This Week: Instagram Co-Watching, Pinterest, COVID-19, and More!

Internet marketing news and updates

Happy Tuesday all!

We're back with some more exciting news and updates this week. Currently, there are many useful updates coming from social media platforms that can help people cope with the current pandemic. Google is offering $340 million worth of advertising credits for small and medium-sized businesses. Pinterest has the "Today" tab for daily trending topics, after seeing a spike in usage as Pinners look for at-home inspiration. Google adds "Public Health Emergency" to inappropriate content ads using keywords around sensitive events, price gouging, and more. We'll also take a look at Instagram. Currently, they're launching a new watching feature for people to engage during this period of global quarantine. As well, support is being offered for SpecialAnnouncement Schema as it's coming to Google search.

Let’s dive into them!

Google Offers $340 Million Advertising Credits

Google Ads

Google is now offering ad credits to advertisers and will be available to the U.S. in the coming months. They have pledged to give $340 million dollars in credit to SMBs (Small and Medium Size Businesses). The ad credits will begin to show up in Google Ads accounts within the course of the next few months.

However, it will only be available to advertisers who have been active in the past year. You can see this on a Google Support page saying that it will only be available to advertisers who have been active since the beginning of 2019.

This means that small businesses that have a Google Ads account will be eligible for credits. Yet we still don't know how much of the ad credits will be issued to each advertiser.

The ad credits will be available for use until the end of this year. This means it needs to be used this year and will not be available in 2021.

Pinterest Launches "Today" Tab for Daily Trending Topics

Pinterest launches 'Today'

During this period of global quarantine, Pinterest has seen a record spike in usage. This is due to all the Pinners looking for at-home inspiration. Because of this increase of use, Pinterest initiated the launch of its ''Today'' tab last week in the U.S. and U.K., with other countries to come at a later time.

Pinterest is a platform used for businesses to help influence purchase decisions for their potential customers. More than just shopping, the tool is used for researching and finding solutions — and this can help drive traffic and leads to your business website.

So what can we expect to see in the "Today" tab?

The "Today" tab is the latest feature that can help provide a source for daily inspiration. The tab gets updated on a regular basis and shows curated topics. As well, it shows trending posts based on what is going on in the world.

To learn more about its features, click here!

Google Adds "Public Health Emergency" to Inappropriate Content Ads Policy

google-ads-inappropriate-content-policy-coronavirus

Google Ads has updated its Inappropriate Content Policy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This update aims at keywords around sensitive events, price gauging, and more.

This update, which was released last week, does not explicitly mention the Coronavirus. Still, the change is very evidently aimed at preventing advertisers from trying to take advantage of the outbreak for advertising purposes. Google recently banned ads for facemasks earlier this month.

We know that digital platforms are struggling to stay ahead of misinformation and fraudulent claims, as well as price gauging. This update may look subtle, but it gives Google a clearer path to take action.

The new language adds the mention of “public health emergency” and states, “Content that potentially capitalizes on or lacks reasonable sensitivity towards a natural disaster, conflict, death, public health emergency, or another tragic event.”

Instagram Launches New Co-Watching Feature to Help Users Connect Amid COVID-19 Lockdowns

Instagram launches new co-watching feature

With the whole world locked up, and missing out on regular social interactions, Instagram is adding a new feature to help users connect via video chat. This comes with the option to scroll through your Instagram feed while you're still talking to those you love, via video link.

As explained by Instagram:

"To help people stay connected, we've launched media sharing, a new feature that allows you to view Instagram posts together with your friends over video chat. You can start a video chat by tapping the video chat icon in the Direct inbox or in an existing Direct thread, then view saved, liked and suggested photos/videos by tapping the photo icon in the bottom left corner in an ongoing video chat."

Instagram had been developing this feature for some time in April last year. Providing another means to stay in touch but in a fun, engaging way. This adds yet another element to your video chats - which will undoubtedly prove beneficial in the coming weeks and months.

To learn more about the update, click here.

Support for SpecialAnnouncement Schema is Coming to Google Search

Special announcement schema

Google announced on Tuesday that it will adopt the SpecialAnnouncement structured data type. Although it is still in development, Google has published guidelines on how to use it on COVID-19-related announcements. In fact, site owners can already begin marking up their content with it. However, Google has not disclosed the rollout date for the data type in search results.

Marking up your special announcement keeps users always alert of what is happening during this period of quarantine!

Conclusion

This global quarantine is being tackled in the world of internet marketing, with updates coming from several different social media platforms in regards to it. From Google helping small and medium-sized businesses with a $340 million dollar credit. As well, Pinterest assisting people in staying updated with everything happening around them with the new "Today" tab.

Google is updating its Inappropriate Content Policy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This policy is to help prevent advertisers from trying to take advantage of the outbreak for advertising purposes. We also saw how Instagram is keeping people engaged with the new co-watching feature they recently launched. Finally, we took a look at Google adopting the SpecialAnnouncement structured data type with guidelines on how to use it on COVID-19-related announcements.

It's a competitive market. Contact us to learn how you can stand out from the crowd.

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