Digital Digest
Marketing Intelligence Weekly
Weekly updates on the digital marketing news you need to know, including data reform, AI, cookie deprecation and platform updates.
Data privacy
Privacy Act legislation reform brought forward to August
- Legislation to reform the Australian Privacy Act is being brought forward to August.
- In the lead up to Privacy Awareness Week, the Attorney-General, the Prime Minister, the Communications Minister and other Government members have announced that legislation to reform the Act would be brought forward to August.
- The IAB is currently in consultation with Government on the process.
- The IAB believes there are still a number of issues to work through.
AI in digital
Data privacy
Platforms
Google announces Gemini for Google Cloud
- Google has announced Gemini for Google Cloud.
- Gemini for Google Cloud is a new generation of AI assistants for developers, Google Cloud services, and applications.
- Gemini for Google Cloud includes:
- Software development with Gemini Code Assist
- Application lifecycle with Gemini Cloud Assist
- Gemini in Security
- Data analytics with Gemini in BigQuery
- Business intelligence with Gemini in Looker
- Gemini in Databases
- Read more.
Platforms
Google may show how many shoppers have bought from you
- In a recent email from Google Merchant Center to certain e-commerce stores, Google said it may start showing how many shoppers have purchased from your store.
- A new annotation may show up next to listings in Google stating how many shoppers have purchased from an e-commerce site.
- "We'll use your conversion data to create a customer history signal that highlights your online store's popularity to Google shoppers.”
- You can opt out but Google said it may "still use your data to power various annotations and features that benefit your performance, but will no longer display exact conversion figures.”
- Read more.
Platforms
Google launches Saved Comparisons feature in Analytics
- Google has launched a new ‘Saved Comparisons’ feature in Google Analytics 4.
- In Google Analytics 4, comparisons take the place of segments in Universal Analytics.
- The new feature allows users to compare quickly and efficiently side-by-side without having to recreate the comparison every time.
- “We’re launching saved comparisons to help you save time when comparing the user bases you care about. Learn how you can do that without recreating the comparison every time!”
- Read more.
AI in digital
OpenAI to show sources and links
- OpenAI has secured a deal with the Financial Times which could be good news for publishers
- “The Financial Times today announced a strategic partnership and licensing agreement with OpenAI, a leader in artificial intelligence research and deployment, to enhance ChatGPT with attributed content, help improve its models’ usefulness by incorporating FT journalism, and collaborate on developing new AI products and features for FT readers.“
- “Through the partnership, ChatGPT users will be able to see select attributed summaries, quotes and links to FT journalism in response to relevant queries.”
- Hopefully more licensed deals like this will come about and ChatGPT will show links to sources from many publishers moving forward.
- Read more.
AI in digital
Platforms
Google on AI and SEO being dead
- Following the recent SERPConf event, Google Search Analyst Gary Illyes shared insights on AI and SEO
- “AI is a tool that you can use and, just like with any tool, misuse. It's not in any way different from any other feature accessible to you. Use it as you like, liberally and innovatively, but perhaps ensure what you're doing with it creates something of high quality and helpful. We have enough crap on the internet already, no need to add to it. If you don't know if you're adding to it, ask a few times someone unbiased to review what you're doing.”
- “Every single time something changes on search engines there's a plethora of posts published about how SEO is dead now. Looking at the history of search engines and according to these posts, SEO has been dying since cca 2003. Hell of a slow death. Or, you know, it's not in fact dying, but changes with search engines.”
- Read more.
Platforms
Helpful content update recoveries could take months
- Google’s John Mueller has responded online to questions around why sites hit by the September 2023 Google helpful content update have not recovered now that the March 2024 core update has finished rolling out.
- Mueller stated that recovery is still possible, "some things take much longer to be reassessed (sometimes months, at the moment), and some bigger effects require another update cycle.”
- Read more.
Cookies
Data privacy
Platforms
Google delays third-party cookie deprecation
- Google is delaying the end to third-party cookies in Chrome.
- The announcement was made ahead of quarterly reports from Google and the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority.
- “We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem,” according to a statement Google posted on its website for the Privacy Sandbox. “It’s also critical that the CMA has sufficient time to review all evidence including results from industry tests, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June. Given both of these significant considerations, we will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4.”
- Google did not state a new timeline for cookie deprecation beyond hoping for early 2025.
- Our take: Google is not the only pony in the show. Third-party cookies have been deprecated elsewhere and we advise the industry to push forward with plans for third-party cookie deprecation.
- Read more.
Marketing by numbers
AU vs US digital advertising investment trends
- According to the IAB Australia 2023 Digital Advertising Investment Trends AU vs US report, while growth rates were similar in 2021 and 2022, growth in 2020 and 2023 was significantly less in Australia than the US market.
- The total market investment change from 2022 to 2023 in Australia was just 3.7% while the US saw 7.3% growth.
- However search, video and audio saw a higher percentage growth in Australia than in the US market across 2023.
- Display/native/infeed and classifieds are down significantly in AU.
- Digital video investment is following similar patterns in Australia and the US with comparable share of the total digital ad market (25.6% and 23.2% respectively).
- Unfortunately we cannot share the report from IAB here, however please reach out if you'd like more information.
Platforms
Google March 2024 Core Update finished rolling out
- The Google March 2024 core update has finally finished rolling out as of April 19.
- The core update took 45 days in total to roll out.
- Google said this helped reduce low-quality and unoriginal content in search results by 45%, which is up from their estimate of 40%.
- Read more.
Platforms
“New operating reality” at Google
- Google’s SVP overseeing Search, Prabhakar Raghavan, recently warned employees that the company’s search division faces a “new operating reality” with fewer resources, according to a CNBC report.
- Recent quarters have seen slower than expected growth across search queries and engagement, leading Raghavan to consider shortened project deadlines.
- “People come to us because we are trusted. They may have a new gizmo out there that people like to play with, but they still come to Google to verify what they see there because it is the trusted source, and it becomes more critical in this era of generative AI.”
- Read more.
Platforms
REMINDER: Google Analytics data will be deleted July 1
- Google Analytics historical data will be deleted come July 1.
- Ensure you have downloaded your historical data before then or it will be gone forever.
- Make sure you download your historical data correctly or you will lose it.
- Read more.
