Happy Tuesday everyone!
This week we're back with more exciting news and updates. We can see several updates that have come up recently. There are some significant YouTube updates that will help creators coming up. As well, Apple is blocking third-party cookies in Safari. Instagram has just come up with a "stay home" story and co-watching feature amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Finally, social platforms are cutting down streaming quality, and we'll see how we can prepare for the near future after the whole crisis!
YouTube Updates for Creators: Improved Analytics for Live Streams & More
YouTube is coming up with a lot of updates that are very useful for creators to track their performances. In the recent updates, they have come up with better analytics for live streams. For the first time, creators will get to see a breakdown of viewers for live streaming vs regular streaming.
Smart replies are an innovative feature for creators. These are suggestions for comment replies that pop up as creators respond to comments on the platform. Smart replies are designed to help creators respond quickly and easily!
YouTube is also going to be getting rid of channel bulletins, which is an old feature that doesn't have much use. Channel bulletins allowed creators to post their channel activity feed on their channel home page.
YouTube recently began rolling out channel memberships, which is a Patreon-like subscription service. It allows fans to pay a recurring fee to a channel for the exclusive benefits.
In June 2019, YouTube rolled out suggested topics to Android users. For almost a year now, Android users were getting personalized topic suggestions on the YouTube home page. Now, suggested topics are rolling out to users on iOS and desktop as well.
Apple Blocks Third-Party Cookies in Safari
With the release of Safari 14.1 and updates to the Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) privacy feature, Apple now blocks all third-party cookies in Safari by default.
This means online advertisers and analytics firms will no longer be able to track users based on their activities. However, Apple says the move isn't a big deal. This is because they were already blocking most third-party cookies used for monitoring anyway.
Google was the one who pushed browser makers towards making a move. At the time, Google announced plans to block third-party cookies by default in Chrome and in the Chromium open-source project, on which multiple other browsers are built.
Apple's decision doesn't mean that Safari now blocks all user tracking. Rather, only tracking methods that rely on planting a cookie file in Safari and (re-)checking that cookie time and time again to identify the user as they move from site to site.
The update is a small step taken by the company to preserve web privacy. With Google, Safari, Microsoft, and all the other Chromium-based browsers on board, the vast majority of current web browsers block third-party cookies are on their way towards full blocks.
Instagram Launches "Stay Home" Story & Co-Watching Feature Amid COVID-19 Outbreak
Instagram is launching new features to encourage users to stay at home during the Coronavirus pandemic. The first feature, launched over the weekend, is an aptly-named "Stay Home" shared story to promote social distancing.
The second feature, announced today, allows friends to browse Instagram together over video chat. But what is the "stay home/shared story"? Users can now add a new "stay home" sticker on stories to show others how they're spending their days in self-isolation!
Those who use the sticker will have their stories added to a shared story, which lets other users view all stories with the "Stay Home" sticker in one place. The "Stay Home" sticker is available to everyone on iOS or Android!
If you want to learn more about this new feature on Instagram, click here!
Social Platforms Cut Streaming Quality as "Social Distancing" Wages On
Internet traffic is going up, and media platforms are trying to adapt to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Media giants across the globe are hurriedly making adjustments to keep their platforms stable and functioning during the massive surge in traffic.
As a result, major platforms (Facebook, Netflix, and Disney+, among others) are defaulting to lower qualities to make way for the inrush!
The push to downgrade streaming quality has been primarily focused in Europe, with regulatory mandates to reduce network strain. But the U.S. might not be far behind – and advertisers will likely feel the impact.
Here are a few significant platforms with the regulation:
Facebook & Instagram: Facebook recently announced it would be temporarily downgrading video streaming quality on its platform and on Instagram for users in the EU.
YouTube: Just a week after YouTube announced it would be reducing streaming quality for its EU users, the company has now confirmed it will cut streaming quality globally for a month.
Amazon: The e-commerce giant is also making efforts to downgrade video quality in Europe in an attempt to ease network strain.
Pivoting and Planning for a Future after COVID-19
A lot of businesses have lost sales and, consequently, a significant decline in the demand for goods and services due to social distancing. This has left companies to rethink the way they do business.
So as marketers, what do we need to do to cope up with the loss and plan the future?
The coronavirus outbreak now factors into just about every aspect of daily life, which is something brands need to keep in mind when they’re communicating with their audiences.
Agencies also need to be conscious of their strategies and communication if they are to maintain positive relationships with clients.
We need to plan for post-pandemic, as we know there’s no way to do business when there is no demand. While the end of the virus is not yet on the horizon, there are still many proactive measures that companies can take to help themselves bounce back strong.
Conclusion
A lot of things happened recently amidst the whole COVID-19 crisis. YouTube, with its creators in mind, has updated its analytics for live streams and more. Apple's Safari has now become the second browser - after the Tor Browser - to block all third-party cookies by default for all its users. Instagram is engaging users at home with a new update to encourage everyone to stay at home and be safe.
In this time of social distancing, the traffic on the internet is overflowing. As a result, major social platforms to cut streaming quality. Finally, we saw what needs to be done to prepare for a future after all this is over!
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Very imformative update for covie-19 thands for share.