When CPG DTC Ad CPCs Kill ROAS

In Today’s Issue:

📺 YouTube introduces personalized 'For You' section on channels based on viewer history

🤖 Meta expands ad tools with lead-gen formats and CRM partnerships

📊 TikTok partners with Rockerbox for improved ad attribution

📺 Amazon Fire TVs to feature more prominent ads, including banners

🔍 Google considered a private, paid Search service to address privacy concerns

🧵 Meta’s 'Threads' may soon launch in Europe

👻 Snap's vice president of monetization to leave the company

🎙️ Conan O’Brien podcast episode released on vinyl

💼 LinkedIn launches ad campaign lambasting the confusion around B2B marketing jargon

THE TIKTOK INFLUENCE
How YouTube's New 'For You' Feature Affects Brand Channels

• YouTube launches personalized 'For You' channel section.

• Feature recommends content based on viewer history.

• Creators and brands can toggle the feature and content types.

At some point in the career every social media content manager, you end up trying to micromanage the way your channels look.

• You use Instagram grid tools to make sure your profile looks just right.

• You reupload your old TikTok videos so the title captions all look the same.

• And on YouTube, you group your brand’s videos into a meticulously curated set of playlists, presented to the viewer in a very specific order.

Well, fellow social media content manager, get ready to give up some of that control 11 days from now.

That’s when YouTube will introduce a 'For You' section to channels that will tailored the video list to individuals. This will be a personalized mix of content based on viewers' watch histories. It will only show videos from that channel, though.

This is, of course—and I don’t have to tell you this—all because of TikTok’s insanely popular discovery feed, also called For You.

But, worry not, micromanager — YouTube will be giving you controls over this. You can disable it entirely if you want. You’ll also be able to specify the types of content displayed, such as Shorts, livestreams, or full videos, and whether to show all content or just recent uploads.

read more

META AD PLATFORM
New Lead-Gen Options on Meta’s Platform

Well, that didn’t take long — just days after saying WhatsApp would be a new priority in its ads offering, Meta will be adding a new Lead objective to Facebook and Instagram ads where the click destination is a WhatsApp chat.

This is something that’s been available on Messenger and Instagram Direct for some time.

They’re also testing full campaign automation for lead gen campaigns, as part of their Advantage+ suite of AI-backed products.

And they’ll soon let you offer coupons in click-to-message ads on Instagram Direct.

On the integrations side, they’ve brought on HubSpot as a CRM partner (I’ll be honest, I kinda thought HubSpot was already in there, but whatever) and improved the workflow integration with middleware provider Zapier.

STREAMING ADS
Amazon Fire TVs to Display Inescapable Ads

• Amazon Fire TVs will soon show more ads.

• New ads tied to Alexa's generative AI searches.

• Persistent banner ads to appear on the home screen.

Customers drawn to Amazon's Fire TVs for their affordability are in for a change as Amazon plans to introduce more prominent advertisements on these devices.

The company this week announced that new ad types will be sold on Fire TVs, reaching an average of 155 million unique viewers monthly. Some of these ads will be tied to Alexa's generative AI, displaying relevant ads when users search for content using voice commands.

Amazon is introducing "contextual sponsored tiles" that use machine learning to present ads related to the content genre or search terms used by viewers.

And users will encounter persistent banner ads on their home screens. Reports say these placements will take up significant screen space and cannot be avoided, even by those using ad-free subscription services.

This strategy mirrors Google TV's earlier decision to open its ad space to various advertisers. Despite the potential for user pushback, Amazon believes these ads will be among the first things users see when they turn on their Fire TVs, ensuring that brand messages reach viewers.

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GOOGLE SEARCH
Google Considered Pay-for-Search Option

• Google executives discussed a subscription-based private Search.

• The service would not log queries or other user data.

• The idea was part of internal debates on user privacy concerns.

One of the fun things in watching some of these Google vs. The World court cases pour out is we get to see some of the company’s secrets and half-baked plans.

One of those was revealed in court filings this week — that Google toyed with the idea of creating an ad-free version of their search results page. To get the ad-free version, users would pay a monthly subscription fee. The service, aimed at users wary of data mining, would not track search queries or collect user data.

This revelation came from an email discussion among Google's top brass, including the then-head of Search, Ben Gomes, and public liaison for Search, Danny Sullivan.

This is, of course, the direction that Meta went — offering an ad-free subscription plan, though that was done mostly against its will, to appease European regulators.

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In Brief

Recent code discoveries hint that users in the European Union might soon be getting access to Threads. The Meta-owned Twitter challenger has stayed out of the region while it figures out how to operate within that more regulated region. read more

TikTok has partnered with Rockerbox to give Rockerbox clients more insights into TikTok's role in the customer purchasing journey. Rockerbox offers visibility into both click and view data. read more

Snapchat's key engineering and monetization vice president is departing in a few weeks. He is one of a number of high-level departures and changes at the company. read more

The popular podcast Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend is celebrating its five year anniversary by putting out an episode where the co-hosts talk about the show, reminisce about past guests, and so on. That episode is only available on vinyl. It has already sold out. read more

IT ONLY HURTS BECAUSE IT’S TRUE
LinkedIn Tackles B2B Marketing Confusion with New Campaign

• LinkedIn's campaign addresses B2B marketing complexities.

• Aims to connect and resonate with B2B marketers.

LinkedIn is launching a new ad campaign this week aimed at demystifying the complexities of B2B marketing.

The campaign is called "No One Knows What You Do," and here’s one of the ads:

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