This collection of social media marketing and new hire announcements is a compilation of the past week’s briefs from our daily Marketing Land newsletter. Click here to subscribe and get more news like this delivered to your inbox every morning.
Facebook Shorts: New Page admin tools, update on political ad policies and the Teen Vogue gaffe
A Page Management History feature for admins. Social media consultant Matt Navarra spotted a new Facebook Pages feature called Page Management History that shows all actions taken on a Page, when they were made and who made them. The feature is only visible to people who help manage your Page. Admins can click on the “Settings” tab at the top of the Page and then click “Page Management History” link in the left column. The history goes back to Nov. 1, 2019, and can be downloaded to your business history in Business Manager.
The latest iteration of Facebook’s political ad policies. Facebook has once again updated its stance on political ads. A new control will allow users to see fewer political and social issue ads in their Facebook and Instagram feeds. From their “Ad Preferences,” users can opt to see fewer ads on topics or interests. Facebook also updated search filters in Ad Library, making it possible to search for ads via exact phrases and adding several new filters to better analyze results (audience size, dates and regions reached).
Teen Vogue and Facebook’s sponsored content fiasco. In case you missed it, Teen Vogue published a story titled “How Facebook Is Helping Ensure the Integrity of the 2020 Election” without a byline — or a sponsored content label. Criticism flooded in, and Teen Vogue added a “sponsored editorial content” label and byline from a Teen Vogue contributor who said she knew nothing about it. Facebook denied – then acknowledged – it was part of a sponsored package. Teen Vogue eventually removed the piece and issued a statement: “We made a series of errors labeling this piece, and we apologize for any confusion this may have caused. We don’t take our audience’s trust for granted, and ultimately decided that the piece should be taken down entirely to avoid further confusion.”
Twitter is getting rid of its Audience Insights tab, Facebook reminds API advertisers of Special Ad Category
Twitter says goodbye to Audience Insights. Twitter has confirmed that it will be removing the Audience Insights tab from Twitter Analytics at the end of January. Audience Insights initially launched back in 2015 to give users more in-depth data about their followers, including demographic profiles, purchase behavior insights, mobile device usage stats and more. Now, when users go to view Insights in Twitter Analytics, they will see a notification that the feature is being removed. For now, Twitter has yet to provide further information about a possible tool alternative, though it’s worth noting that Twitter added a new ‘Conversation Insights’ feature to Media Studio in November last year.
Facebook’s gentle ad policies reminder. Last year, Facebook introduced a new policy for U.S.-based advertisers running ads in its “Special Ad Category,” which includes housing, employment or credit opportunities. By February 11, 2020, Facebook will require all U.S. advertisers to identify any active campaigns that belong to a Special Ad Category that were created before Dec. 4, 2019. Advertisers will also need to update targeting settings for such campaigns or the ads will no longer be allowed to run. By March 31, all U.S. businesses creating new ads in the housing, employment, or credit categories must specify the Special Ad Category and update targeting settings to comply with restrictions for Special Ad Category campaigns. All businesses creating ads that do not offer housing, employment, or credit opportunities must indicate “None” in the Special Ad Category field for all campaigns, or the ads will no longer be allowed to run.
Facebook takes action against manipulated media, YouTube issues a policy reminder
Facebook policies on manipulated media. Amid growing concerns around deepfake technology, Facebook is formally taking steps to address and combat manipulated media with a new policy framework. Facebook’s approach has several components, including investigating AI-generated content for deceptive behaviors and teaming up with government and industry partners to expose people behind malicious efforts. Going forward, Facebook will remove misleading manipulated media if it meets the following criteria: Media has been edited or synthesized (beyond adjustments for clarity or quality) in ways that aren’t apparent and could mislead someone into thinking that a subject said words that they did not actually say; or, that the media is driven by AI or machine learning technology that “merges, replaces or superimposes content onto a video” in an attempt to make the final video appear original.
YouTube’s data collection policy on kids’ content. On Monday, YouTube reminded creators that its new restrictions on data collection on kids’ videos is now coming into effect. The policy was initially announced in September, outlining measures that include removing data targeting from videos identified as being directed at children. In addition to adding a new audience setting in YouTube Studio to help creators indicate whether or not their content is made for kids, YouTube said it will “treat data from anyone watching children’s content on YouTube as coming from a child, regardless of the age of the user.” Essentially, YouTube will limit data collection on children’s content to the bare minimum needed to support “the operation of the service.” YouTube said it will also stop serving personalized ads on videos made for kids and will remove some of the features on kids’ content – such as comments and notifications.
Facebook adds new features to Instant Articles, Twitter rolls out a new research data hub
Facebook Instant Articles. Facebook has rolled out updates to Instant Articles for publishers, including a new recirculation and navigation surface, smarter CTA and ad placements, and support for Facebook Stories. Instant Articles first opened to publishers in 2016 to enable content to load quickly and be monetized within Facebook. The company said Monday Instant Articles have 3x faster load times and 30% more time spent than mobile web articles.
Twitter launches a research hub. Twitter has launched a new hub for academic researchers in an effort to provide more access to information and support around its APIs. The new page, dubbed “Twitter data for academic researchers,” is part of Twitter’s response based on feedback from the research community. The hub includes links to apply for a developer account to access Twitter’s different APIs with additional tools for researchers that cover data integration, analysis and hosting.
Snap buys the AI company it partnered with on Cameos, Facebook launches deepfake challenge
Snap acquires AI factory. Snapchat’s parent company, Snap, has quietly scooped up AI Factory – the computer vision startup that Snapchat collaborated with on its recently launched ‘Cameos’ video mode, according to a new report from TechCrunch. Snap confirmed the news but has not provided further comment on the financial terms, though Snap is believed to have closed the deal for around $166 million. While the details are still fuzzy, it’s likely that AI Factory will have a hand in expanding Snap’s AI investment with more interactive features and creative tools for Snapchat users. Stay tuned, marketers.
Facebook’s deepfake detection challenge. In mid-December, Facebook launched a Deepfake Detection Challenge (DFDC) – an open initiative aimed at accelerating the development of new technologies for detecting deepfakes and manipulated media. In partnership with leaders in the industry and in academia, Facebook launched the challenge at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), providing entrants with a unique data set of 100,000-plus videos specially created to aid research on deepfakes. The goal of the challenge is to spur researchers around the world to build innovative new technologies that can help detect deepfakes and manipulated media, and results will be scored for effectiveness. Facebook is offering $500,000 as a first-place prize. The challenge is ongoing through March 2020.
YouTube creators see drop in subscriber count. YouTube has confirmed that beginning around December 25 – 26, some YouTube Studio creators experienced a significant drop in subscribers and view counts, with one creator claiming 50% fewer views than average during the December timeframe. The video platform has since resolved the issue, citing a YouTube Analytics bug. Now, the subscriber count reflected in the YouTube Studio (on snapshot cards, reports, etc) has been corrected. According to YouTube, only the YouTube Studio dashboard was impacted by the issue, while channel pages remained unaffected.
