Facebook has announced that businesses will now be able to advertise within its classified ad listing hub, Marketplace, in a duo of updates that finally open up the channel for monetisation.

In addition to news feed, videos, Instagram and Messenger placements, businesses will now be able to advertise directly within relevant Marketplace product feeds, although so far the new feature is only available across the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The second update comes for users of Marketplace themselves,...

Apple has announced it will be making efforts to block Facebook’s user tracking tools within the next iteration of its iOS and Mac operating systems.

Announced at its WWDC developer conference yesterday (June 4), the tech firm’s software chief, Craig Federighi, said on the social network’s automatic tracking features, “we’re shutting that down”.

Those tracking tools in question allude to Facebook’s like buttons, share buttons and comment fields, which when integrated...

With three hours a day on average worldwide spent in apps, it’s no wonder that our smartphones have become intrinsic to our everyday lives. With the multitude of apps available, our smartphones are overwhelmingly personal – glancing at a few pages of someone’s chosen apps provides a uniquely intimate snapshot into their daily life and personal interests. From mobile banking and retail shopping apps, to Google docs, social messaging and publisher apps, our smartphone is the primary platform...

Klout is set to rank its last: the social reputation service is set to shut down later this month, according to owner Lithium Technologies.

In an email sent by Lithium CEO Pete Hess to customers, and later posted publicly, Hess said Klout did not align with Lithium’s long-term goals. The service is set to be no more on May 25 – coincidentally the date of GDPR enforcement.

Lithium bought Klout for a reported $200 million in 2014.

Facebook doesn’t have a lot of friends right now. Fresh revelations are coming to light over the Cambridge Analytica scandal and it was reported that the data of 87 million users were improperly shared with the political consultancy firm.

I’ve argued elsewhere that we shouldn’t...

There are two types of businesses in the world when it comes to social — an organisation that does it because it feels it ‘has to’ to keep pace, and the ‘socially mature’ business that does it because it truly understands social media engagement, and its value on the bottom line. Social media is now the cornerstone of modern marketing strategies, regardless of the organisation's size, age, market position or revenue.

A business that is able to properly use social and all it...

When it comes to user data, companies seem to make the same mistakes again and again. The current Facebook/Cambridge Analytica disaster illustrates the flawed thinking and ambiguous policies that often lead to these breaches and the resulting erosion of consumer trust. 

In response, Facebook has disclosed some upcoming changes, including the creation of a new Custom Audience certification tool. However, it will take more than a few reactive symbolic “fixes” to regain consumer trust. Here are...

The word ‘innovation’ must rank fairly highly on a list of the most used and abused buzzwords in digital marketing today. Every organisation thinks that they’re innovative in some form or other – but are they going about it the right way?

San Francisco-based Optimizely believes not. According to Global Head of Strategy Hazjier Pourkhalkhali – who would like to believe his company is ‘the biggest digital laboratory in the world’ – three quarters of all...

If you’re a leader in business, you’re probably not enamoured by social media. Sure, you’ve got accounts on LinkedIn and Twitter that an assistant or a member of your marketing team maintains, but you’re not too active there personally. You don’t have many followers, but you don’t mind; you have bigger things to worry about than who’s reading your tweets.

Too many leaders shy away from social because they see it as “kid stuff” or a time suck that has no place...

2017 has seen a systemic change in influencer marketing. Innovative brands such as Nissan UK have integrated influencer marketing throughout the customer journey, making it an integral part of their marketing and communication strategies.

Other organisations have moved from experimentation to transformation, now acknowledging how influencer marketing is transforming workflows, processes and expertise across multiple...