“Pay Us to Help You Pay Us”: Google’s Audacious “Paid Support” Experiment

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In This Issue:

🔍 Google experiments with paid customer support for its smaller Google Ads advertisers, raising eyebrows.

📦 Amazon imposes a 2% fee on merchants who opt to ship their own products.

💳 Amazon broadens its Buy Now, Pay Later service to other retailers' platforms.

🎥 Instagram explores a new Reels layout for multi-advertiser promotions.

🍷 One influencer learns a painful lesson about adlibbing a sponsor name in a rant.

🚫 Almost half of US adults support a TikTok ban: Reuters/Ipsos

🤖 LinkedIn introduces AI-driven discovery tools to Sales Navigator and Recruiter.

🚫 Rumours debunked: Google is not revamping its logo.

💬 YouTube adds expanded comment filters to its mobile app.

🤖 Snapchat's AI chatbot baffles users by posting its own story and remaining silent about it.

Google Ads Testing a Price Tag on Customer Support

Need help with your Google Ads account? Get ready to pay for a shoulder to cry on.

Google is testing a paid version of customer support for its ads platform. This "paid pilot" targets smaller advertisers, granting them personalized one-on-one assistance for a fee.

The company told Search Engine Land that the paid-level support will offer its smaller customers the same level of service some of its largest clients get. Agencies partnered with pilot participants can also arrange paid support sessions to meet their clients’ specific needs.

Google added that these changes are part of a long-term strategy that it will continue to develop and test as the process unfolds.

💰 The Price Tag of a Listening Ear

According to a screenshot of the offering, the service costs $50 USD, which reportedly includes up to 45 minutes with a customer service rep, although that may change.

The test is currently limited to select small advertisers, but Google may expand it once the pilot is complete.

Image: Lomaxx PPC via X

Instagram: 4 Ads 1 Screen

While advertisers are looking for ad placements that stand out from competitors in a crowded digital market, Instagram is testing a format that displays four ads sharing one single screen between Reels.

👀 Sharing is Caring?

Meta previously introduced Multi-Advertiser Ads for Instagram's main feed last year, with a side-scrolling display of related ads shown based on user engagement. After viewing or engaging with an ad, multi-advertiser promotions appear below the post, serving consumers multiple related ads from different brands based on their interests.

These ads can also be displayed in Facebook feeds and Stories, and now seem to be expanding Reels.

🤔 To Opt-in or Opt-out?

Advertisers have the choice to opt-in to the ad type.

Quoting Social Media Today:

“So you don’t have to enable your ads to be displayed in this format, but Instagram is looking to extend multi-advertiser ads to Reels, and if you do give it the go-ahead by ticking [the] box, this is what you’ll be paying for.”

“That could be beneficial, offering lower cost, higher volume placement, potentially, among people who’ve already engaged with related content. But it might also lead to lesser exposure, and reduced performance, as you’ll be competing with more brands in a single frame.”

Images: Meta / Barry Hott via X

Amazon To Charge Sellers Who Don’t Use Its Shipping

Amazon just imposed a new fee on sellers — even shipping your own products is about to cost extra.

Gizmodo reported yesterday that starting October 1st, third-party merchants who list on Amazon but ship their own packages will face an additional charge. Previously, sellers could ship their products without contributing to the e-commerce giant. But the new fee means Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime members will have to pay 2% on each product sold.

The upcoming surcharge is in addition to existing payments the company receives from merchants, including a selling plan fee of $0.99 per product or a monthly fee of $39.99 for unlimited sales. It also charges a referral fee for each item sold, generally ranging between 8% and 15% depending on the product category.

The report suggests that the new shipping charge might pressure sellers to switch to the company’s in-house delivery service.

Sellers told Bloomberg they were blindsided when they received a notice saying they would be charged yet another fee for self-fulfilling orders. The move comes as the Federal Trade Commission is investigating the company for violating antitrust laws.

The FTC plans to file an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon’s online marketplace over allegations that the company rewards third-party merchants who use its logistics services while penalizing sellers that fulfill their own orders.

Amazon Expands BNPL To Other Retailer Sites

Image: Amazon

As merchants get hit with unexpected fees, Amazon is expanding its Buy Now, Pay Later offering for shoppers by making it available on other retailers’ sites.

The BNPL option is only available to customers using Amazon’s Visa credit cards.

With the update, cardholders can use Amazon Pay’s equal monthly payments option for online purchases of $50 or more and split payments over six or 12 months with 0% interest when purchasing at stores beyond Amazon.

The new feature doesn’t require any changes to e-commerce sites currently using the Amazon Pay checkout button.

When the Influencing Backfires: Sponsor Cuts Ties with YouTube Star

It can be a brand's worst nightmare, an influencer badmouthing your business, triggering review bombing and a PR crisis.

One of YouTube’s top influencers is under fire for sharing her negative experience at a wine tour, leading to targeted hateful comments online. Now, one of the influencer’s sponsors is cutting ties with the online star.

Tana Mongeau shares dramatically exaggerated stories about her influencer life, a strategy that's earned her more than 5 million subscribers on YouTube and a podcast, called "Cancelled," with half a million weekly listeners.

In the wake of her latest controversy, a wider discussion has been sparked about the consequences of influencers wielding their power against small businesses.

In her recent podcast episode, the influencer spent about 30 minutes ranting about her wine tour escapade in France, dropping the name of the tour guide, Cynthia, and the tiny French village they visited. While she didn't reveal Cynthia's last name, a quick Google search could easily lead you to her personal site.

This ordeal got ugly, with the tour guide receiving a barrage of negative comments on Instagram and Google reviews. Some of Tana's fans even threatened to harm her and her business.

Tana didn't hold back either. During the episode, she repeatedly expressed wanting to physically fight, “curb stomp” and even kill the tour guide.

When she read an ad for one of the podcast’s sponsors, language-learning platform Babbel, she said:

“And with Babbel I could have told Cynthia the wine tour lady to shut the f--- up in her native language.”

Babbel’s public relations lead, told NBC News this week that the company was no longer working with Tana, and would more carefully vet podcast sponsorships in the future.

In Brief

TikTok Ban Poll: Nearly half of American adults support a TikTok ban, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey. The poll found 47% in favour of the ban, 36% opposed it. TikTok says 150 million Americans use the app, including 5 million businesses.

LinkedIn AI Tools: LinkedIn has introduced some AI tools for Sales Navigator and its Recruiter product. One of which will prioritize which users are most likely to respond to your sales pitches. There’s also a "Likelihood of Interest" element for recruiters.

Google Logo Rumour: Rumors about Google testing a new logo have turned out to be false. Some people yesterday spotted a different typeface being used on the search engine site. Google says that was a font rendering issue, not a new design.

YouTube Comment Filters: YouTube is testing some new comment filters in its main app. This will allow brand managers to find specific comments easily. Filters include "Super Thanks", "Channel Subscribers", and comments not yet responded to. The feature is still in testing with only a handful of users.

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