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Bizarre Love Triangle
In the uncomfortable threesome of Google, brand web sites, and AI, is relationship harmony possible? Maybe so.
by Tod Maffin and Steph Gunn
Today's News
TikTok Growth Slows for Big Accounts
TikTok is getting older, and with age comes slower growth.
Big brand accounts are seeing their follower growth rates slow down. This is happening as the platform matures and the days of huge follower gains are behind us.
New data from Dash Hudson shows three key trends in brand TikTok account growth.:
1. Smaller vs bigger
First, smaller accounts are growing faster than big ones.
Accounts with under about 11,000 followers grew nearly 6% in the second quarter
This is compared to less than 3% for large accounts. [source data]
2. Growth rates keep falling
Growth rates overall have been falling for the past few quarters.
In the second quarter of this year, average monthly follower growth for all brand accounts was 3.7%.
This is down from 4.4% in the first quarter…
…and 5.3% in the fourth quarter of 2023
3. But some accounts still see high growth
Some types of accounts are still seeing high growth rates.
Wellness accounts and home brands grew more than 5%, likely due to the popularity of these topics among young people who use TikTok.
How much did TikTok’s revenue grow in 2023 compared to 2022? |
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Google's AI Search Boosts Publisher Traffic
One of the things web site managers worried about when Google started putting AI summaries at the top of the search result pages is it would reduce the traffic — people would get the answer they were looking for, and just leave.
Turns out—at least with news and entertainment web sites—the opposite seems to be true.
Traffic is… increasing?!
AdWeek reports that Google's AI Overview is actually increasing publisher traffic for some sites thanks to a new feature that adds direct links within the text.
The new version of the summary embeds links within the text of AI Overview. For example, a search for "the tallest tree in the world" now includes a link to the Guinness Book of Records. Previously, the link was in a footnote.
This is now available in all seven countries where AI Overviews are available.
Adweek analysis
This is, of course, welcome news for brands who were forecasting a significant drop. Some, though, still think a decline is coming.
Raptive—which runs ad sales for titles like Half Baked Harvest, MacRumors and Stereogum—anticipates at least a 50% reduction in search traffic for publishers by 2025. For example, a publisher earning $75,000 annually could see a $37,500 drop in income due to traffic loss, according to Michael Sanchez, co-founder and CEO.
However, for some, the impact has been less severe than expected.
During a recent earnings call, Vivek Shah, CEO of digital media and internet company Ziff Davis, noted when analyzing thousands of queries across its key domains that generate organic search referrals, AI Overviews appeared in only 8% of the key search queries, with 92% of search results pages remaining unaffected.
“We hypothesize—and Google has confirmed—that links within AI overviews see higher click-through rates compared to traditional web listing links,” Shah said during the call.
Microsoft Quietly Shuts Down PromoteIQ
Microsoft is shutting down PromoteIQ, a retail advertising platform it acquired in 2019.
The company is pushing clients to use Criteo instead. Multiple sources say Microsoft began letting retail media publishers know about the change over the summer.
Why it happened
The decision to shut down PromoteIQ was likely due to the low margins of the ad server business. Microsoft was trying to make the business more profitable, but it was taking too long. The company also lost some big clients, including Kroger, which brought its retail media ad tech in-house.
The deal with Criteo
Microsoft is partnering with Criteo to bring its advertiser demand to Criteo's network of publishers. The deal is expected to generate significant revenues by next year. Criteo will also provide its monetization technology to Microsoft Advertising's retailer clients.
No surprise, really
The is par for the course these days, given how fast the retail media space is moving.
Still, the shutdown of PromoteIQ might be a "wake-up call" for the sector, highlighting the importance of building resilient, "owned" architectures to prevent the risk of being "de-platformed".
YouTube Fixes Bug That Removed Thousands of Accounts
A nasty bug on YouTube last week removed thousands of accounts that were wrongly marked as sharing spam and deceptive content.
The issue started on Thursday afternoon and affected all sorts of accounts — even those of people who never post content but only use it to browse.
The fix
YouTube says the bug was fixed on Friday afternoon, though it took the weekend for things to shake out.
CHANNELSIt said all channels that were incorrectly removed have now been fully reinstated.VIDEOSBut not all videos that were mistakenly removed have been reinstated yet.
The Impact
The bug caused a bit of chaos among users, who flooded social media to complain about lost access to content and deleted videos. Some users also reported that their community posts were removed.
What's next
YouTube is still working on reinstating the last few videos that were removed.
It's unclear if paid subscribers will be reimbursed for lost access to content. YouTube did not respond to a media request for comment.
In Brief
Engagement Bait: Meta says it knows that Threads is full of low-effort "engagement bait" — these are posts, usually basic questions, crafted to elicit responses and boost visibility. Instagram’s head says they’re working on a fix. [more]
Bye Bye Cache Controls: Google has discontinued support for the
noarchivemeta tag, which previously allowed websites to prevent their pages from being cached by search engines. Google removed its cache entirely a couple of weeks ago; it’s not clear how this will affect the caching on other web sites. [more]More Blue Checkmarks: Google is experimenting with verified checkmarks in its search results. It says this will help users distinguish between official websites and third-party pages, leaving many of us to wonder — why did it take this long? [more]
Google Pays Nice with WhatsApp: Meta’s had a "Click-to-WhatsApp" campaign objective for some time. Now, its arch-rival Google even acknowledges WhatsApp’s growth. It’s testing an ad extension button that will let users send messages directly to businesses via Meta’s WhatsApp [more]
Meow Mix Challenges Cat Lovers to 12-Hour Jingle Marathon
You know that old Meow Mix jingle — “Meow meow meow meow.”
It’s cute, for a few seconds, but could you listen to it for 12 straight hours?
That’s what Meow Mix is hoping people will to in exchange for free cat food. The brand has created a 12-hour video that features the jingle on repeat.
To win the free cat food, viewers must listen to the entire 12-hour ad with the sound on. There are 19 unique coupon codes revealed during the video, and they're audio-only.
And it’s a pre-roll
And perhaps the best part of this campaign?
The video is actually a pre-roll ad. It’s not even something people can find directly with ease. It’ll just show up in their feed and, well, you either play their little game or maybe never get the chance again!
It is a remastered version of the classic '80s jingle, which has been re-recorded with real voice talent.
The Precedent
Meow Mix is following in the footsteps of brands like McDonald's and Ikea, which have tested the boundaries of pre-roll advertising. The campaign is also drawing on a history of brand experimentation with long-form ads.
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