The shortest month of the year came with a long list of updates in the digital marketing world. Here are all the news and updates that occurred in February, featuring the YouTube Premium subscriber milestone, new Google AI, and Meta’s revenue growth.
1. YouTube Premium hits 100 million
- YouTube announces that YouTube Music and Premium have hit and surpassed 100 million subscribers eight years after launch.
- YouTube has racked up 2 billion active users, but this achievement shows that only 5% of their users are willing to pay for the premium version, highlighting the shortcomings of monetising social media.
- The premium version offers users music streaming services, background play, and downloads free from ads.
Source – YouTube Blog
2. Google AI’s search ads
- Google AI introduces responsive search ads to provide relevant ads for varying customer needs.
- It features campaign-level headlines and descriptions, enabling you to associate up to three headlines and two descriptions and choose start and end dates for the campaigns.
- Google AI also shows your best-performing ads to deliver ads with more engagement to users.
Source – Google Ads
3. Meta reports growth in Q4 2023
- Meta released a full report of the fourth quarter and full year of 2023, recording a 25% increase in revenue and a 201% increase in net income.
- Facebook hits a whopping 2.11 billion daily users, a 6%-year-over-year increase.
- The app’s ad impressions increased by 21% year-over-year and 28% for the full year of 2023.
Source: Meta
4. Google introduces new Solutions templates
- Google Ads’ Solutions script templates help advertisers generate rapid reporting and efficient campaign management.
- The feature allows users to confirm link functionality, adjust campaign budgets automatically and receive notifications on account performance changes.
- It is available under the “Bulk Actions” option and then “Solutions” tab.
Source: Search Engine Land
5. Pinterest releases 2023 report
- Pinterest’s fourth quarter surged by 12% year over year to $981 million.
- Their global monthly active users increased by 11% to 498 million, with the revenue reaching $3,065 million.
- Brands are using the platform’s products to enhance their ad campaign performance which is reported to contribute to its revenue growth.
Source – Pinterest
6. Google suspends cookie deprecation
- Following the implementation of the UK Competition and Markets Authority Sandbox, Google suspends its plans to deprecate third-party cookies.
- Google’s Privacy Sandbox, the proposed replacement, is on hold until the second half of 2024.
- Feedbacks are allowed until February 27, 2024.
Source: Search Engine Land
7. Google renames Bard
- Google’s AI tool, Bard, has been renamed to Gemini, enabling texts, images, audio, video and code to create seamless conversations and functions.
- Gemini 1.5 Pro can reason through about 100,000 lines of code to provide useful solutions.
Source – Google DeepMind
8. Google updates Web Stories
- Google has updated the availability of its Web Stories feature to align the documentation with how the feature appears in the search engine.
- Google Extended now affects Google Extended which doesn’t influence Google searches.
- The crawl frequency for Dynamic Search Ads has been updated to reduce stress on sites.
Source – Google
9. ChatGPT Memory begins test
- ChatGPT is testing a new feature called ChatGPT Memory which allows the AI to remember details you tell it to improve conversations.
- A limited version of the feature was rolled out to a few ChatGPT free and Plus users to test its effectiveness.
- You can turn off this feature in the settings by clicking on Personalisation and then, the Memory menu.
Source: Open AI
10. GoDaddy launches AI tool
- GoDaddy launched a new AI domain registry service for small businesses called Airo.
- Airo can perform a range of functions including logo generation, website, email and social campaign creation.
- Businesses that use the tool are projected to record 28% more sales.
Source – Marketing Dive
11. Reddit partners with Google
- Reddit sold its data for $60 million per year to Google to allow users to get better search results on the search engine.
- Users can get forum links that deliver real, human conversations matching their Google searches.
Source: Social Media Today
12. Pinterest announces ad partnership with Google
- Google becomes the second third-party ad partner for Pinterest after Amazon in 2023.
- This collaboration allows Google ads to integrate into Pinterest so users can be directed to the advertiser’s website to make a purchase.
- Businesses stand the chance of getting increased conversion rates and return on investment.
Source: Search Engine Land
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