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September’s been another busy month! There was so much to write about but we’ve chosen a few updates from Youtube, Google, Pinterest, Facebook, Microsoft, and LinkedIn. See what the digital world has been up to:
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TikTok’s Days Are Up In The USA!
TikTok and WeChat are now officially banned in America. There was much controversial debate, and whilst Microsoft expressed an interest in commandeering the app, and software giant Oracle nearly got hold of it, ultimately it was too late – the app will be removed from all mobile app stores.
The decision follows an executive order signed by President Trump on the 6th of August. Concerns over national security arose from an investigation by the US Commerce Department. Several US-based companies entered discussions with ByteDance (owners) to acquire TikTok. Any partnership possibilities are now a thing of the past with the ban being in full force. All app stores will be required by law to remove both TikTok and WeChat. New users will not be able to download these apps, however, existing users will continue to be able to use the apps installed on their phones. Updates will not be allowed to be installed.
Any payment transactions through WeChat within the United States are now banned too. The US administration is promoting a policy known as “Clean Network” designed to eliminate foreign interference in applications and cloud infrastructure that powers American technology.
Facebook Updates its Rights Manager
Facebooks latest update makes life easier for content creators – creators will be able to trace and moderate where their content appears across Facebook and Instagram. The update uses matching technology to help creators and publishers secure their images.
The new manager aims to empower content creators with more ownership of images they post on the social networking platform. This will also help them claim ownership of an image if it has been reused by someone else on the platform.
The feature is available to select users for now. To access the Rights Manager, Page admins will need to submit an application for the content they have created and want to be protected.
Facebook wrote
“We want to ensure Facebook is a safe and valuable place for creators to share their content. That’s why we built tools like Rights Manager in Creator Studio to help creators and publishers who have a large or growing catalogue of content better control when, how and where their content is shared across Facebook and Instagram.”
Youtube Shorts vs TikTok
It’s not really up for debate that Youtube is one of the biggest digital platforms in the world, and just as the US and India ban TikTok, they decided to announce their new short-video feature: Youtube Shorts. Coincidence? We’ll leave that up to you to decide.
Youtube Shorts are videos that are 15 seconds or less and they can be edited pretty similarly to TikTok. The feature has its own creative tools that you can use to edit your videos, add music, speed up your videos, etc. These videos can be created via the Youtube App and they will appear in a carousel format. This carousel will be specifically for short videos only. This means it’s not only for videos that are created with Shorts but just any short video you have.
It’s currently in the testing stage and there will be more features added in the future.
Which one will you choose? TikTok or Youtube Shorts. Let us know!
Google My Business New Attributes
More additions to Google My Business! This year we’ve seen Google My Business become an extremely useful tool, especially for brick and mortar shops.
Now businesses will be able to add in the health and safety measures they’re taking on their Google My Business listings during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is not just useful information but also good marketing, you’d want to shout out about how safe it is to be in your shop so that people actually show up because they feel safe!
Here’s what you can add to your listings:
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- Mask required
- Appointment required
- Temperature check required
- Staff get temperature checks
- Staff wear masks
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We love the fact that Google’s encouraging businesses to not just do the right thing but also say the right thing as well. It’s certainly useful information!
Google Web Stories WordPress Plugin
Google Web Stories are bite-sized visual contents that can appear as different formats on Google Search, Images, and Discover. Once people see your web story, they can click through to the page/article to read the full thing.
There are certain guidelines in order to be able to create a web story that’s valid, like certain character limits and font sizes, and it’s a lot to memorize! However, Google has just released a new WordPress plugin to make this process easier. It comes with templates and a drag and drop feature to make it really easy and quick to create web stories. They are even collaborating with Unsplash to provide a library of stock images for the plugin users.
Google Web Stories can be an effective way of increasing traffic to your website, and if you have a WordPress website this plugin might be worth experimenting with.
Microsoft Ads and Linkedin Targeting
LinkedIn ads are well-known for their advanced targeting options. From now on we’ll be able to use these options within Microsoft advertising as well. With the cost-per-click rates on Microsoft ads combined with the advanced targeting from LinkedIn ads, it sounds like it’s too good to be true.
If you’re advertising B2B, this is the perfect opportunity for you! Advertisers running Microsoft ads will now be able to target by company, industry, and job function. To apply LinkedIn targeting, just go to settings and scroll down to the targeting section, from there just click on edit target categories and you’ll see the different options available.
Are you as excited to try this out as we are?
Pinterest Has Joined The Party: Pinterest Story Pins
Pinterest just joined the party and added a Stories feature. You’ll be able to save your story pins to your Pinterest profile and people will be able to see them all the time. They will also appear in the search results and home feed. You can even add hashtags to them. All you need to do is to use the in-app camera and create your story pin that way.
Pinterest has a few more new features to offer, such as:
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- New analytics tool: With this new tool, users will be able to see more detailed stats about their pins and profiles.
- Messaging: You can now message each other on Pinterest, using the contact or message card. And if you just wanted to give someone quick feedback, you can use reactions to send messages.
- Updated profiles: From now on profiles will be updated so that they’re a bit more focused on the content created by the user, instead of the pins they’ve saved.
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Which one of these features are you going to try out first?
A Less Blue LinkedIn is Coming Your Way
LinkedIn has a brand-new look and this look comes with new features as well.
About the new look, you’ll see less blue! And the feel should be more welcoming and representing diversity. So the new LinkedIn is looking more modern and simple now.
Better search experience is also coming your way, and now you’ll be able to search for relevant content, events, and groups. With the increase in the numbers of people creating content for LinkedIn, it’s amazing that LinkedIn is making sure all of those articles, updates, and news are not going to waste and can be found by people that are interested.
There are a few new updates involving LinkedIn messages as well. You can now edit or delete a message after you send it! I’m guessing a lot of us will be using this feature, what with LinkedIn being a professional platform and all, you wouldn’t really want a message with a typo to go out to someone you’re trying to impress. You can also react to messages now instead of typing a whole reply and also you can switch from messaging to a video call on Zoom or Microsoft Teams really quickly.
Let us know if you’re enjoying the new look or not!
So what do you think? Have the industry leaders lived up to your standards this month?
