Google eyes 'long-term opportunity' in commerce as retail drives blowout ad revenue
TLDR
- Alphabet saw revenues rise 41% year-on-year to $65.1 billion in the third quarter, revenue derived from the Google advertising network hit $53.1 billion for the period.
Brief
Google held onto strong momentum as the larger digital ads market rebounded, speaking to how its scale and sturdy foundation in channels like search has provided guardrails against outside disruptions during a volatile year. Commerce has become a bigger-ticket item for Google, which operates a shopping tab on its core search business and has layered more purchasing functions into apps like YouTube. The company is now eyeing omnichannel capabilities that can draw a clearer link between the online and brick-and-mortar experience that spans search, YouTube and more experimental offerings like Google Lens, an image-recognition technology app.
- Read the full article from Marketing Dive
Amazon is building a Clubhouse competitor that turns hosts into DJs
TLDR
- Amazon is building a new app, codenamed “Project Mic,” that gives anyone the ability to make and distribute a live radio show, complete with music, initially focused on the US.
Brief
Listeners will be able to tune in through the app, as well as through Audible, Amazon Music, Twitch, and Alexa-equipped devices. With the Alexa devices, listeners will be able to interact with shows using just their voice. With this app, Amazon joins the likes of Apple, Spotify, and even Sonos, which are looking to program radio-adjacent content. Amazon’s case, it might see the benefit of this app as something that can be localized — shows can be catered to where a person lives and they could even receive ads based on that location, too. Plus, with interaction being able to happen through Echo devices, the call-in experience can also be replicated.
- Read the full article from The Verge
BT launches digital advertising platform to help businesses grow online
TLDR
- BT has launched a digital advertising platform to make it easier for businesses to run their own digital marketing campaigns, helping them to better promote their goods and services online.
Brief
BT’s Digital Marketing Hub gives businesses the tools and support to create, publish and track their digital advertising across Google, Facebook, and Instagram – all from a single platform. BT’s Digital Marketing Hub has been designed to help those that often lack the time, resources, confidence, or skills to start or boost their own digital advertising campaigns. Businesses can create ads and run multi-channel marketing campaigns while all the results feed into a single analytics dashboard. With artificial intelligence (AI) working in the background, businesses can get automatic recommendations around the best keywords, ad copy and media spends to include in their campaigns, helping secure maximum return on investment. To support small businesses without their own website, the Digital Marketing Hub also provides the option to create a bespoke webpage to direct potential customers to. The platform is charged to businesses through a service fee, which is applied to each campaign on a pay-as-you-go basis and varies depending on the service level the customer chooses. This gives businesses access to all the tools in the platform, with no minimum contract length.
- Read the full article from Marketing Tech News
