ROUND UP — Meta Location Targeting, Shopify Lay-Offs & More

Meta removes a series of location targeting options, Shopify lays off 20% of its workforce and sells its logistics arm, and AI continues its global takeover.

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META DITCHES LOCATION TARGETING OPTIONS

Meta has made a big change to its location-targeting settings. In the past, you could choose your default setting for targeting locations based on whether people lived in, or recently visited an area, or travelled to a location, etc. Meta has now updated its location-targeting settings for some accounts. The new default setting is “People who live in this location.” This change will affect all new campaigns and ad sets created after the update. In addition, Meta is planning to remove thousands of sensitive ad-targeting categories but will continue to use tools such as location targeting — no real surprise there.

SHOPIFY MAKES SOME DRASTIC CHANGES

Shopify has announced that it will be laying off 20% of its workforce. This is a dramatic number of employees, totalling close to 2,000 people who will soon be looking for work elsewhere. People are criticizing this change, as at the same time, Shopify also reported a 25% rise in total revenue to $1.5 billion for the first quarter of 2023.

Separately, Shopify has also announced that it will be selling its logistics arm Deliverr to the end-to-end trading platform Flexport. The logistics deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023. In exchange, Shopify will receive a stake of about 13% in Flexport, bringing its total ownership in the privately held company up to the high teens. Flexport will become the official logistics partner for Shopify, which provides e-commerce tools for merchants.

GOOGLE SEARCH GETTING A FACELIFT

Google is planning to add AI and video features to its search engine, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The company is trying to make the search experience more ‘visual, snackable, personal, and human.’ The company, as per the report, is trying to appeal to Gen Z with this makeover and will change the way Google presents its web search results. We all know, however, that this is their means of clawing back market share in the face of the rise of OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's new largest competitor.

META'S NEW A(ugmented) R(eality) OFFERING

Continuing its effort of building its in-stream commerce tools, Meta has previewed some new AR and Shopping Ads options, which will help brands tap into the popularity of AI. Meta made the announcements at IAB Newfronts today, where it also shared a range of performance data on its various ad options, including AR ads, which it says are seeing strong engagement rates. Read more below:

THE STATE OF SEARCH 2023

The team from SEMRush put together an overview of the state of search in 2023, which includes a range of key data points on traffic trends, industry trends, search behaviour, and more. There is some seriously interesting data in here, so make sure you check out the infographic in the article below.

REDDIT ETIQUETTE FOR MARKETERS

Reddiquette is an informal set of guidelines and etiquette suggestions for users participating in the Reddit community. It serves as a code of conduct to encourage respectful and courteous behaviour, fostering a positive experience for all users. Okay, that sounds great and all, but the real importance here to marketers is unlocking the ability to make your ads feel native to the platform, therefore improving your CTRs and CVRs. Below, you'll find an article that provides tips for advertising on Reddit, such as bringing something of value to the table, being transparent, having a sense of humour, speaking the language, and rolling with the punches.