YouTube Introduces 6-Second Bumper Ads That Cannot Be Skipped

YouTube has announced that it will be introducing an unskippable, 6-second bumper ads before certain videos, for a growing number of people prefer to watch videos on their smartphone. The bumper ads are largely aimed at mobile users. Unlike TrueView—which allows viewers to skip the ads after 5 seconds and charges advertisers only when viewers finish seeing the whole ads—Bumper caps promos at 6 seconds, which could force marketers to build campaigns with mobile in mind, since smartphone users have shorter attention spans.

The new Bumper ads are sold through the AdWords auction on a CPM basis and will be rolled out this month. According to Google, bumper ads are ideal for driving incremental reach and frequency, especially on mobile, where “snackable videos” perform well. In addition, bumpers can drive strong lift in upper funnel metrics like recall, awareness and consideration—complementing TrueView’s strength in driving middle and lower funnel metrics like favorability and purchase intent. Therefore, it is acknowledged that bumpers will be particularly effective if paired with TrueView ads.

My question is:

1. Will the new bumper ads bring audience a good user experience and brand a positive and long recall?
2. Do you think there is a different preference for different types of ads? For example, which brands are more appropriate for TrueView and which for Bumper?

Link: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2016/04/bumper-ads-drive-incremental-reach-and-frequency.html

 

Facebook starts counting time spent when ranking links in people’s feeds

(April 21, 2016)Facebook will start counting time spent when considering which third party links to put in your mobile feeds and stop showing so many posts from the same pages.Facebook’s algorithm already considers the time people spending looking at the posts in their feeds, so it’s extending that to the third party pages.This change can be applied to any third party links which can be displayed in Facebook’s mobile in-app browser. It only factors when you are using its app as Facebook can only count time spent when using Facebook’s browser.

The reason for this change is simple: The more time people spend on Facebook, the more money Facebook stands to make.However, publishers and brands may game Facebook’s latest algorithm factor. For example, they could bloat their articles with animated GIFs and unnecessary paragraphs to get people to stick around longer.But Facebook’s spokesman said they will cap time spent at an undisclosed threshold.

Besides, Facebook is cutting back how often it shows people “several posts in a row from the same source in their News Feed.” In this way, Facebook can make sure you’re getting more variety in your feed. Otherwise, you might get bored by it and turn to Twitter or Snapchat to spice things up.

My questions:

1. The change may lead to more time-consuming links on your Facebook. Do you like it? How would you recommend Facebook the appropriate time spent threshold for the links? and why?
2. Do you think video links will take more advantage of this time-spent ranking factor, comparing to articles?  If so, what may be any drawbacksof the change?

 

Link: http://marketingland.com/facebook-starts-counting-time-spent-ranking-links-peoples-feeds-173973

 

Silicon Valley Season 3 Premiere

I wasn’t assigned a post this week, but just wanted to briefly mention that the third season of the hit HBO Silicon Valley aired last night Sunday. It’s a great and hilarious show that overlaps nicely with a lot of the topics discussed in class.

It’s been noted that the technology the show lampoons is probably in fact already being developed right now and can’t keep up with reality.

The main character Richard Hendricks finds himself going from being CEO of his own compression company to potentially working on an app to create 3D holographic facial for live-video chats. Snapchat anyone?

Silicon Valley season 3 channels the story of Steve Jobs

Facebook is starting to let people turn off those annoying live video notifications

 

Facebook has been aggressively promoting its new live video feature, which is reportedly a personal “obsession” of CEO Mark Zuckerberg. But now the company seems to have recognized that not everyone wants to get a notification when BuzzFeed blows up a watermelon, or Hasbro has people dress up in costume and play Hungry Hungry Hippos. Facebook has begun to roll out the option to turn off notifications for live video, a spokesperson confirmed to BuzzFeed. The option was spotted by Teresa Hammerl. Hammerl says the option exists under “Notifications” in settings. This change has not yet been made available to all users. “We are starting to roll out a new setting that lets people turn off all Live notifications, through their Notifications settings, that will be available to all people soon,” a Facebook spokesperson told BuzzFeed.One of the reasons Facebook is so excited about live videos is that people comment “more than 10 times” as much on Facebook Live videos than on regular videos. But the notifications have irked some users, who have vented in places like Twitter. ( Here is the link )

In my opinion. When new feature is introduced, there will be some users like it while some others not. In case of live video, the communication brought by it is exciting. As the article states, people comment “more than 10 times” on live videos than on regular videos. Therefore, Zuckerberg has every reason to be excited about it. However, a choice should be offered for users to let them choose whether they want to use this new feature or not. Even for people like this feature, notifications can be annoying. Therefore, it is a smart move for Facebook to offer such an option, though it should have made it earlier. The lesson is, do not turn a good thing into a bad thing. Correcting wrongs promptly is just as important as bringing new exciting features.

Questions:

1. Is there a better way than notification to make people realize who is streaming?
2. How can Facebook take advantage of live video further?

Curt Schilling, ESPN Analyst, Is Fired Over Offensive Social Media Post

Last Wednesday, ESPN Analyst and Former MLB Pitcher Curt Shilling, was fired from ESPN after a post he made on Facebook on his opinion on transgender sexuality. The post he made included a meme of a transgender man along with his own comment on how transgender people should go about going to the bathroom in public places. It seemed like he was responding to the new law in North Carolina that keeps transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that don’t correspond to their birth gender. The post drew immediate criticism given the fact it is a sensitive topic throughout the country. His comment was that, “A man is a man no matter what they call themselves. I don’t care what they are, who they sleep with, men’s room was designed for the p****, women’s not so much. Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic.”

ESPN has made it known that this type of behavior from their employee’s will not be tolerated and that his employment was terminated immediately. Curt Shilling has been on thin ice a lot due to his constant presence on social media and his controversial opinions he posts about, including recently posting how he compares Muslims to Nazis and how Hillary Clinton should be “buried in a jail somewhere.” He has been a notoriously outspoken person who sees no reason to hide his true feelings about topics in the world, but this time it came back to bite him back.

1. Do you feel that he should have been terminated because of his social media posts?
2. Should work places, such as high end places like ESPN, make an emphasis on conduct outside the work place (including social media) and how their social media accounts should be managed?
3. Is the fact of having people (with such strong opinions about sensitive topics) post their opinions on topics like this a good idea for social media? Does this cause more problems for society?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/sports/baseball/curt-schilling-is-fired-by-espn.html?_r=0

6 Things Marketers Need To Know About Facebook Instant Articles

Our favorite social media company again is venturing into a new revenue channel in offering Instant Articles.  This new feature will allow users only on their mobile for now to view articles instantly and do not have to navigate to the website.

The publisher will need to use a special markup on their website framework to embed the article in Facebook.  It is being marketed as showing the content 10x faster than using links or going to the websites.

The publisher also has 100% control to manage ads on their content.  If they cannot find ad providers they can join the Facebook Audience Network to auction their content.  Finally the publisher can download the Facebook code to have analytics on their content.

1.  Is this feature going to be popular and will publishers sign up?
2. This is in beta mode right now.  Do you see any reason why Facebook will not implement it?

6 Things Marketers Need To Know About Facebook Instant Articles

 

 

MTV Cribs Is Reportedly Coming to Snapchat

MTV is reportedly set to revisit Cribs… on Snapchat. Cribs is popularly considered some of MTV’s greatest programming. The content is also uniquely applicable to the Snapchat platform and format. Although the original Cribs broadcast was cancelled in 2008, the popular demand for behind the scenes celebrity access has only increased. Considering the environment, MTV’s decision to revisit a classic show with a legitimate following in a new and different way has the potential to be a success and an interesting moment for Snapchat. If the Cribs fan base is as large and as dedicated as it is made out to be, the show’s Snapchat debut may encourage wavering adopters to download the app for the first time and will certainly bring increased traffic to the app’s Discover channel feature.

Snapchat’s traditional applications, photos and videos shared specifically or publicly via the story feature, have achieved nearly mainstream acceptance or at least relevance in recent months. Celebrities and athletes are adopting Snapchat, gaining viewers within the app and media attention off of it. The Discover channels, admittedly a more recently introduced feature, have yet to experience a significant breakthrough. I’m not sure that brands or stations have figured out the right sort of content to elevate the Discover channels to the stature of the apps more popular features, but MTV’s efforts with Cribs are a step in the right the direction.

Questions:

1. Do you think the debut of ‘Cribs’ on Snapchat Discover will be a significant moment for the feature?
2. What kind of content or content adaptation would draw you, personally, to make the Snapchat Discover channels a part of your regular social media rotation?

Link

Instagram now has ‘featured’ video channels

 

Instagram recently increased the limit on users’ video clips from 15 seconds to a minute, and now it’s offering an improved way to search and view that content.

The changes, rolled out Thursday for iOS and Android, are seen in the app’s Explore tab, which now includes a “videos you might like” section that “collects videos from across Instagram’s global community into a seamless viewing experience.” In addition, when you scroll down the Explore grid, you’ll also see “featured” channels with videos on specific topics. When opened, they cleverly auto-play one video after another without looping to create a lean-back viewing experience. That’s quite similar to the recent Snapchat auto-advance update and the Watch button on Vine that launched yesterday. The Coachella channel was among the first big efforts to take advantage of the new feature. Throughout the festival the channel was updated with behind-the-scenes footage including the festival through the eyes of its performing acts.

Instagram’s recent efforts to boost the presence of video on its service should help it to rake in more revenue from brands. If Instagram can ingratiate users to watching organic videos, it could make video ads easier to swallow. And by giving top creators higher views counts, which it recently started showing, it can recruit more of them to its platform, drawing in their fan bases who will inevitably see ads.

Instagram’s ‘Explore’ grid now shows extra love to video

1. Have you already experienced this new feature? What do you think of the change on the explore tab?
2. Do you think this new feature is a challenge to Snapchat and its Live Stories? Do you see yourself reaching out to Instagram for this type of video content rather than Snapchat?Do you think it could  also compete with Twitter  with video news?
3.  Do you think Instagram will start putting video ads in the new channels or let brands pay to create their own sponsored channels?

 

 

Here’s how bots work on Facebook Messenger

Following the F8 conference, Facebook has released the use of bots within Facebook Messenger.  With an initial 33 companies included, these bots can potentially provide a wide scope of use and function.

You can order food or check the weather outside, with some interesting personal touches.  Despite this however, their actual function is somewhat limited in the present as their function blur into more generalized suggestions.  For example, CNN’s bot frequently only offered top headlines and was unable to provide more personalized recommendations.

It is almost a given that these bots will improve over time, but how so has still yet to be seen.  Will they take advantage of individual profiles when addressing a query or sending a message or will they adapt to user specific messages more frequently?  I feel like this may effect their evolution over time, but this is remained to be seen.

http://mashable.com/2016/04/12/how-to-use-facebook-messenger-bots/#asgk19QsAsqm

Questions:

1. Do you see this becoming popular, with Facebook users regularly interacting with company bots to receive personalized information?
2. Do you think Facebook will allow bots to take advantage of profile information to provide a more personalized experience?
3. Will other forms of social media follow with the use of bots?

So, it looks like Twitter is making its own food videos now

Is Twitter taking a cue from Tasty and tapping into the food market?  Australian celebrity chef Adam Liaw shared two videos of himself from Twitter’s Sydney headquarters.  In one, he shows viewers how to debone a chicken and in the other, he shows viewers how to butterfly prawns.  Both videos are heavily branded with Twitter’s logo and contain a nod to @TwitterFood and Twitter’s food channel.

The videos deviate from Tasty’s model in that the chef (a celebrity chef, no less) is seen on camera talking directly to the audience and the videos are several minutes long.  Additionally, unlike Tasty’s posts that include a link to the full recipe, the tweets do not contain links to the full instructions.  While Liaw’s videos are not exactly recipes, they are exploring a topic that Tasty has proved interests an audience.

 

http://mashable.com/2016/04/13/twitter-food-videos/#jfzcG8H66iqi

Questions:

1.  Why do you think Twitter is entering the food video game?
2.  Do you think they can compete with Tasty?
3.  Is this model more or less attractive to the advertising community?