May 21, 2018

The Figaro Digital Digest: 18th May 2018

From yo-yoing SERP snippet lengths to a new tool that could block third-party apps from your Twitter feed; it has been a busy week in terms of digital news. Check out the biggest stories of the week below:

UK Consumers Skip Ads After 2.4 Seconds

According to MAGNA and IPG Media Lab, UK consumers only watch video ads for 2.4 seconds on average before pressing skip. Our national skipping rate is 52%, 5% lower than across the pond in the US. Despite this, 27% of those who skipped could tell you what the brand being advertised was.

Of course, the longer the ad was viewed, the easier it can be recalled. When between 71% and 80% of an ad is viewed, it generates 74% of the value of a fully-completed ad.

Instagram is Building a New ‘Usage Insights’ Tool

Instagram has revealed that it is currently working on a new feature which will tell you how long you have been using their app. Instagram’s founder, Kevin Systrom, confirmed that this is because they want experiences to be ‘positive and intentional’.

He continued:

 

“Understanding how time online impacts people is important, and it’s the responsibility of all companies to be honest about this. We want to be part of the solution. I take that responsibility seriously.”

 

Twitter Announces New Access System

Coming August 16th 2018, Twitter will launch its new access system which is predicted to have a big influence on third-party apps. How? Well, the change will prevent new tweets from streaming into an app in real time and will delay some push notifications too.

It has been reported that this change may be met with distain as most of the people who download third-party Twitter apps are serial tweeters who like to stay engaged and up to date at all times. It may also lead to a number of apps shutting shop.

There is light at the tunnel though… for some. Twitter will allow third-party apps to pay fee in order to use its streaming services API. However, this will be limited to 250 users and be charged at $10 per month per user.

Google Has Reverted Back to Shorter Meta Descriptions

It was recently reported that Google had increased snippet lengths to around 300 characters, which gave marketers an increased character count to sell a product in SERPs. However, this week it confirmed that meta description snippets had been shortened again.

Although they are now appearing slightly longer than before the change, experts are stating there is no fixed length for snippets and that length is gauged on what is most useful.

 

 

For more news updates, guides and opinion pieces, take a look at a few more of our articles.