One Breach Too Many?

Nearly two weeks after the most recent Facebook security breach, the platform is releasing more details into the extent of the hack. The good news is that the breach only effected 30 million users, versus the original estimate of 50 million users. The bad news? Extensive personal data was collected from about 15 million users. While that info hasn’t yet been used on the web to Facebook’s knowledge, its worth knowing where you stand. Check here to see if your account was affected.

Facebook—Back in the Headlines Again

Facebook has managed to lay low the last couple months—relatively speaking. But this week, they are right back to the top of our round-up with the announcement Thursday that the popular platform has once again suffered a security breach—this time affecting 50 million user accounts. Although the breach has been corrected, hackers were able to gain access to accounts and Facebook has admitted they do not know whether any personal information was gathered from those affected. But the damage has been done and Facebook may now be facing a class-action lawsuit.

Death by Marketing or a Brilliant Move?

Obviously the hot-button marketing topic of the last few weeks is Nike’s Colin Kaepernick campaign. Since the minute the campaign hit—via tweet from Kaepernick--it has been shared, mocked, picked apart, praised and shamed all over every single social media platform and at every office water-cooler. But love it or hate it, the campaign did what it set out to do. Between September 2 and 4, sales sky-rocketed 31%.

On the heels of the tweet that launched fifty-thousand retweets (okay, 56,000 within a couple hours of being posted), Quinnipac University conducted a poll to test popularity of the ad. They polled 1038 people and found that the majority of American voters approved of the ad—with approximately 67% of voters aged 18-34 in that group—a demographic that makes up two thirds of Nike’s customer base.

Social Media Security Remains King

As we’ve shared on this blog—and seen all over the net—Twitter has been working hard to clean up their act, reducing fake accounts and bots in-an-attempt to stop the spread of fake news. But is it enough?

Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, doesn’t think so. He acknowledged this week that the work Twitter has done so far has just been to tackle the surface of the problems the platform faces. In an interview with the Washington Post, Dorsey says he is planning reforms that will affect Twitter’s basic functionality including changing “likes, sharing alternative viewpoints and labeling bots.

The Ad Age of Transparency?

Are we entering an age where transparency and collaboration are key to a successful ad campaign? Many experts think so. After the scandals of the last year where social media platforms were forced to come clean about who they are sharing information with, consumers demand transparency.

In an opinion piece, Chris Wallrap, President of Hill Holiday, suggests that in order to stay competitive, agencies must adapt a high-performance collaborative culture—a place where insiders and clients meet around a table to brainstorm as a team. The thinking behind this? How can an ad agency design ads and campaigns that are honest without also adapting those practices in-house?

Stocks Plunge at Facebook and Twitter

Facebook announced last week that sales growth has slowed, and projects it to continue to stay slow for the remainder of 2018 as they work to provide a higher level of security for users. The result? Stocks plunged 19% and Mark Zuckerberg dropped from #4 on the list of the world’s billionaires all the way down to the #6 spot.

Similar issues over at competitor Twitter. We reported on the Twitter purge in our last newsletter--the platform’s big fake account and spam clean-up that has drastically reduced some celebrities’ followers.

Advertisers: Don’t Fear, Help is Here!

Having the right message, design, ad words and timing across multiple platforms is a HUGE challenge for today’s marketers.

Google wants to help. The company has announced a new suite of machine learning tools, aimed at helping marketers create more effective ads. The new products include responsive search ads, maximum lift for YouTube, local campaigns and smart shopping campaigns. Marketers who tested the services saw a 15% increase in click-throughs.

Facebook wants to help too. The company has announced a new augmented reality feature that allows users to virtually try on items with “just-one-click”. The new feature was designed to give advertisers more bang-for-their-buck on the platform. At launch, the feature is limited to users in the US.

Privacy Continues its Journey Down the Rabbit-Hole

Privacy is making a come-back following the GDPR rules and the Facebook Analytical scandal, right? Not so fast. Turns out we all need to pay a little bit more attention to the new privacy settings.

According to a new consumer advocacy report from the Norwegian Consumer Council, Google and Facebook are misleading European users into sharing more of their personal data than they might like through carefully crafted wording specifically designed to get people to agree to sharing info that the GDPR rules were designed to protect. While this mainly is a concern for those who live in Europe, the implications of major tech companies tricking their customers into sharing information reaches across the pond. Read the full report here.

The End of Net Neutrality As We Know It

As of June 11, the way the internet has been policed since the Obama administration has ended. Net Neutrality was originally put in place to prevent internet providers from charging more for certain content or giving preferential treatment to some websites. The concern is that large businesses could pay for premium speeds or enhanced access to consumers over small ones. Or that providers could start charging for tiered-packages of apps and websites, like cable providers who offer packages of channels.

While the law-change could very well change the way we use and pay for the internet, many experts say that changes are likely to happen slowly, when net neutrality is out of the spotlight and consumers aren’t paying as much attention. And while some cable and internet providers may choose to block or slow down competitors, many still have policies in place promising to preserve the “internet experience” and to not give preferential treatment to websites or services.

No news is good news for now, but the lesson here is stay alert.

The State of the Internet

Mary Meeker has released her 2018 internet report, a treasure-trove of information for advertisers. Some key points of interest? As of 2018, half the world’s population is now on the internet, American adults are clocking 5.9 hours of internet use a day on mobile devices and the shift to mobile has created a 7-billion-dollar ad opportunity. Read the full report here.

Are you horrified that we are all spending nearly 6 hours online on our phones and tablets? Don’t be. Everyone always wants to talk about the ways the internet is ruining our lives, but maybe that’s not completely true. There are nearly 6 million apps available and Marketing Tech highlights the apps that help us manage money, focus on tasks and stay healthy.