Digital Marketing Tools To Look For In 2021

Marketing has always been about making the right connections with the right people at the right moment. That means you need to find your audience where they already spend their time: online. So, here comes digital marketing, which refers to any form of marketing that takes place online.

Marketing using online platforms is becoming the preferred marketing method to promote your products and services in the technology-driven world of today. Hence, the present digital environment demands our knowledge of various digital marketing tools to promote our companies and services in the right way.

Have you ever thought about improving your business on the digital platform but found out that you have limited knowledge about digital marketing tools? It’s not easy to find out the best tools because there are so many options available. Choosing the wrong one may affect your business and changing tools is inconvenient and cumbersome.

Why do we need Digital Marketing Tools?

No two companies are the same, so it’s important to do your research so you can choose the most appropriate tool for the way you do business. Thousands of tools are available to organizations and their digital marketers. And there’s a lot to consider when evaluating the tools you’ll use, including ease of use, budget, performance, depth of delivery, reach, recommendations, and others.

Social networking may be the most common digital outlet for digital marketing strategy, but that doesn’t mean it’s the most effective. You need to choose the right approach for your own needs–and the tools you need to carry out that strategy. And then you’ll want to measure those results to ensure you’re on the right path.

Top Digital Marketing Tools in 2021

Let’s look at some of the most valuable digital marketing tools for businesses today, based on the type of services they support. The tools mentioned below will give you a heads-up on what the winning teams are using.

Data & Analytics

Google Analytics

For any digital marketer who seeks to scale his company, Google Analytics is a must. This free tool shows you all the relevant website output statistics, including where your website traffic is coming from, what they’re doing on your website, what pages they love, and more.

Pros

Google Analytics can measure traffic from various multimedia formats such as blogs, smartphone apps, posters, or anything that is connected to the internet.
You can add a Google Analytics account through the Google Ads account, making your digital ads more effective.
Data can be collected from various networks and databases, such as trade links, market benchmarks, etc.
You can create custom objectives and track e-commerce sites through this tool.

Cons

You must “learn the language” to understand the complexities of Google Analytics, and it can feel complicated.
The right resource is, unfortunately, frequently difficult to find online, and directions for those without an interim analysis experience can be frustrating, time-consuming, or daunting.
Overwhelming feeling with many dashboards, user views, and analytics.
If you experience heavy page traffic may, you may need to switch to a paid version that is quite costly (though most small and growing businesses can do quite a lot with the free version).

Pricing

There are two pricing tiers for Google Analytics:

Freemium: Free
Premium: $150,000 per year

Sumo

The Easiest Way To Check Your Google Analytics Stats

Sumo, formerly known as SumoMe, provides a range of website enhancement software. You can see if users are reading your blog with its heat maps tool, and check out precisely where people are clicking so you can adjust the call-to-action buttons, news, pictures, etc. for an even better ROI. It’s easy to find information through Sumo’s content analysis application.

Pros

A large range of software to replace some individual plugins of WordPress.
The intuitive user interface is incredibly convenient.
Setup and monitor info to assist you in obtaining the best results.
The premium version includes the latest software and resources from third parties.

Cons

The visitor’s brand contains the free edition.
Premium versions are fairly costly.

Pricing

There are five pricing for Sumo:

Basic: Free
Small: $29 per month
Medium: $59 per month
Large: $119 per month
Sumo: Unlimited (find out more on the Sumo website)

Blog Content and SEO

UberSuggest

UberSuggest can help you come up with new content topics and keywords with a simple “suggest” option. Simply type in an idea or keyword to see a list of similar outcomes. You can then pick either of the results to broaden the scope, check Google trends, or search Google’s keyword.

Pros

A free app having no restrictions like most software with the keyword.
Open to everyone on the Internet.
Offers a lot of new ideas about keywords and content topics.
It uses location-based data that is easy to scan for through SEO.
It gives you fast results and simplified metrics.

Cons

You may find that you’re restricted in identifying specific target audiences. Results linked to particular niche markets can be difficult to identify.
There is no dedicated mobile app for Ubersuggest.

Pricing

There are two pricing for Ubersuggest:

Monthly: $2.5 per month
Yearly: $45 per year

Google Keyword Planner

This free tool will help you find keyword and ad ideas, look at the performance of a list of keywords, generate new key phrases by multiplying several keyword lists together and select competitive bids and budgets for your promotions.

Pros

It is easy to use with a simple step-by-step process.
It lets you export data easily and quickly.
It has a unique feature allowing you to multiply two or more keyword lists to generate a list of new, special keyword combinations.
It has hundreds of possible alternatives to the keywords entered by the user.
This tool helps you to apply filters based on area, right down to the city, as well as language.

Cons

Google Keyword Planner would not propose long-term keywords for most types.
This tool does not seem to have a negative keyword list for those that use one.

Pricing

This is a free tool where the only requirement is your Google account or Gmail account credentials.

SEMrush

SEMrush comes with a slew of digital marketing resources that will assist all paying search experts and SEOs in tracking and improving their search rankings. One of the most useful features of SEMrush is the ability to watch your rivals. You will use the tools to pull backlinks from your competitors, monitor their ranking fluctuations, and do a complete comparative analysis.

Pros

It will show you how your website is doing in the search engine results with your chosen keywords.
It even gives you details about your competitors’ websites. You can take advantage of the information by applying it to your own website.
You can fully schedule, organize, and launch PPC campaigns with SEMrush at your disposal.
It gives you all the information you need about each keyword in your niche. This covers the term’s search rate, patterns, and ad copy.

Cons

Its backlink and keyword index are not the best in the market.
Its PPC keyword research tool is not user-friendly.
Most of the information present is in industry jargon rather than in plain language.
SEMRush’s recommendations can give you a false sense of confidence and precision if you don’t have a professional marketer to translate your results.

Pricing

There are three pricing for SEMrush:

Pro: $99.95 per month
Guru: $199.95 per month
Business: $399.95 per month

Email Automation

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is a comprehensive marketing tool that allows you to communicate with your subscribers and customers seamlessly and automatically. You can set up subscription forms and send email newsletters and automated email sequences to stay in front of your audience regularly–right in their inboxes. Some pricing tiers offer a full customer relationship management system, landing pages, lead scoring, and more.

Pros

Integration with over 800 other tools you may already be using
Over 500 automation recipes so you can literally get your automation going in minutes
It’s incredibly easy to upgrade or downgrade your services to meet your current needs
Predictive sending is available for some tiers, so you can send your emails when your audience is in their inbox–rather than in the middle of the night

Cons

New users have found it to be difficult to navigate
There’s no free option
The price can get expensive if you have a large list

Pricing

Lite: $9 a month, paid yearly, for 500 contacts
Plus: $49 a month, paid yearly, for 500 contacts
Professional: $129 a month, paid yearly, for 500 contacts
Enterprise: $229 a month, paid yearly, for 500 contacts

HubSpot

HubSpot, a well-known provider of CRM and inbound marketing tools, recently introduced an email marketing service. HubSpot Email Marketing is simple to use, has high deliverability, and is fully compatible with all other HubSpot goods, including the free-forever CRM and hundreds of other common marketing resources.

Pros

HubSpot offers multi-blog hosting, which can all be handled from a single location.
The HubSpot CMS has a WordPress “blog importer.” This platform makes it easy to convert your WordPress blog to HubSpot.
There is an SEO checklist when you build a blog using HubSpot’s in-line editor. This checklist outlines what needs to be streamlined in order for the blog to score as high as possible.
The blog comments dashboard allows advertisers more leverage of their comments by allowing them to be filtered and moderated before they are uploaded.

Cons

You cannot update your blog using the staging tool; instead, you must replace the blog templates in your settings.
While HubSpot allows you to convert content into another language, this option is only available for limited website pages and landing pages.
The tags will be applied to all blogs. This is fine if you only have one blog in a single language, but if you have two, three, or even four blogs, the tags would not translate well.

Pricing

HubSpot has four pricings:

Free
Starter: $45 per month
Professional: $800 per month
Enterprise: $3,200 per month

Social Media Marketing

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is used by many social media marketing agencies to plan and analyze social media behavior and results across various platforms–and it works great for organizations that are managing their own social media too. Marketing teams can quickly produce and schedule quality social media content to attract their target audiences. Users can respond to comments right in the tool, research new trends, and watch social conversations and brand mentions.

Pros

It helps in monitoring multiple social media streams all in one place.
You can schedule posts weeks in advance, so you can set it and forget it.
It has a dashboard for social analytics that provides customized insights.
It has a one-of-a-kind app directory with over 100 applications, including YouTube, Salesforce, Google Drive, and SoundCloud.

Cons

Given the amount of interaction taking place within any one tab, seeing too many social networks and accounts shown in the interface can be overwhelming.
It’s not as intuitive and simple as other social media marketing tools.

Pricing

There are four pricing for Hootsuite:

Professional: $29 per month
Team: $129 per month
Business: $599 per month
Enterprise: Custom pricing according to services

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is another social media scheduling tool that allows you to schedule posts well in advance. It offers analytics that inform you about your content distribution rates, level of interest per message, use, and other considerations so you can figure out how often you should share.

Pros

The dashboard is well-organized, with a menu of six different items that will assist you with any current social media campaign that you might be undertaking.
Sprout Social allows you to track posts from all of your social media pages in one convenient location.
The Listening feature shows you audience trends in a unique format.
It is simple and easy to publish posts on a regular basis with this tool.

Cons

Sprout Social’s analytics don’t track the same way the social media platforms track, making it difficult to rely solely on its reports.
In the scheduling tool, links don’t always format well.
It has a limited number of social media networks including Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Pricing

It has three pricing:

Standard: $99 per month
Professional: $149 per month
Advanced: $249 per month

Visual Design

Klipfolio

Klipfolio is a fantastic platform for data visualization and automation. It offers dashboards to help consumers monitor the success of their marketing strategies. Klipfolio connects to a wide variety of data sources through integrated APIs – and if there isn’t an API for a data source, it’s simple to create one within the platform. It also has a useful feature that allows you to send data as an attachment via email.

Pros

It integrates with numerous data sources and has great documentation.
Dashboards with shared/permalink URLs are ideal for allowing private access without needing a password.
Klipfolio strikes a good balance between ease of use and efficient data crunching and visualization capabilities.
You will have complete control over who can access which data with the help of its team permissions.
It has a responsive support staff to resolve the issues immediately.

Cons

Klipfolio is a true dashboard solution for displaying key performance indicators (KPIs). It is not for you if you need a monitoring solution to investigate and drill further into datasets.
Setting up a new client for a dashboard can be a time-consuming task.
For people who are new to Excel, SQL, and database design, there is a slightly steep learning curve.

Pricing

Klipfolio has the following pricing plans:

Free Trial
Starter: $29 per month
Publish: $49 per month
Grow: $99 per month
Team: $199 per month

Landing Pages

LeadPages

LeadPages makes it easy to build mobile-friendly landing pages, offer lead magnets, gather email addresses, and link your landing page to your email marketing program. Leadpages is one of the most competent landing page builders on the market, allowing you to quickly build a professional-looking landing page that’s easy to update to find the perfect formula for conversions.

Pros

It is easy to create landing pages by using a basic drag and drop builder.
Using the same tool, you can even create popups and caution bars.
Facilitation is provided at no cost. Leadpages will ensure that the position landing page loads quickly and switches over more effectively.

Cons

It can be difficult to switch widgets around and position them exactly where you like them while customizing them.
You’ll need to upgrade to a higher plan to get all the features you might need.
Standard models are not editable. You are unable to add new content or rearrange existing content.

Pricing

After a 14-days free trial of the tool, Leadpages offers three pricing plans divided into two categories, i.e., monthly and annually:

Monthly:-

Standard: $37 per month
Pro: $79 per month
Advanced: $321 per month

Annually:-

Standard: $300 per year ($25 per month)
Pro: $576 per year ($48 per month)
Advanced: $2388 per year ($199 per month)

Content Curation

Feedly

Feedly helps you to collect content from all over the web (not just RSS feeds) and organize it into a management dashboard. One of Feedly’s many features is the ability to browse for websites, podcasts, and even keyword search results, then follow these news outlets, which will appear in Feedly any time new content is written. Essentially it becomes your “read later” list based on your preferences.

Pros

Blogs can be categorized into folders.
Your sources can be divided into various “feeds.”
You can easily customize the layout as per your requirement with lots of options.
When you’re in full articles mode, you can scroll down and it’ll mark the post as read for you. It’s also simple to mark the article as “keep unread.”

Cons

If you have a lot of interests, your feed can quickly get cluttered.
Email updates aren’t a free service so you’ll have to upgrade if you want your updates delivered to your inbox.
Many features are only available to paying users.

Pricing

All prices are based on annual billing.

Pro – $6 a month
Pro+ – $8.25 a month
Business – $18 a month
Enterprise (check the website)

Project Management

Trello

Trello is a wildly popular project management tool that can be quickly managed on your computer or mobile device. You can build new assignments, add collaborators, delegate tasks, and set work deadlines in this easy-to-use framework. Trello is free to use, but it also has premium versions for more features.

Pros

The update system is instantaneous; upgrades will not be delayed if several participants are operating on tasks at the same time.
Trello is very easy to use, and the whole process of creating cards and boards is extremely user-friendly.
It is mobile-friendly and keeps you updated on the go with its push notifications.

Cons

While Trello may carry a large number of attachments, if you are a gold member, you are restricted to 250MB per upload and if you are a basic member, you are only allowed to upload 10MB per upload.
When you’ve written and saved a comment, you’ll only be able to write a new one rather than edit the old one.

Pricing

Trello has three pricing plans:

Free
Business Class: $12.50 per month
Enterprise: $17.59 per month

It’s time to bring the right digital marketing solutions for 2021 to work for your company and your customers, now that you know what they are.

The future of business growth is in digital marketing. It’s one of the best ways to get in front of new audiences and stay there when done right. And to do it right, you truly need the best tools. Do your research to find the tools that provide the right solutions for your business. And when in doubt, hire a professional to help you make that decision. For more such insightful content, explore our blog here!

Samien Kidwai

Hailing from an academic background, I have been an Assistant Professor in Mass Communication with an additional decade of experience in creative writing. I’m passionate about music and theatre with an inclination towards movies. Being an avid reader, I love to scribble my thoughts and ideas when I’m not running behind my 8 year old daughter.

Digital Monetization Update – April 7, 2022

1. GroupM Benchmarks AI-Enabled Ad Spending At $370B (MediaPost) According to a new proprietary projection provided by GroupM, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled media will account for $370 billion in ad spending this year, representing the majority of all ad sales. By 2032, AI-enabled media ad spending is expected to exceed $1.3 trillion, accounting for more than 90% of all ad spending. 2. Ad-Tech Firms Struggle To Stand Out As Creator Economy Booms (AdWeek) As the creative economy grows, more firms are searching for creators to help them promote their products. In fact, the percentage of marketers adopting influencer marketing is expected to climb to 72.5% in 2022, up from 55.4% in 2019. However, not all creator marketing platforms are the same. 3. Twitter Tests 3 New Ad Formats For Users And Advertisers (MediaPost) Twitter is testing three new ad types to simplify and improve the efficacy of its advertising suite. Twitter expects that the new formats will provide advertisers more creative and inventive alternatives while giving consumers a more engaging experience. Pilot testing has started for Interactive Text, Product Explorer, and Collection Ads. 4. Tech Leaders Get Nightmares With Europe’s New Digital Rules (Axios) Tech CEOs fear that Europe’s new competition laws for Big Tech firms would make their services less secure and splintered. Last month, European authorities reached a near-final agreement on the Digital Markets Act, compelling Google, Apple, Meta, and Amazon to reorganize their operations after being labeled “gatekeepers.” 5. Bloomberg Looks To Subscription Revenue For Stability Not Ads (AdExchanger) Since instituting a paywall three and a half years ago, Bloomberg’s subscription base has grown to almost 370,000, with nearly 100,000 signing up in 2021 alone. That was enough to increase the publisher’s subscription income by 58% in 2021 over 2020. Bloomberg’s subscription revenue is currently in the nine figures. 6. MailChimp Was Breached And Hundreds Of Accounts Accessed (TechCrunch) Mailchimp, the world’s largest email marketing provider, has revealed a data breach after rogue hackers accessed an internal corporate tool to obtain access to client accounts. According to the organization, hackers visited around 300 Mailchimp accounts and successfully extracted audience data from 102 of them. 7. iHeartMedia Building New NFT Network For Podcasts (Axios) According to officials, iHeartMedia, the parent company of iHeartRadio, is investing several hundred thousand dollars in acquiring the rights to about a dozen NFTs in order to launch a new NFT-based podcast network. It is one of the first big media brands to launch a podcast slate of characters and voices from various NFT collections. 8. Dropbox Shop Launches In Open Beta To Sell Digital Content (TechCrunch) Dropbox Shop is now in open beta, bringing fresh upgrades to the platform as well as tipping possibilities. You may now personalize your shop and URLs, as well as integrate HTML codes. Last year, Dropbox Shop went into private testing, allowing users to create product listings for digital content.
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Digital Monetization Update – March 31, 2022

1. Tumblr Expands Tip Jar Feature To Enable Blog-Level Tipping (TechCrunch) Tumblr is adding blog-level tipping to its tip jar feature in its iOS and web apps. The firm launched its tip jar function, which allows users to put tips on postings. Users will be able to leave tips on blogs as part of this extension. The extension will help creators by allowing tipping at the blog level without attaching the tip to a single post. 2. Bonsai Raises $21M To Scale Embedded Commerce Solution (MediaPost) Bonsai, the Toronto-based ecommerce platform used by BuzzFeed, Vox Media, Refinery 29, and others, announced a $21 million Series A round headed by Framework Venture Partners, also located in Toronto. The financial proceeds will be used to strengthen existing product capabilities and explore new verticals. 3. Brands And Creators’ Hope Rises With Instagram’s Chronological Feed (AdAge) Instagram’s new chronological feed is giving the Meta-owned app’s creators and brands fresh hope. And the chronological feed, which allows users to view all posts from accounts they follow rather than just those chosen by an algorithm, might lead to more real-time promotion on Instagram during key events like the Oscars. 4. Google Intros New Tools As Retailers Eye Cookieless Future (AdExchanger) On Monday, Google introduced a new suite of shopper marketing tools. Google also revealed that Smart Shopping campaigns, which are linked to a merchant’s inventory catalog, will be incorporated into its new Performance Max offering by the end of the year. A slew of new features is aimed at increasing Google’s shopper conversion rate. 5. Ad Industry’s Attempt To Rewrite The Identity Narrative (DigiDay) The future of ad tech remains a scrappy work in progress until there is a clearer date on the demise of granular tracking. The industry is speeding toward a time when marketers will have to rely on methods to do what third-party cookies could not. More advertisers are now enlisting the help of agencies to negotiate third-party data transactions. 6. Apple Now Allows ‘Reader’ Apps To Add Link To Their Own Sites (Variety) Digital media providers with “reader” apps in Apple’s App Store, such as Netflix and Spotify, will now be able to include links in their iOS apps to let customers sign up for and manage accounts on the firms’ own websites. Apple has revised its App Store standards to allow makers of reader apps to seek access to the “External Link Account Entitlement.” 7. Facebook Small Advertisers Win Class-Action Status In Fraud Suit (AdAge) A judge widened the pool of plaintiffs in a case accusing Facebook of overstating its ad viewership to include more than 2 million small ad buyers. A San Francisco federal court ruled that the complaint can proceed as a class action on behalf of small company owners and people who bought ads on Facebook or Instagram since August 15, 2014. 8. InMobi Launches Meson Reshaping Mobile Mediation Market (AdTechDaily) InMobi, a major provider of content, monetization, and marketing solutions launched Meson, an independent SaaS mediation platform designed to allow publishers white label it as an in-house solution. Publishers will now completely own and manage their data, control every part of their monetization, user experience, and user acquisition links.
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Digital Monetization Update – March 24, 2022

1. Meta Consolidates ML-Powered Ad Offerings Into One Portfolio (AdExchanger) Meta is consolidating all of its automated ad offerings under one roof. Meta refers to its new suite as Meta Advantage, which is actually a home for Meta’s existing automated tools, such as lookalike expansion, automated app advertisements, and automatic placements, as well as a potential home for more automated goods in development. 2. Apple Announces New Podcasts Connect Creator Features (TechCrunch) Apple Podcasts is introducing new features to encourage podcasters to charge listeners for premium subscriptions. Uploading MP3 files as subscriber-only audio and personalized subscription banners are among the features. One of those features will show podcasters how many people follow them on Apple Podcasts in their own analytics dashboard. 3. Nielsen Rejects $9B Acquisition Offer From Private Equity Group (AdAge) Nielsen rejected a private equity consortium’s takeover deal, stating that it “significantly” undervalued the firm. The plan valued the firm at $25.40 per share, which the company said does not “adequately compensate shareholders for Nielsen’s growth prospects.” Windacre Partnership, company’s major shareholder, backed the offer’s rejection. 4. Microsoft, Okta Investigates Attacks By Lapsus$ Hacking Group (Engadget) Microsoft and Okta, an identity authentication firm, are both looking into potential attacks carried out by the South American hacking organization Lapsus$. The group claims to have stolen source code from a server for Bing, Cortana, and internal Microsoft projects. Lapsus$ uploaded a torrent containing 37GB of source code for around 250 projects. 5. Everyone Wants Less To Mean More Now In Ad Tech (DigiDay) When it comes to programmatic advertising, the ad business aims to make a little go a long way. GroupM and The Trade Desk are at the front of this shift. Both have recently revived efforts to assist marketers in purchasing more premium ad space. Pubmatic is following in the footsteps of Omnicom, Havas, Unilever, Diageo, and Nestle, to mention a few. 6. NBCU Sets New Ad Tech Partners (Axios) NBCU has been one of the more outspoken legacy media firms in its efforts to modify how television viewership is measured and how advertising is purchased and sold against it. On Tuesday, NBCUniversal announced an extended partnership with iSpot.tv as well as a slew of new ad tech measurement partners. 7. Get More Customer Engagement With Google’s Business Messages (AdWeek) It is time to talk to the search giant about one’s local marketing strategy. Customer loyalty must be nurtured, retained, and earned via exceptional customer service. There is also a significant victory for marketers. Customers that are loyal to a firm generate greater money. Offering excellent customer service is one approach to earn client loyalty. 8. Xandr Partners With LiveIntent For New Data & Identity Offerings (RapidTV) LiveIntent and Xandr are bringing new data and identity services to market by expanding their partnership from server-side platform (SSP) partners to cooperation across data and identity. The partnership will allow both to help brands reach premium audiences throughout the open web, and drive growth through a new email-identity-based channel.
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Digital Monetization Update – March 17, 2022

1. 4A’s Advising Members To Deal With Unethical Tech Players (DigiDay) The great majority of digital display advertising will be executed next year, accounting for 91% of revenue. That implies audits, as marketers want reassurance that a media dollar spent is a dollar invested in an industry where ‘accountability’ is a near-constant catchphrase from every given conference stage. 2. Pubfinity Has Big Cookieless Plans For In-Game Ads (AdExchanger) Pubfinity Founder and CEO Sam Kaufmann identified an opportunity to support in-game advertising when Microsoft decided to cease its ad monetization SDK for games in its app store in 2020. He decided to create Pubfinity as an SSP for game creators like himself who were unable to monetize their non-cookie-based Windows programs. 3. Google Buys Micro LED Startup Raxium To Make AR Displays (TheInformation) Google has agreed to buy Raxium, a five-year-old startup that creates small light-emitting diodes for screens used in augmented and mixed reality devices. Google intends to possess more of the physical components required to make such gadgets. It has spent more than a decade developing its own headgear, with limited success. 4. Meta Will Add Parental Supervision Features To Instagram (AdAge) Meta has announced additional parental monitoring options on Instagram. The new tools are part of a larger effort to safeguard teens. This pledge came after a whistleblower testified in October that Facebook has placed business over the well-being of its users, particularly teenagers. 5. Google Analytics To Stop Logging IP Addresses (AdExchanger) Google Analytics will undergo significant adjustments. All analytics users will migrate to Google Analytics 4 (GA4), which supports both online and app data collecting and has built-in privacy safeguards, as well as a slew of Google-wide connections, including metrics and capabilities connected to YouTube, Search, and the Google Cloud Platform. 6. Russia Bans Instagram, Taking 80M Users Offline (TheVerge) Russia’s promised ban on Instagram is now into effect, making it unavailable to a majority of the country’s population. The government had announced plans to ban Instagram, in reaction to Meta’s decision to allow Facebook and Instagram users in various countries to call for violence against Russian soldiers during the nation’s invasion of Ukraine. 7. War Makes Social Media An Ethical Minefield (Axios) Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is posing new challenges for social media policymakers, not just in terms of limiting the spread of misinformation, but also in dealing with vivid pictures of bloodshed. War heightens the human need to share powerful photos, but it also leaves users with difficult choices and hazards in the social media desert. 8. Amazon Wins EU Approval For Its $8.45B MGM Deal (Engadget) Amazon won unconditional approval from the European Union for its plan to buy the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie company for $8.45 billion. The EU Commission’s antitrust regulators decided that the firms had low overlap and that the combination would not significantly diminish competition in the theatrical picture and audio-visual content markets.
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Digital Monetization Update – March 10, 2022

1. Amazon Suspends Access To Prime Video For Customers In Russia (Variety) Amazon has joined the growing list of companies that have halted operations in Russia as a result of the country’s aggressive aggression on Ukraine. Given “the ongoing situation in Russia and Ukraine,” the eCommerce giant announced that consumers in Russia would no longer be able to access Prime Video. 2. Gannet Spoofed Advertisers For Nine Months (MediaPost) Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and many other news media sites, gave false information to advertisers for nine months, misrepresenting where billions of adverts were displayed. Advertisers assumed they were purchasing an ad on one Gannett site, but they were actually purchasing space on another. 3. Twitter Adds New Shopping Features Amid Social ECommerce Push (TechCrunch) Twitter is testing a new way to show tweets that link to eCommerce product pages, such as those on a Shopify store. The firm is experimenting with tweets that contain a large “Store” button and incorporate product data right into the tweet itself, including the product name, shop name, and product pricing, using a new Twitter card format. 4. LimeWire To Make Comeback As An NFT Marketplace (Bloomberg) A pair of serial entrepreneurs from Austria have purchased the rights to the defunct music network LimeWire, with ambitions to rebrand it for the next generation of internet users by selling NFTs tied to music, material, and artwork. LimeWire, one of the first web-based music consumption platforms known for illegal downloads, was shut down in 2010. 5. Twitter To Launch Tor Service For More Secure & Private Tweeting (TheVerge) Twitter is introducing a Tor onion service version of its site, optimizing it for the privacy-protecting and censorship-eluding network. Software engineer Alec Muffett shared the news on Twitter calling it “possibly the most important and long-awaited tweet that I’ve ever composed.” Tor has also been added to Twitter’s list of supported browsers. 6. Britain To Force Big Tech To Combat Online Scams (Reuters) After appeals from regulators and consumer groups for a tougher crackdown on scams, the UK will force Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other online platforms to block paid-for false ads. The proposed law on combating online harms would force huge platforms to tighten their security against those who steal personal data or breach into bank accounts. 7. Google To Acquire Cyber Defense Company Mandiant For $5.4B (MediaPost) Google intends to buy Mandiant, a cyber protection and response firm, in an all-cash deal for $5.4 billion. The deal will address the current cybersecurity concerns that companies face. The integration will help firms to detect and respond quickly to threats, as well as analyze and automate threat information to ensure that their assets are protected. 8. Amazon To Secure Unconditional EU Approval For $8.5B MGM Buy (Reuters) According to sources familiar with the case, Amazon is anticipated to gain unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM, a move that would increase competition with streaming competitors Netflix and Disney+. The merger would also help Amazon’s video streaming service by enticing customers to sign up for Amazon Prime.
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Digital Monetization Update – March 3, 2022

1. Ad Sector Urges Congress Not To Ban ‘Surveillance Advertising’ (MediaPost) The Interactive Advertising Bureau and other ad industry groups are asking Congress to oppose a bill that would ban most kinds of online behavioral targeting. The letter came on the same day the House members convened a hearing on a suite of bills aimed at tech companies, including the “Banning Surveillance Advertising Act,” proposed earlier this year. 2. Biden Calls For Children’s Online Privacy Protections (WSJ) In an effort to address what the White House calls a national mental health crisis, President Biden pressed Congress to pass new internet privacy safeguards for minors. According to a White House fact sheet, the president urges Congress to ban excessive data collecting on children and young people and targeted advertising intended against them. 3. BBC Studios Signs Content Deal With India’s Largest AVOD Service (Variety) BBC Studios, the BBC’s commercial arm, has signed a content contract with MX Player, India’s largest AVOD provider with a strong presence in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, and Pakistan. MX Player has 300 million monthly active users worldwide and has surpassed the one billion download mark. 4. Video Advertising Can Work For Pharma & Healthcare Brands (AdExchanger) The digital revolution of the pharma industry has boosted media spending on video. Vertical and video spending in the healthcare and pharma industries are predicted to rise by 11% and 19% year on year, respectively. Due to altering media consumption patterns, media buyers are testing various combinations to maintain exposure and engage key audiences. 5. Netflix Acquires Next Games To Build ‘World Class Games’ (TheVerge) Netflix has made a bid to purchase Next Games, the Finnish studio behind the mobile puzzle RPG Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales. The acquisition comes at a time when Netflix is integrating a mobile gaming service into its core subscription service. Netflix Games was released last year on iOS and Android, and it comprises a handful of mobile games. 6. iSpot Acquires Tunity, Analyzes Habits Of Out Of Home Audience (Variety) iSpot, the measurement company that figures prominently in NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia’s plans to offer alternatives to Nielsen in the sector’s looming “upfront” marketplace, may acquire Tunity, an analytics company that analyzes consumer viewing habits in public locations across the country, including restaurants, offices, bars, and hotels. 7. Facebook Shuts Down Its College Student-Only Social Network (Engadget) On March 10th, Meta will shut down Facebook’s Campus trial project. Facebook claimed in a message that college groups were the “best way” to support students. After the deadline, it will remove Campus profiles, posts, and other material. One may download the data before then, and Facebook will propose comparable school groups to assist the transfer. 8. CNN To Launch Its Streaming Service CNN+ This Spring (Reuters) CNN said that it will launch CNN+, a news and entertainment streaming service, in the spring at a subsidized membership price of $2.99 per month. CNN will give the special pricing to customers who join up during the first four weeks, taking on known rivals in the highly competitive market of streaming programming.
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Digital Monetization Update – February 24, 2022

1. Meta Doubles Down On Reels To Help Creators Monetize (AdAge) Meta’s Reels is getting a boost. Creators may now earn up to 55% of ad income from banner ads – a semi-transparent overlay at the bottom of a reel, and sticker ads – static images placed anywhere in the video. The rest of the money will go to Meta, which is similar to Facebook’s in-stream ad program in terms of revenue split. 2. Twitch Creates New Program To Pay Streamers More Reliably (TheVerge) Twitch is launching a new program called the Ad Incentive Program, which will give streamers a guaranteed minimum amount of ad income each month. Twitch will notify qualified affiliate or partner broadcasters of varied compensation based on the number of advertisements aired per hour and total hours streamed. 3. Skype Allows 911 Calls From Computers To Its Users In The US (TheVerge) Skype customers in the US can now make 911 calls from their home computers, and the company’s software can also reveal their location with emergency personnel if necessary. The United States is the newest country to receive Skype emergency service calling; earlier it was only accessible in Australia, Denmark, Finland, and the United Kingdom. 4. iHeartMedia Use Veritone’s Synthetic Voices To Translate Podcasts (Variety) iHeartMedia will use Veritone’s synthetic-voice technology to translate and produce podcasts in other languages to expand its podcast business beyond English-speaking listeners. Initially, iHeart hopes to employ Veritone’s artificial-intelligence technology to translate the iHeartPodcast Network’s most popular podcasts into Spanish. 5. Google Lets Cloud Users Identify Idle Workloads To Reduce Emissions (Axios) Google will provide new tools to assist its Cloud users conserve energy and cut emissions by allowing them to regulate energy usage from idle projects. The Carbon Sense suite was introduced by Google. It is a set of tools aimed at assisting businesses in quantifying, reporting, and reducing their emissions. 6. Netflix Will Invest $45M In French And European Movies (TheWrap) Netflix will invest €40 million ($45 million) each year on French and European films over a three-year period with France’s film guilds. The deal is a first between a global streamer and the French film industry. Approximately 4% of Netflix’s yearly income in France will now go toward supporting films created in France and Europe. 7. Meta To Build An AI-Powered Universal Speech Translator (Engadget) Mark Zuckerberg disclosed that Meta’s research division is working on a universal speech translation system that might improve users’ interactions with AI within the company’s digital universe. He said Facebook has worked hard to build technology that allows more people to use the internet and these efforts will extend to the Metaverse. 8. LinkedIn Announces Launch Of Its Own Podcast Network (TechCrunch) LinkedIn is expanding its podcasting efforts by launching a podcast network that will include in-house shows from the LinkedIn News team and programs from industry experts. The shows are aimed towards a professional audience. LinkedIn’s other offerings, like newsletters, live events, videos, and articles, are all linked to the podcast network.
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Digital Monetization Update – February 17, 2022

1. Google Has New Publisher Program For Post-Cookie Era (AdAge) In the post-cookie era, Google is launching Encrypted Signals for Publishers that allows websites to interact with online advertising identifiers in Google’s ad platform. Encrypted IDs, according to ad tech experts, might be a lifeline for publishers in programmatic advertising, which is how sites serve ads to users who do identify themselves. 2. Google Plans Privacy Changes, Promises Not To Be Disruptive (TheHill) To protect user privacy, Google has announced that it would begin deleting ad trackers from its Android operating system. The suggested changes include ultimately eliminating advertising ID, a unique identifier provided to each Android device that allows marketers to create customized profiles and offer targeted adverts. 3. Spotify Acquires Two Podcast Tech Firms Chartable And Podsights (TheVerge) Spotify has announced the acquisition of Chartable and Podsights, two of the most well-known podcast marketing and ad attribution firms. Podcasters and networks may utilize Podsights and Chartable to insert tags in their broadcasts that monitor who listened, if they heard an ad, and whether they took action after hearing it. 4. Twitter Lets Developers Add Labels To Bot Accounts (TechCrunch) Twitter announced a new label that would allow the service’s “good bots” to identify themselves. While the term “bot” has a bad connotation, Twitter observed that there were good bots that automatically sent out vital information. These “good bot” labels are now available to all automated account owners. 5. Discovery+ Ad-Lite Option To Launch In The UK And Ireland (CampaignUK) Following the introduction of the service in the United States, Discovery UK has announced an “Ad-lite” option for users in the United Kingdom and Ireland on its Discovery+ platform. The company claims to be the first subscription video-on-demand service in the UK, offering a lower membership rate in exchange for “limited” ad exposure. 6. India’s Biggest Short Video Platform: MX TakaTak Merge With Moj (Variety) MX TakaTak of Times Internet and Moj of ShareChat are merging to create India’s largest short-form video platform, in a country where TikTok remains banned. MX TakaTak-united Moj’s platform will have 100 million creators, over 300 million monthly active users, and nearly 250 billion monthly video views. The deal is worth $900 million in cash and stock. 7. Russia To Impose Advertising Ban On Foreign Tech Firms (Reuters) Russia warned it would begin enforcing advertising bans on huge international tech firms that do not have formal representation in the country by March, as Moscow seeks tighter control over the internet. Since July 2021, international social media firms with more than 500,000 daily users have been required by Russian law to open offices in Russia. 8. Canada Uses Emergency Act To Rein In ‘Freedom Convoy’ Crowdfunds (Engadget) After weeks of occupation paralyzing the nation’s capital, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act in response to the “Freedom Convoy” rallies. Trudeau said he will utilize the Act to quell the protests in many ways, including expanding Canada’s money-laundering rules to cover crowdfunding sites and bitcoin transactions.
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Digital Monetization Update – February 10, 2022

1. Tumblr Launches New Monetization Feature To Help Bloggers (TechCrunch) Tumblr Tips is Tumblr’s second effort at monetization, allowing bloggers to accept one-time payments from their fans. Tipping is available on the web, iOS, and Android; but Tumblr will not use Apple or Google’s own billing systems to allow mobile tips, and creators will not be charged additional fees of 30%. 2. Youth Spend More Time With Online Video, Gaming, Social Media (MediaPost) According to a new Hub Entertainment Research, young media consumers continue to spend more time with online video, gaming, and social media and less time with traditional screen-based TV shows and movies. Gaming (25%), online videos (19%), and social media (13%) account for nearly 60% of “screen-based leisure time” for 13- to 24-year-old viewers. 3. Peach Acquires Advalidation To Empower Online Publishers (AdTechDaily) Advalidation, a SaaS platform focused on enhancing ad experience and compliance, has been acquired by Peach, a global leader in video advertising workflow and delivery. It is a strategic effort to give online publishers and media owners more control over their ad workflows. 4. Yahoo’s Future As Private Company Backed By 900M Users (MediaPost) Yahoo’s content is available to more than 900 million global users monthly throughout Yahoo’s network of companies, providing it with a unique perspective on first-party data through products like search, connected television (CTV), and email. Last year, Yahoo’s demand-side platform (DSP) grew by 64% and supply-side platform grew by 40%. 5. Twitter Advancing The Conversation On Social Media (AdAge) Twitter is reimagining public conversation to be more healthy, useful, and accessible to all. It is adding the feature of proactive prompts, which will make users think twice about the language they use or read the articles they are posting carefully before sharing them. It is also removing misinformation from Twitter using labeled tweets. 6. WarnerMedia, Discovery Get US Nod To Create New Media Giant (TheVerge) According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the merger of Discovery and WarnerMedia has cleared an antitrust assessment by US government agencies. Once finalized, the merged company will be one of the largest media conglomerates in the US, combining Warner Bros.’ TV and film holdings with Discovery’s vast library of TV programs. 7. Gaming Is Antitrust Regulator’s Blind Spot (Axios) Gaming has become one of the world’s major media industries, but it has yet to endure the scrutiny that other tech sectors do over how its business methods harm competition, customers, or workers. The biggest video game firms are devouring the competition quicker than ever before, despite substantial opposition from antitrust regulators. 8. Meta’s Stock Slide Highlights Tech Antitrust Bill Criteria (Bloomberg) Meta’s sliding stock price looked to provide it a silver lining, exempting it from the harsh antitrust sanctions under consideration in the US House of Representatives. On Tuesday, Meta was valued at $599 billion, following a stock price drop that began when the firm announced that its flagship app’s daily active users had dropped for the first time.
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Digital Monetization Update – February 3, 2022

1. Google Ad Revenue Surges 33% In 2021 Q4 (MediaPost) In the fourth quarter of 2021, Google’s overall ad revenue increased by 33% to $61.2 billion, above analysts’ expectations by 4%. Search advertising increased by 35% to $43 billion, and Google’s YouTube increased by 25% to $8.6 billion. YouTube’s ad dollar increases in the quarter eclipsed Netflix’s $7.7 billion in subscription revenue. 2. Meta Shares Plunge 20% As It Feels Heat From Apple And TikTok (AdAge) Apple’s recent privacy reforms and competition from firms like TikTok, might start to wear on Meta’s ad platform. Meta’s ad revenue in the first quarter of this year will be between $27 billion and $29 billion, representing a 3% to 11% growth year over year. In after-hours trading, Meta shares fell more than 20% due to the bleak forecast. 3. Gaming Companies Are Merging With Ad Tech For Real Reasons (AdExchanger) In the year 2021, there was tremendous consolidation in the ad tech industry. The combination of gaming companies with ad tech platforms is one especially noticeable little trend that is gaining traction. The objective behind the change is to replace old cookie-based technology with first-party data, which is the future of advertising. 4. Spotify Declares Itself To Be A Creator Company Now (TheVerge) Spotify announced its quarterly numbers at a particularly difficult period for the firm. Its monthly active users increased by 18% year on year to 406 million, while paid customers increased to 180 million. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek aspires to achieve 50 million creators who will profit from the platform. 5. Regulators Find Europe’s Ad Tech Industry Acted Unlawfully (Engadget) Data protection experts from throughout the European Union have determined that Europe’s ad tech business has been functioning unlawfully for years. The judgment, issued by Belgium’s APD (.PDF) and backed by authorities throughout the EU, determined that the industry’s underpinning system breached a number of GDPR standards. 6. NortonLifeLock Launches Feature To Protect Social Media Accounts (MediaPost) Norton LifeLock, a software and cybersecurity firm, announced a new feature to help users better safeguard their social media accounts against harmful attacks. In 2021, the number of people on social media has risen to 4.48 billion, accounting for more than half of the world’s population (56.8%). As the user increases, so will the number of threats. 7. Big Tech Boycotts Tend To Be Short-Lived (Axios) Boycotts of tech services have become increasingly common as political division and dissatisfaction with misinformation have grown. However, evidence shows that boycotts and the media attention they generate are usually short-lived. Even the most virulent boycotts have little influence beyond a single news cycle on Big Tech giants.
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