The Top Three

🏆 THE INDUSTRY’S MOST IMPORTANT STORIES TODAY

🥇 WHEN LESS (USUALLY) IS MORE

How long should an ad be? A recent study found most ads reach their peak impact in about 10 seconds. After that, extra time doesn’t improve recognition... and can even make the ad less appealing. However, atypical ads, those with unexpected narratives or unconventional creative approaches, need more time to resonate.

• Atypical ads take longer to be recognized, with brand recall improving up to 70 seconds.

• Optimal engagement for atypical ads falls between 20–30 seconds — up to 3X more than longer typical ads.

🥈 UK USER DEFEATS META’S AD GAME

👀 Privacy 1, Meta 0: $META ( ▲ 1.67% ) has agreed to stop targeting ads at one UK Facebook user following a legal fight, potentially paving the way for others to opt out of personalized ads. Tanya O'Carroll, a tech policy expert, argued that its targeted ads qualify as direct marketing under UK law, granting individuals the right to object. more

• Meta said that its ads target groups of at least 100 people, not individuals, so did not count as direct marketing.

• The UK's data watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office disagreed, stating that organizations must let users opt out of their data being used for targeted advertising.

• Meta disagreed with the ruling but settled the case.

🥉 GOOGLE DITCHES THE GREEN CHECK

✅ LSAs minus the badge: Google $GOOGL ( ▲ 1.57% ) is testing the removal of the green "Google Screened" checkmark from Local Service Ads, with some ads showing the badge and others not. Anthony Higman shared an email from Google confirming that this is part of a test where all Local Service Ads will be shown without the badge. more

• This change has sparked backlash, with Higman arguing that the green checkmark has been a key selling point of the platform, building trust and distinguishing these ads from regular PPC ads.

• He’s calling it a money grab since legal advertisers already pay about $600 per call for this premium ad placement.

Today’s Other News

📰 EVERYTHING ELSE THAT MATTERS

Advertising 📣

• Bing $MSFT ( ▲ 1.81% ) is now placing ads within featured snippets, labelled "You might also like." These ads appear under the featured answer with the title "You Might Also Like" and include a link. more

• DoorDash $DASH ( ▼ 0.19% ) is launching new banner ads to promote additional items customers can add after completing a purchase. With the "DoubleDash" feature, customers can add items from stores like 7-Eleven without extra fees. These new ads appear directly beneath a message prompting users to add more items.

  • The company is also selling sponsored product ads within the DoubleDash experience, which will appear just below the DoubleDash banner ads as customers wait for their orders. more

• DoorDash is also teaming up with retail media tech company Topsort to let advertisers buy sponsored product ads across DoorDash and other retailers' owned websites in a single media buy.

• Blocklists are ruining sports engagement for marketers. While sports content is typically considered brand-safe, blocklists flag common sports terms like “shot” or “attack,” stopping ads from running alongside content that is primed for engagement. New research shows that almost half of Super Bowl coverage was blocked from receiving ads due to this issue. ADWEEK has a great think-piece up today about how today's digital landscape needs a better approach.

• 📉 Upfronts, Down Worries: Economic uncertainty, fueled by President Trump's fluctuating tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and other nations, is causing anxiety among advertisers. Senior ad buyers report that clients are increasingly concerned about the potential impact on their ad budgets. With the annual TV upfront market negotiations set for May, The Information reports that many ad agencies expect that clients may scale back their commitments for the next 12 months.

  • Analysts are already adjusting their U.S. ad growth forecasts, with MoffettNathanson's Michael Nathanson reducing his estimate from 6.9% to 5.8%. Brian Wieser of Madison and Wall also lowered his projections, warning that the full impact of government policy changes will likely be felt in the second half of the year.

Influencer Marketing 🤳 

• Instagram has updated its Creator Marketplace with new features available in the Partnership Ads Hub in Ads Manager.

  • Creator Discovery & Recommendations: The platform now suggests creators based on their affinity to a brand, using AI insights from their ad content, audience similarity, and past partnership experience.

  • Keyword Search: Brands can search for creators using specific terms like “soccer moms with dogs” or “gadget unboxing”, with filtering options across 20+ verticals.

  • Creator Insights & Engagement Tools: New features include Creator Cards with playable Reels, direct email contact, experienced creator badges, and active partnership ads.

• 🤷 #Ad? Never heard of it: A new study found that 96% of sponsored posts on X are undisclosed, with even conservative estimates showing at least 80% of paid content goes unmarked. Despite stricter disclosure rules, the rate of undisclosed posts has barely changed. These posts are more common among young brands with large followings, and data shows many consumers can’t tell the difference between organic and paid content without proper labelling.

GBP & GMC 🏬

• 🐛 Bugs & Glitches: Several users are reporting a bug during the Google Business Profile setup process, with the "Next" button failing to progress past the phone number and website address screen, preventing them from completing the setup process. Google is aware of the issue and working on a fix. more

  • Some users are also noticing that phone numbers are disappearing from their GBPs. Google is investigating this issue as well.

• 🆕 Click reporting is changing: Starting April 21, Google Merchant Center will update its click reporting to align with Google Ads. Currently, Merchant Center counts all interactions as product clicks, while Google Ads reports clicks separately. After the update, both platforms will define product clicks the same way. As a result, your current and historical click data in Merchant Center may change, but there will be no impact on your reporting in Google Ads. more

Social Media 📱

• Pinterest $PINS ( 0.0% ) recently rolled out two new types of feed display modules to showcase more related topics and ideas to users, without cluttering their main feed.

  • Landing Page Modules: Tapping these takes users to a separate landing page with Pins to explore.

  • Carousel Modules: A horizontal shelf of Pins within the feed, providing a swipeable collection.

Acquisitions 🤝 

• Marketing agency, Brunner, acquired Rakuten Advertising’s Performance Solutions group, bringing paid search, programmatic planning, and buying teams into its fold. The move expands Brunner’s digital media, data engineering, and data science capabilities while growing its client roster in retail and e-commerce. more

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