and visually appealing appearance to Bitmoji avatars, some Snap users are unhappy with the new features. The new Bitmoji pictures often appear drastically different from previous versions, leading to an outrage similar to the negative reactions Snap faced in 2018 when it launched an updated app layout.

Snapchat is unique in providing intimate chats between small groups of friends and generating a feeling of ownership and a protectionist attitude within its user base. The leading social media marketing agency says that the Snap development team works to improve and evolve to changing technology. Users’ backlash reveals the difficulty of implementing modifications that align with the evolution of technology while maintaining the cherished aspects of Snapchat. With time, users’ opinions tend to improve, but this also highlights the importance of taking careful notes when releasing updates.

Meta’s Threads App Enhances Features to Compete with X and Attract Media Organizations

41st Week Roundup – Meta’s Threads App Brings X like features

Meta’s Twitter-like app Threads is currently working on introducing various popular features that will improve the user experience and even rival Elon Musk’s X application. The forthcoming “Trending Topics” feature in Threads is designed to keep users informed of current conversations within the app, providing an overview of the most popular chats. Users can tap on topics to follow the current discussions, making Threads an even more important source for live news conversations, even if it’s not focused on news or politics.

Threads will also expand the options for creating posts, such as post-chat, GIFs, and polls in the streams. The users will have more options to interact and engage with these features. In addition, Threads is testing the editing features within a specific time frame after posting and new ways to advertise threads activities of users both on Instagram profiles as well as in the application.

As X is facing issues and media companies seek alternatives because of concerns over the direction of the platform, Threads is positioning itself to attract more discussions and participation within the social media realm.

Microsoft Advertising’s Holiday Season Marketing Guide Offers Strategic Insights for Success

Microsoft Advertising has released a guide called “Your Christmas Season Marketing Playbook” to help marketers improve their advertising strategies for the 2023 Christmas season. The guide focuses on prior planning and budgeting with a focus on the previous year’s data, which showed an increase in website traffic and purchases during October and September throughout both the U.S. and the EMEA region. It emphasizes distributing budgets to maximize the full festive season efficiently.

The Playbook highlights the importance of clicks in October on holiday-related conversions, which is 67% of November’s purchases and 50% of purchases in December due to consumer clicks during October. Microsoft Advertising recommends using remarketing, in-market audiences, or automated bidding techniques to attract bargain hunters. The guide also discusses the growing trend of bargain-seeking among consumers. It emphasizes the importance of using various advertising strategies to reach customers across multiple platforms, including mobile devices.

Google Acknowledges and Addresses Ongoing Indexing Bug Affecting Web Content

The leading SEO company in Mumbai states that Google has admitted to and confirmed an ongoing technical issue causing delays when indexing new web-based content. Google’s Search Liaison announced that they are currently looking into the cause of the issue. The problem is that Google needs to provide an approximate timeframe to resolve this indexing problem.

The delay in indexing can affect web content publishers, specifically news sites, since current or breaking news articles cannot be quickly indexed and could affect their visibility on Google results. When the technical issue is solved, all previously unpublished web content affected will eventually be indexed by Google according to normal.

Google’s Demand Gen Campaigns: An Overview and Best Practices

41st Week Roundup – Google’s Demand Gen Campaigns

Google Advertising is launching Demand Gen campaigns, a new tool that will substitute for Discovery campaigns. This article briefly introduces Demand Gen campaigns, explaining their differences and the previous versions and providing good practices based on early experiences. Demand Gen campaigns are designed to increase demand for products or services, focusing on generating awareness and selling at the very top. The campaigns use the power of automation, machine learning, and algorithmic targeting to identify and attract new customers.

The article also offers insights on managing campaigns, budgeting, and the ability to target audiences. They suggest that marketers allow Demand Gen the campaigns anywhere between four to six weeks to study and improve. While these campaigns can yield lower ROAS than other social platforms, they are crucial in generating awareness and new demand. With smaller budgets, maximizing their potential from Demand Gen campaigns may take time and effort.

Google-Extended Does Not Block Google Search Generative Experience’s Use of Website Content

Google-Extended, a token of product used to block Google from using your site’s content for specific AI projects, will not hinder Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) from using your website’s content. SGE is a research experiment using AI that generates answers, but it does not conform to the guidelines established by Google Extended. Administrators of websites who wish to control how their website’s content appears on search result pages, including SGE and SGE, should use Googlebot as the Googlebot user agent within their robots.txt files and the NOINDEX metatag.

The experts from the leading SEO company in Mumbai say that this information is crucial for owners of websites who wish to control how their content is viewed by Google, specifically in response to AI generated by SGE. Although Google Extended is efficient for certain AI projects, it cannot provide coverage for SGE. Webmasters might have to look at other ways to stop their content from appearing in AI-generated responses.

Google Search Experiences Intense Volatility with Simultaneous Rollout of October Core and Spam Updates

The Google results for search are experiencing significant fluctuations due to the simultaneous release of two updates for October 2023: The October spam update and the core update of October. Chatter about industry tools and tracking tools has increased since these updates alter rankings in search engines.

Despite Google’s efforts to clarify the differences between the two updates, the simultaneous release of two distinct search rankings algorithm changes has created confusion. The tools for tracking are currently showing high levels of instability compared with recent trends.

Google Enhances Shopping Experience with ‘People Also Buy From’ Section in Search Results

Google has launched a brand-fresh “People also Buy From” section in its search results. This feature gives users other stores and places for purchasing the product they want. It is an enhancement from Google search’s “People Additionally Shop” and “Similar products” features, which aim to make shopping more enjoyable by giving them different options for buying.

Reddit Enhances Marketing Education with ‘Boost 2.0’ Certification on Reddit Ads Formula Platform

Reddit has released an upgrade of its “Reddit Advertising Formula ” Marketing education system. It now features a brand-new “Boost 2.0” certificate component in addition to its original “Reddit Fundamentals” certification. The platform provides a step-by-step review of Reddit’s different advertising tools and options and is a useful source for those looking to better understand the app’s marketing options.

The brand new Boost 2.0 certification offers more depth of knowledge, information, and educational material on the ad tools evolving on Reddit. The topics covered are:

Budget and bid strategies.
Identifying performance and spending opportunities.
Testing creativity to determine the effectiveness of campaigns.
Interacting with Reddit communities as an entity.

Students who pass the course will be awarded an award-winning badge and the option of making an online donation to a charity via its “Karma Kash” initiative upon the course’s successful completion.

X Plans to Introduce Tiered Premium Pricing Packages, Including Ad-Free Subscription

41st Week Roundup – X Plans to Introduce Premium Pricing Packages

X is expected to launch new premium tiered pricing options that will be available for X Premium, with an opportunity to subscribe without ads. The back-end code in the app’s codebase reveals three X Premium packages: X Premium Basic, which provides full exposure of ads on the feed but at a lower cost; X Premium Standard, which appears to be the latest version that has just half the exposure for ads as well as X Premium Plus, the premium package that does not have ads appearing in the stream.

The plan is to increase interest in X’s subscription options while possibly conforming to the ever-changing European Union (EU) privacy regulations. EU regulations require social applications to offer users the option of opting out of tracking data for personalization, so providing the option to pay ads-free may create an additional revenue stream. The reason for these offers could extend beyond revenue-generating and may be aligned with privacy and data tracking regulations in the EU.

Conclusion of the Roundup

In this week’s roundup of tech news, TikTok expands its Creator Effects rewards program to boost AR participation worldwide, while Utah is suing TikTok for the possibility of addictive algorithms. Instagram is testing stickers to increase user engagement during the holidays, and Snapchat’s Bitmoji update is met with mixed feedback.

Meta’s threads apps are upgrading features to rival X. Microsoft Advertising releases the holiday season’s marketing guide. Google solves an indexing issue that has been recurring, and Reddit enhances its Ads Formula by introducing “Boost 2.0” accreditation as well. X plans to offer premium pricing plans with tiered levels with an ad-free option. If you like this check out our previous blog Meta’s New Ad Options for Facebook Reels: A Holiday Season Marketing Guide

4 Comments

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