Google Analytics Updates, OTT Content Descriptors, & More | Weekly Marketing News

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This week in marketing news, everything from privacy changes in Google Analytics to recommendations for marketers advertising on Connected TV has been making headlines. And we’ve got you covered by rounding up some of the top news stories in one place.

In digital marketing news, Google announced on Thursday that they are releasing privacy features in Google Analytics that will allow marketers to gain insights without the use of third-party cookies and identifiers. According to an article by MediaPost, this new feature is rooted in machine learning and modeling, as explained by Vidhya Srinivasan, Google Ads vice president of engineering, “Soon, we’ll extend Google’s advanced machine learning models to behavioral reporting in Analytics.” As worries over privacy continue to drive changes like these in the world of digital marketing, advertisers will have to continue to be flexible in their approaches to digital ad campaigns. MediaPost recommends that marketers also look into investing in a tagging infrastructure to make the most of the data that consumers are sharing. 

And in Connected TV news, for many viewers, premium video content is no longer a on-time viewing experience to look forward to all week. Instead, it can be accessed at any time through the many Connected TV streaming services available to consumers. And according to Adweek, this premium content is a meeting point between a consumer, advertiser, and media owner. For advertisers to successfully measure and track their campaigns on Connected TV, Adweek recommends that they clearly define their OTT content descriptors by aligning their OTT taxonomies. This means working closely with publishers to align this information with the standards set by the IAB. Practices like this will help marketers ensure that their Connected TV campaigns are being tracked accurately. 

Keep reading to see the rest of the marketing news making headlines this week.

DIGITAL

Google Analytics Will Soon Work Without Cookies – Google on Thursday announced privacy features that allow marketers to gain insights in Google Analytics and other measurement products without the use of third-party cookies and identifiers.

The Dos and Don’ts of Link-Building and Driving Traffic (Beyond SEO Tricks) – One of the ways search engines judge the value of a website is by evaluating the links that point to it. So how do you get those high quality links to your site to establish your authority? You do it through link-building. 

Consumers Are Declaring Their Social Values Through Purchase Decisions—Are You Listening? – According to SurveyMonkey’s March 2021 study of 1,097 U.S. consumers, 46% of respondents said they care much more about social values today than they did a year ago.

Essential B2C Marketing Implementations – Technology and regulatory changes will require preparation. We asked marketing experts how they plan to tackle the next 12 months—here are the 18 topics they zeroed in on. 

CONNECTED TV & STREAMING

6 Misconceptions About Connected TV Debunked – To help clear up the confusion about CTV, this article explores the six most important truths about CTV that marketers should know. 

It’s Prime Time, Baby – Prime time advertising was the holy grail of linear TV, but here’s how streaming television is coming up on top.

How Advertisers Can Get the Most Value From OTT Content – A key component in driving TV and digital convergence is developing scalable solutions that allow marketplace participants to describe, transact and report on a clearly defined, understandable and manageable set of OTT content descriptors more easily.

OTT, Podcasts And Blogs: Oh My, How Retail Media Is Evolving – OTT/CTV, email, podcasts, reward apps, and blogs are among the top non-traditional retail media channels being used or considered by retail advertisers to activate their commerce.

Why Connected TV is a critical channel for beauty brands in 2021 – How can beauty marketers steer their strategies and overcome the challenges of the last year? The answer is activating an ad channel that is at the center of growing consumer trends and delivering good ROI: Connected TV.

Disney’s Q2 D2C Revenues Spike 60%, Disney+ At 104M Subs – Disney’s closely watched direct-to-consumer business witnessed a 59% rise in revenue in its fiscal second-quarter period to $4 billion — as well as an increase in global subscribers for Disney+, to 103.6 million.

MOBILE

Aiming for reinvention, Apple eyes ad growth after privacy changes – The tech giant will serve more performance data about ads bought via Apple than those from third parties, giving it an advantage in drawing in advertisers.

Instagram launches Community Content to enhance shopping – Instagram’s latest feature for businesses, Community Content, is launching today. Businesses can now add posts created by fans of its brand onto their product pages, helping users feel confident in making a purchase.

How Mobile App Development is Fueling Digital Marketing – For apps to be as effective as marketers need them to be, they have to be developed well first. With that in mind, here are a few ways how mobile app development is fueling digital marketing.

WE’LL KEEP YOU UP-TO-DATE

That’s it for the roundup this week, next week we’ll be back with another list of what’s making news in marketing.

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