Last month's top news from our industry

So what happened in the digital industry in June 2023?

Google announced Demand Gen & Video View campaigns, LinkedIn is rolling out In-Stream Video Ads & Thought Leader Ads, Pinterest introduced Premiere Spotlight & Travel Catalogs, Google Analytics 4 officially replaced Universal Analytics and much more!

Let's get you up to speed.

CLICKTRUST News

From around the web

AI & ChatGPT

OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, And Anthropic Respond To NTIA’s Call For Accountability
- Search Engine Journal
"The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has requested public comments on ways to ensure accountability of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Find out what OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and Anthropic say about AI accountability in response in this article."

OpenAI Considers ‘App Store’ For ChatGPT
- Search Engine Journal
"OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is considering creating a marketplace for AI models. The app store would offer a range of AI-powered chatbots and conversational agents developed using GPT. "

Amazon is testing AI-generated summaries of product reviews
- Search Engine Land
"Amazon started testing a new AI tool that can generate product reviews to help buyers shop more efficiently. The tool is intended for products with fewer user-generated reviews. However, it raises concerns about the accuracy, credibility, and possible manipulation."

Google forced to postpone Bard chatbot’s EU launch over privacy concerns
- Politico
"Google will have to postpone starting its artificial intelligence chatbot Bard in the European Union after its main data regulator in the bloc raised privacy concerns."

Plagiarism Engine: Google’s Content-Swiping AI Could Break the Internet
- Avram Piltch
"The AI service is stealing content from publishers, then using it to discourage people from visiting their sites. It’s a bad user experience that could kill the open web."

Data, analytics & privacy

Europe seeks breakup of Google ad business, adding to antitrust woes
- The Washington Post
"Google is now fighting multiple antitrust battles around the world, as the Justice Department pursues two federal antitrust cases against the tech giant."

Major Looker Studio GA4 connector update adds 170 new fields
- Search Engine Land
"Looker Studio has rolled out a major update to its system, unveiling 170 new fields for reporting. In order to access the new data, users must refresh their GA4 data sources."

Google Analytics 4 audience builder gains six new dimensions and metrics
- Search Engine Land
"Google has added six new dimensions and metrics in the new Google Analytics 4 audience builder: country, manual term, mobile device info, minute, new vs returning and session duration. These metrics should help you track your website metrics and goals in more detail using the audience builder tool."

Google-related updates

Did Google mislead advertisers about TrueView skippable in-stream ads for the past three years?
- Adalytics
"This report finds that advertisers including Fortune 500 brands, the US federal government, and many small businesses may have been misled for years about Google’s proprietary TrueView skippable in-stream video ads. "

Google Performance Max adds Store Sales reporting, bidding
- Search Engine Land
"Google has upgraded the capabilities of its Store Sales reporting and bidding to help marketers working on Performance Max campaigns to boost offline sales.The new features have been built to help advertisers better understand omnichannel shoppers, who are 2.9x more likely to make a purchase from brands, according to Google."

New brand settings in Search and Performance Max campaigns
- Google Ads Help
"We’ve launched two new features to improve how you guide Google AI and control where your ads appear: brand restrictions for broad match in Search campaigns, and brand exclusions in Performance Max. "

Introducing new AI-powered ad solutions to drive demand
- Google Ads & Commerce Blog
"We’re announcing two new Google AI-powered campaigns, Demand Gen and Video View campaigns. They make it easier to connect with consumers and drive demand from the mid-funnel, all the way to purchase.These ad solutions use relevant, immersive creatives to drive action and conversions in the moments that matter."

Virtually try on clothes with a new AI shopping feature
- Google The Keyword
"We’re introducing two new features that bring this fitting room experience to you: Virtual try-on for apparel uses generative AI to show you clothes on a wide selection of real models, while new filters help you find exactly what you’re looking for."

SEO

Google adds INP report to Search Console
- Search Engine Land
"Google has launched a new report within Google Search Console to see how well you perform with the INP, Interaction to Next Paint, Core Web Vital metric. As a reminder, Interaction to Next Paint (INP) will replace First Input Delay (FID) as a metric for Core Web Vitals in March 2024."

SEO in an AI world: first draft of a strategy
- Eli Schwartz
"For the last month, I have been advocating the need to develop a new SEO approach to generative AI, and now that I have had a chance to experiment with Google’s SGE, I have more thoughts on what that strategy might look like."

How to use Google entities and GPT-4 to create article outlines
- Search Engine Land
"In this article, you’ll learn how to use some scraping and Google’s Knowledge Graph to do automated prompt engineering that generates an outline and summary for an article that, if well written, will contain many key ingredients to rank well."

Social media

It’s your connected world: Helping business make the right connections for growth
- Facebook
"To help businesses reach new customers and drive performance that matters we are expanding ads on Reels, bringing app promotion ads to Facebook and Instagram reels and testing music optimization in Facebook Reels."

Two new solutions that put your brand front and centre
- Pinterest
"We’re announcing two new advertising products to help you build full-funnel strategies on Pinterest: Premiere Spotlight and Travel Catalogs."

LinkedIn Ads rolling out generative AI, new ad formats
- Search Engine Land
"LinkedIn is starting to test what it calls AI Copy Suggestions. It suggests headlines and text copy for ads based on your LinkedIn Page. Advertisers can select from five options, make edits and then apply the copy to a campaign. Soon, they will also launch in-stream video ads and Thought Leader Ads."

LinkedIn’s Testing Expanded Video Ad Placement on Streaming Services
- Social Media Today
"According to a new report from The Information, LinkedIn will soon begin testing of an expanded LinkedIn Audience Network element that will provide streaming placement for LinkedIn promotions, essentially providing TV-like reach for your LinkedIn ad campaigns."

TikTok Updates Data Usage Regulations in Line with Evolving Regional Laws
- Social Media Today
"TikTok’s announced an update to its policies around the data it uses to target users with ads, as it looks to move into line with evolving EU privacy laws, as well as broader industry shifts."

Interactive Add-Ons on TikTok: Entertain and engage in the For You Page
- TikTok
"We're excited to announce that Interactive Add-Ons are now available globally for In-Feed Ads. Interactive Add-ons offer a unique way to entice engaged viewers with popups, stickers, and other visual elements. You can enhance your In-Feed Ads with either Standard or Premium add-ons, depending on your needs."

TikTok Tests New Visual Product Search Option to Boost its eCommerce Efforts
- Social Media Today
"The new TikTok image search option, which is being tested in selected markets outside the US, would function similar to image search on Google, or Pinterest’s Lens tool, with users capturing an image of a product, then using that as the basis for their search."

TikTok Expands Access to New TikTok Shops eCommerce Program
- Social Media Today
"After testing the option with selected US retailers over the last few months, TikTok is now expanding access to its new TikTok Shops eCommerce option, which provides streamlined product display, and in-stream conversion, simplifying the in-app shopping experience."

TikTok Adds New AI Ad Script Generator Tool in Creative Center
- Social Media Today
"TikTok has added a new AI-powered tool to help you create better TikTok video clips, with its ‘Script Generator’ — found within its Creative Center — that is able to map out video concepts based on your prompts. with TikTok’s Script Generator tool, you can enter in your industry vertical, product name, a description of the item, and any relevant keywords that you want to highlight or include."