Digital Marketing News: What’s New With Microsoft Advertising, Google Ads, Instagram, and More

Digital marketing is an ever-evolving industry, and keeping up with the related news is crucial to stay ahead in the game. In this blog, we will discuss the latest rollout of Microsoft Advertising, Instagram’s upcoming feature, and some other digital marketing news, just in case you missed it. So, let’s take a quick look at some important updates from these popular platforms without wasting time.

Microsoft Advertising Rolls Out Auto-Applied Ad Recommendations

Microsoft Ads is launching this new feature in April 2021 to improve performance and also save some time for advertisers. It will auto-generate ads for ad groups by using variations of existing ad copy and targeting in Microsoft Ads accounts.

Advertisers can see the ad recommendations in their Recommendations tab, where they can edit, pause or delete the suggestions before they go live after 14 days automatically. However, advertisers who want to opt-out of this feature can go to their Settings tab, then Account Settings and uncheck the box below “Auto-apply ad suggestions.” Advertisers who are opted-in will also get email notifications when the ad recommendations go live. Nevertheless, the news of Microsoft Advertising rolling this feature out has received mixed responses from advertisers, making it quite controversial.

Instagram Is All Set to Launch a New “Story Draft” Feature Soon

According to Instagram, “Story Drafts” are among one of the most requested features by users worldwide. Taking note of that, the company has announced that it will soon roll out a new feature that will allow users to save their Instagram Stories as “drafts” before posting them live. This new feature will offer more flexibility in utilizing Stories to users and enable brands and social media managers to post their Instagram Stories at the optimal time for their audience.

Google Ads Clarifies the Company’s Policies Around First-Party Data

In response to a question asked on Twitter, Ginny Marvin, Google Ads Product Liaison, clarified Google’s policies around first-party data.

According to Marvin, Google considers data collected by forms on subdomains, country TLDs, and vanity URLs owned by the same company as first-party data. This information can also be used to create audiences in Google Ads.

Microsoft Announces Responsive Ad Unit for Car Sales

Microsoft has introduced the open beta of its new product, Automotive Ads, which can show up in Bing search results or Microsoft Audience Network. These ads utilize the product information given by the advertiser to automatically match the advertisement to relevant queries and follow a keyword-less campaign structure. As per the company’s observations, Automotive Ads have been driving excellent performance for advertisers, and they have noticed a rise in clicks and conversions and relatively lower CPCs. Advertisers who want to get started with the open beta of Automotive Ads can either contact their Microsoft Advertising representative or simply apply online.

Wrapping It Up

TLDR:

• Microsoft Advertising is all set to introduce auto-applied ad suggestions for advertisers in April 2021. This new feature will use variants of existing ad copy and targeting to generate ads automatically. Advertisers have the option to opt out of this feature if they wish.
• The social media giant Instagram has recently announced that it is introducing a new “Story Draft” feature that will allow people to save drafts of their Instagram Stories before posting them on their account, giving users more flexibility.
• In a recent Twitter discussion, Ginny Marvin of Google explained that the information collected by forms on subdomains, country TLDs, and vanity domains owned by the same company are considered first-party data by Google and can be used for generating audiences in Google Ads.
• Microsoft has rolled out Automotive Ads in open beta, which utilizes the product info provided by the advertisers to match the ad to relevant queries automatically.