Instagram “Favourites” Feature in Testing Phase
Instagram has recently been testing out a feature that has the potential to change the landscape of the feed. This “Favourites” feature will work much like an existing feature on Facebook wherein users are able to choose 30 friends and Facebook pages that they would like to see at the top of their news feed. This “Favourites” feature will put chosen accounts at the top of their Instagram feed, giving users the ability to see more of their favourite content, and giving businesses, influencers and content creators more leverage when it comes to creating a dedicated following on the platform. There’s no final word yet whether this feature will officially roll out in the future, but should it arrive, it would be a welcome change not just for content creators, but for the users as well.
Facebook Encouraging More Automation for Ads
Following the iOS update that provided Apple users with the choice to opt-in or out of activity tracking, Facebook has moved towards improving their machine learning tools to help marketers and advertisers with their campaigns. Facebook’s algorithm is only getting better and smarter with time, and one of the features they’d added for advertisers is automated Targeting Expansion. Targeting Expansion makes use of Facebook’s algorithm to show your ads to additional targets and users that were not included in your initial setup. The added assistance from Facebook’s algorithm should increase the overall performance of your campaigns amidst the changes in privacy options and is definitely worth testing out in current and future ad campaigns.
More Automation Options Also Coming to Google Display Campaigns
Google is also looking to find more ways to help advertisers maximise their results. Recently, they’ve introduced more automated options to leverage their algorithm’s learning capabilities for Display Ads. Google promises that advertisers will still get the best possible performance that they’re used to. Advertisers will also have complete control over how much automation they want to allow for the bidding, creatives, and audiences. Google will also allow flexibility for users to change the level of automation they allow at any time, without having to create a new campaign. This new process will eventually merge regular Display creation with Google’s Smart Display campaigns, making the whole process more seamless and flowing.
Changes in Title Generation on Google’s Search Results
In the recent past, the titles on Google’s search results contained the keywords that users typed in. Recently, Google confirmed it is now generating those titles based on the website’s main title and title tags and headlines. That means that the content on the site placed under <H1> tags is being pulled and placed in the search results. The change has no effect on the rankings, Google confirms, but optimising your titles to reflect the change should be reviewed and considered as it may affect user behaviour.