“People think innovation is just having a good idea but a lot of it is just moving quickly and trying a lot of things.” — Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook
“Ya can’t stop progress!” — Bill Heslop, Murial’s Wedding
During the great disruption of COVID-19 we’ve seen big tech put the pedal to the metal to release new features, double down on e-commerce capabilities and acquire, acquire, acquire!
This innovation acceleration stems from the understanding that, as humans, we have a fundamental need to have our basic values met and made convenient through the things that we touch every day. And for right now, this is the internet.
During this time, we’re relying on technology to not only connect with others but to connect with ourselves. That can be through telehealth, online learning, or trivia nights on Zoom where you find yourself arguing with your mates about the real origins of hummus.
What we’re able to do, and how we’re able to grow, will come back to the access that we have to the tools that enhance our everyday lives.
You can be a luddite and remove all apps with the death scroll from your phone, but no matter how hard you try, big tech innovation will serve you in other ways.
This is the inspiration of the weekly Digi Drops update run by our Head of Digital, Cat Rewha. It’s a space to learn about new ad tech and how we can incorporate that to drive innovation in our client solutions. It’s a space to look for inspo to cut-through, be at the forefront of digital behaviours and have the brands we work with be remembered for the risks that they took.
Welcome to Digi Drops. We’re excited to go on this journey with you.
November 26, 2020
Hold on to your lunchboxes mates! 2020 is about to get in the bin but before big tech lets that happen, they are going to throw every last new feature out onto the public so that they can fully adopt the ‘New Year, New Me’ mantra.
Maybe my ‘New Year, New Me’ vibe will be getting Netflix and watching that show about people that like hugging tigers and playing chess. Or maybe it will be signing up for MySpace again. Which brings me to my next point, what becomes of a media company if it is still alive but barely breathing? Why did Quibi have to fold but MySpace gets to live? Who decides these things?!
‘New Year, New Me’ — Maybe think about something else late at night. 🤗
Performance
- Instagram is trialling keyword search to encourage users to discover more content. I’m predicting a change in copy and alt text to make content more rank friendly.
- Apple reduces its App Store fee from 30% per transaction to 15% if your company earns $1m or less from apps a year. Little impact on Apple’s bottom line but it’s a start.
- Twitter rolls out carousel ads with up to 6 tiles in a move to service the recently popular use of communities using carousel formats as an education tool.
- Google removes the ability for site owners to remove outdated content from SERPs. All removals will now need to be requested and verified.
- YouTube launches 15-second audio ads to target YouTube users that listen to playlists ambiently.
New Features
- And we are swinging! Snapchat introduces Spotlight; a scrollable discovery feed that will surface vertical content from creators similar and take on what is arguably one of the best discovery algorithms known to us humble Earthlings — the TikTok #fyp algo. Watching with bated breath to see who wins out here.
- Google Pay gets a customer-centric relaunch to help people track their relationship between money and businesses (#ASOSanonymous surely trending soon) so you can ultimately save more.
- Facebook launches E.gg that allows users to create personalised site pages. It’s the appropriation of Tumblr, Universe, and customizable landing page companies and indicates that they might be moving toward letting users customise their digital presence more outside of the feed UX.
- Instagram Guides cops a mass release as the world moves toward more in-depth, in-app experiences as part of the consumer journey.
- Squarespace adds a new monetization option for businesses to charge for access to exclusive content.
Acquisition and Cash Money 💰
- Eventbrite acquires ToneDen to help creators and promoters market their events.
- BuzzFeed acquires HuffPost while Verizon becomes a shareholder in BuzzFeed media.
- Strava rides through the bank (sorry not sorry) and raises $110m to develop new features for it’s 2M new users a month.
- Roblox went public with a nice little revenue boost of $588.7M this year as kids went into lockdown and parents had to find something for them to do.
November 17, 2020
Watch out lil mates in Big Tech; Papa Joe and Mama Harris are coming for you in 2021. You get an antitrust case, you get an antitrust case and you get an antitrust case! We’re going all Oprah up in here!
And TikTok, well you can stay as long as you keep serving us up cloud bread and step-siblings that date.
New Features
- Uber will let users reserve rides up to 30 days in advance and pick their favourite driver. A big move into service personalisation as the company seeks to differentiate itself and boost profits during COVID-19.
- And it happened — Reels and Shop now have their own tabs in the Instagram app.
- Just checking that it’s 2020 and not 2016 again. Correct, it’s 2020 and Facebook have released a new feature that looks pretty similar to a Snapchat feature- Vanish Mode. Your messages can disappear after you’ve sent them — is anyone else tired?
- YouTube releases personalised playlists based on moments and moods (aka eating your fifth Cornetto and feeling sassy).
Cash Money & Acquisitions 💰
- Adobe buys Workfront for $1.5B to add a collaboration tool to its software suite
- Spotify acquires podcast advertising service Megaphone to scale it’s ad platform revenue as podcast engagement continues to soar.
November 5, 2020
It’s been about a month between Digi Drops and what a month it has been. We are now at crunchtime via the US Election as platforms brace themselves for new rules under a new government, or nonsensical noise from an existing one (whatever happened to that TikTok ban?)
Whatever the outcome, we’re on the edge of something wild and we’re totally here for it to do the most good that we can do.
Performance
- Pinterest releases a suite of tools for merchants to improve their sales and platform storefront presence.
- The collab we’ve been waiting for is finally here. TikTok x Shopify!
- Microsoft Excel announces a huge new feature for all us data nerds out there — allowing customers to import existing data structures via Power BI instead of having to rebuild it to suit Excel. Amaze.
- And on the other side of spreadsheet life, you can now import your Google Ads data directly into Google Sheets without having to use a third-party tool. About time Google.
- Spotify has opened the pit and will let artists promote their music in personalised user recommendation playlists.
New Features
- Snapchat goes in with a world-first in full body AR lenses. Be a hot dog, be a teddy holding a banana, be whatever it is your heart truly desires.
- TikTok and Sony Music partner up to give creators access to more official music for their clips.
- Back in August, Apple announced that they would be launching a search engine at some point and it looks like we’re getting closer to it dropping (conveniently as Google finds itself in an antitrust lawsuit for its search product).
- Donut rolls out Watercooler — a Slack integration that prompts fun conversation topics for teams to get around and increase the bants.
- TikTok launches ‘Support Black Businesses’ — an online hub where Black creators can access partnerships and initiatives that will drive their businesses.
Acquisition and cash money 💰
- Brand safety, ad fraud and ad quality specialist platform DoubleVerify raised $350M to continue bolstering its (much needed) product.
- Lunchbox, a startup that gives the power back to restaurants by making it easier to build their own online ordering experiences has just raised $20m in funding.
- UnderArmour sells MyFitnessPal for $130m less than it bought it for. They say it’s to simplify their brand, reports indicate it could be because they just can’t compete with Apple’s fitness products.
October 6, 2020
I’m only a year late but I finished the first season of the The Mandalorian on the weekend. One of the big questions of life that stumped me was “Is The Child really Baby Yoda?” but luckily, with the internet’s help I was able to sleep better at night knowing what I now know (no friends, no spoilers here).
I found a user-generated database called Wookieepedia that told me everything that I needed to know, in such detail that I forgot about my Baby Yoda conundrum and became happily overwhelmed with how cool of a place the internet can really be.
You can learn anything from people that have so much they want to share, for the endgame of wanting to learn and share. I’m glad that crafty minds out there are coming up with how to create more ways for us to do that.
Performance
- Facebook makes a few key changes to Groups that will help communities explore new ways to interact with their members and grow.
- It’s almost Christmas. Yes this year is almost done. And to celebrate, Pinterest have announced a round of new features geared toward providing creators with more insights to monetise their catalogue.
- TikTok’s most popular feature, ‘Duet’ has had a revamp with new layout options.
New Features
- Twitch launches ‘Soundtrack by Twitch’, a rights-cleared music platform that lets creators livestream and retroactively post content with high-quality music from the likes of Above & Beyond and Porter Robinson.
- Messenger comes to Instagram 🙌. You can reach people in their Instagram DMs via Messenger and will soon be able to access features like Watch Party, vanish mode, selfie stickers, forwarding and message controls.
- Amazon launches a personal shopper subscription for $4.99USD a month. The service uses your Amazon browsing and purchase data to curate outfits for you, get them shipped out and try them on. You can return what you don’t like and pay for what you want to keep. RIP shopping malls.
- LinkedIn announces Zoom and Microsoft Teams integrations so that people can activate more face-to-face interaction about career opportunities or create virtual mentor catch-ups.
- Google Maps gets a COVID-19 layer that shows hot spot areas in order to help people make more informed decisions about where they go and what they do.
Acquisition and cash money 💰
- Early learning program, Homer raises $50M from Lego, Sesame Street and Gymboree to continue building a comprehensive learning platform.
- Asana and Palantir went public with both companies showing strong results in the first week. Asana is a true life-force but sorry Palantir…what exactly is it that you do again? 🤔
- Apple will temporarily waive fees on Facebook’s paid online events that would’ve seen individual event creators have to pay a 30% fee to Apple on their ticketing revenue. This is only temporary and probably only until the Fortnite vs. Apple lawsuits are over and the spotlight isn’t on Apple being a bully.
September 23, 2020
Well, well, well — here we are my friends. TikTok and WeChat are still available in the US.
They didn’t sell. They didn’t get a full ban. The Federal court gave them a reprieve and the deal between Oracle, Walmart and Bytedance will be looked at next week.
I called it a couple of posts back. China 1. Trump 0.
Readers take note re: ACCC and the Google / Facebook news battle. Big tech does not fold. I repeat, big tech does not fold.
Performance
- YouTube bumps in Dynamic Lineups, giving marketers a suite of advanced contextual marketing capabilities to use.
- Twitch is testing mid-roll placements. Surely this is going to be an ongoing new feature given that Amazon is already allowing programmatic inventory purchase.
- Instagram continues to increase accessibility with automatic-captions for IGTV.
- Somebody sound the alarm!!! 📢 Facebook is going to remove the 20% text rule that has often left ad ops and digital designers reaching for the bottle two seconds before a campaign is meant to go live.
New Features
- Amazon launches new luxury arm, ‘Luxury Stores’ with Oscar de la Renta. Access is invite only and customers will can use exclusive tools to replicate the experience of shopping in a luxury store IRL.
- YouTube release ‘Shorts’. It’s their rip-off of TikTok. Let’s just call it for what it is.
- Apple released a new service bundle; Apple One. The premium tier includes iCloud, Music, TV+, Arcade, News+ and Fitness+ and is only $29.95US a month. Not bhed. Where’s that FTC antitrust lawsuit at?
- Spotify finally releases Virtual Events — a tool for fans to find out when their favourite artist’s next virtual event is.
- Waze partners with Amazon, announces it’s first virtual event and upgrades it’s product with personalised recommendations based on user trips, real-time traffic and more.
Acquisition and Cash Money 💰
- Microsoft is going to acquire ZeniMax Media for $7.5bn and continue in its strategy to dominate cloud-gaming.
- The Chainsmokers have their own VC fund and just closed it with $35M in capital commitments. The band aims to fund startups that are beneficial to their young fanbase.
- Zwift, an online fitness platform for cycling, has just landed $450m in funding from the likes of Amazon Alexa, Permira and more. An interesting play as Peloton sales continue to increase, Apple announced its fitness bundle and Amazon announces its own ‘Prime Bike’.
September 15, 2020
Ok. It’s getting REAL!!! Is TikTok going to sell today? No way.
Will they get banned? No way.
And if they do, I’ll eat a McFlurry. It’s a win-win for all involved.
Watch this space.
Performance
- Twitter will now hide tweets that have been copy and pasted without alteration in a step to curb fake news
- Apple has announced that they will delay ad tracking changes that encourage users to switch off app tracking
- Pinterest make a change to their newsfeed algorithm to prioritise video and more relevant pins
- Facebook is now applying limits to the amount of ads that you can run from your Page as it continues to improve its ‘learning phase’ algorithm.
- TikTok launches its suite of Marketing Partners with a couple of heavy hitters and a model that looks like Facebook. Hrmmm.
New Features
- Facebook makes Rooms easier to find and launches customisable looks
- Facebook launches ‘Campus’ for college and university campus profiles that only show campus news, events and connections. Zuck will not let the kids leave. He simply will not.
- Snapchat continues to bring down those garden walls and announces that public user bios will be launched in coming months.
- Facebook slides into the ‘together mode’ behavior with ‘Watch Together’; a Messenger feature that lets users start a Room, select a show and watch it together. Creators can also create content for fans to watch in exclusive Rooms too.
- You can now pretty much make a movie on TikTok with the introduction of ‘Stitch’; a feature that lets you splice and edit content from other clips into your own.
Acquisition and Dat Cash Money 💰
- Apple takes a couple more giant steps into the recurring revenue model by bundling digital services to encourage users into a subscription.
- Airtable raises $185M alongside automation and low-code features to continue on the company’s mission of democratising data management through accessibility.
- Insert TikTok acquisition failure here.
September 3, 2020
Time is ticking for TikTok (sorry, absolutely not sorry) and the impending end to their existence in the US. The executive order date is looming and there is still no sale to a US operator.
Let’s be real though, China hasn’t been bullied into much in the past and I doubt that it’s going to start now. The app is expanding its local offices across the rest of the world to counteract the impact of losing its US audience.
So let’s forget about that and focus on the battlefield between the ACCC and Facebook. Shots have been fired! They. have. been. Fired. Facebook asserts that it will stop allowing publishers and Australians from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram.
Now I don’t know about any of y’all, but I’m excited at the prospect of living in a nation where the growth of information is from fake news. Now is a better time than ever for anti-vaxxers to take their rightful place as the prophets of the new world order.
Performance
- You’ve reached the end of the internet. Please reward yourself with an ad. Instagram finds new ad space at the end of the doom scroll.
- You can now choose from locations from a curated list in Google Ads to set up location extensions quicker.
New Features
- Snapchat climbs the garden wall and creates lenses specifically to use in TikTok. A clever way to get TikTokkers in the app.
- HBO Max partners with Pinterest to promote Selena Gomez’s show using the new Story Pins format.
- Watch Parties are now available on Twitch as the platform continues to make its mark outside of gaming.
- Microsoft releases a robust deepfake detector ahead of the US Election.
- Netflix levels up in the streaming service war and allows non-paying subscribers to view the first episode of some titles for free.
August 28, 2020
It’s been a big week for the Zuck with the launch of Shop on Facebook, amalgamating the VR and AR teams into the newly branded ‘Reality Labs’, and launching Horizons.
Part of me feels like I should be talking about the pending TikTok acquisition in the US, but frankly, I’m more interested in how Facebook and big tech are making moves to create worlds for us to live in online, literally.
Since starting Digi Drops in May, I’ve seen the moves toward e-commerce and the moves toward features that encourage multi-user participation. What I’m seeing now are the moves toward gamification, and bringing the interactive features of gaming into the learned behaviors of users on platform. It’s all coming together now like Mum’s Christmas trifle.
Virtual worlds is happening. And if it means I get to virtually live in a the house from Ex Machina whilst also hanging out in Melbourne IRL, then I’m into it.
Performance
- Google Search and Maps will now show up-to-date geolocation data on emergency areas after launching this tool for fires in Northern California.
- Facebook launches a new Shop tab to make it easier for people to search for business’ and discover new products to purchase within the app. With a slew of integrations (like Messenger and Live Streaming) — the takeover is real.
- Instagram makes finding business profiles easier by launching QR codes that consumers can use on any QR compatible camera.
New Features
- Snapchat is testing letting users share more content off the app. An interesting and democratic acquisition direction from Snap to increase their external reach and bring more users into the app.
- TikTok will unveil its first shoppable live stream this weekend furthering its position as a monetization platform for retail and ecommerce brands.
- Facebook Horizons has arrived! A new virtual world to create more experiences and connections as we become accustomed to this digitised life.
- Google is testing virtual business cards so that you can have more control over the information shows about you first in search results. Here’s hoping that someone clicks your business card over your 2008 Livejournal where you cried about the new tax on Vodka Cruisers.
Acquisition
- Apple is quietly expanding it’s camera software by acquiring Camerai, a specialist in AR and camera tech.
18 August, 2020
Google has launched a campaign to educate users about the harm to democracy and liberation of thought if the government requires them to meet new publishing requirements.
This comes at a very good time as we’ve just seen The Australian (one of the news outlets who will no doubt be profiting from the monopolisation of digital platforms), publish a racist cartoon and double down on their justification of it.
Get in the bin mates. Is this what we can look forward to on our feeds?
Maybe publishers should embrace the existential crisis of having to change their models and what they report on to be something that people actually want to read. Isn’t that a better solution?
Performance
- You can now limit who can reply to your Tweets so that people can feel more comfortable starting a conversation on Twitter
- TikTok made a bunch of policy updates to fight misinformation. Goodbye deepfakes, Hello fact checks
- Facebook updated their tech stack to improve Accessibility features
- Hammer home all of the downloads on Google Ads as the ‘maximise conversion’ optimisation is now available for apps
- Lead forms are now available on YouTube
Acquisition
- Music and gaming comes that little bit more closer with Warner Music acquiring social and gaming viral monitor, IMGN
- Tencent partners with Universal to drive global discovery of Chinese artists
New Features
- Paid Online Events are here. A huge feature release from Facebook for those who have been unable to monetise their live streams at scale
- Pinterest expands inclusive AR skin tone matching to Australia
- It looks like Instagram and Messenger DMs will be merging
- Messenger is now available as a site plugin. Good for responses, good for remarketing; win
- Square is testing a cash loans feature for users
- ClassPass will now let you hit up personal training sessions
11 August, 2020
Another week, another executive order from Trump against social media platforms that have hurt his feelings. We see you Donald. We hear you Donald. Goodbye Donald.
Out here, Australia gets to keep TikTok as we try to distance ourselves from the aggressive rhetoric and moves of the US against China. We’re keeping both nations in our friendship circle even though we can’t have them both over for a barbie and embrace one another at 2AM singing ‘The Horses’.
If only they knew that this is how true alliances are formed.
Performance
- Google highlights Black-owned businesses with new search result feature
- DV360 will now let you buy on audio inventory with audio creative
- Facebook Groups with admins now have the power to let brands into the sacred circle of trust with the Brand Partnerships feature
Acquisition
- Uber acquires Autocab as it makes moves to enable drivers to pick up trips outside of Uber’s service area. ie. Take business from local and independent service operators
- Twitch Prime relaunches as Prime Gaming as it continues to solidify Amazon as your one stop whole life provider
- Potential Acquisition — Trump issues Tencent with an executive order to ban TikTok and WeChat in the US…sort of. Unless a US company buys it.
New Features
- Twitter is getting serious about becoming a subscription service. Here’s a peek at some potential features they might roll out
- TikTok launches an app on Amazon Fire to feed the trend of casting mobile content onto TV screens
- Burberry partners with WeChat and opens its first ‘social retail’ store
- Instagram takes advantage of the surveillance capital crisis surrounding TikTok and launches Reels in 50 countries
4 August, 2020
Not a huge week for new feature roll outs as Big Tech focused on saying the right thing at the antitrust hearing (where it seems like the right thing to say is, “No. Not to my knowledge”. Note to self.)
We saw Amazon compared to drug dealers and Mark Zuckerberg dying a thousand times over when he was absolutely smoked by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.
But one thing I can say, “Yes. To my knowledge” to is that the hearing won’t change much because Congress is notoriously slow and too fragmented to put any clear regulation in place. We’re more likely to see Bunnings file an antitrust movement against Amazon when it tries to takeover here and have the Australian community band together to cook one giant sausage that blocks all of Amazon’s data collection efforts.
Maybe I’ve gone too far. But of all the things 2020 has taught us, it’s that anything is possible.
Performance
- Facebook tests a new Page that replaces ‘Likes’ with ‘Followers’ and is easier for independent business owners to navigate
- You can now pin comments on Instagram to influence dialogue direction and manage harassment
- Instagram moves faster into e-commerce with a test to replace the Explore tab with a Shopping tab
Acquisition
- Uber buys Postmates in a bid to build Uber’s market share in the US food delivery category
New Features
- Spotify tests out shareable quote cards with the release of Michelle Obama’s first podcast episode
- Mmhmm launches beta testing as our lord and savior to Zoom fatigue
- Venmo moves from person to business so that independent business owners can own a more professional shopfront to handle transactions
- Snapchat launches shoppable VR with Gucci
- Tinder wants you to stay home and releases video calls. Will COVID kill hook-up culture?
- The Weeknd is coming to TikTok in an exclusive visual album live stream experience
- Facebook goes up against YouTube and starts dropping official music videos into the platform with live fan premier opportunities
28 July, 2020
Performance
- Hulu unveils a new ad unit that lets users directly interact with advertiser offers. Hello GatewayGo.
- You can now monetarily support Instagram creators with Badges on Instagram Live.
- Google opens up commission-free Buy on Google checkout process and third-party integrations for merchants to streamline their inventory management.
- Google adds some tasty image extension and countdown features into search results.
Acquisition
- Google won’t let sleeping dogs lie and acquires North; an AR glasses company.
New Features
- Google Maps introduces accessibility icons to help wheelchair users plan their journey.
- Snapchat Mini’s gets its first roll out with Headspace.
- Waze now let’s drivers update their mood to help tailor more friendly and useful journeys for users.
- It’s here. Spotify drops video podcasts to bring fans closer to creators.
- You can now turn your Messenger Room chat into a live broadcast. Open up the trivia answers for public debate. DISCUSS!
- Stop your family and friends from snooping on your chats with Messenger’s new App Lock feature.
- Instagram tests donation stickers to make peer-to-peer fundraising easier.
