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Our industry is ever-changing. Get insights and perspective from our experts as we share our knowledge and experience on how to successfully navigate the marketing landscape.

Facebook is in Talks to Buy Its Own Video Shows

Facebook, which has long relied on other people to provide it with content, is going to start paying for its own stuff, too. Facebook is starting to talk to TV studios and other video producers about licensing shows, with the hope of boosting the social network’s video efforts. The talks, which include discussions for scripted shows, game shows and sports, seem similar to Facebook’s attempt to boost live video earlier this year, when it struck deals with various publishers, including Vox Media, to produce live content exclusively for the company. So much for not being a media company.

  • 1 min read
  • December 15, 2016

Facebook’s Latest Measurement Error Irks Marketers

When it comes to measurement errors, the third time is even less charming than the second and first. Last week, it was reported that Facebook had been miscalculating how often users react to live videos and how often users like and share links posted on Facebook. Because the error is the third of its kind since September, some marketers are questioning Facebook’s maturity. BLITZ’s director of social, Kevin Wright, says “given the frequency and severity of the errors being discovered, Facebook should be proactively reaching out to their partners.” Proactivity is key.

  • 1 min read
  • December 13, 2016

How Facebook’s Measurement Errors Have Eroded Marketers’ Trust

The aftershocks of Facebook’s measurement errors continue to ripple across the advertising industry. While Facebook has emphasized that the flawed figures — such as average watch time, organic reach and video completion rates — did not affect how much money it charged advertisers for their campaigns, that doesn’t mean advertisers and their agencies haven’t been affected. Just ask BLITZ’s Director of Social Media, Kevin Wright, who shares how some marketers have been shook up. Years to build, seconds to destroy.

  • 1 min read
  • December 8, 2016

Facebook Users Can Now Play Pac-Man on Messenger

Facebook wants to completely remove the barrier between you and games on its platform, and it is using HTML5 to accomplish that across mobile and the web. Instant Games are a new feature from Facebook that enable you to immediately start playing a game on Facebook’s service without having to install a game or an app. The games may show up in your News Feed when you’re on a desktop computer or even when you’re browsing on Android or iOS — but no matter what, you can click on the game to boot it up for on-demand action. Stay and play.

  • 1 min read
  • December 1, 2016

Facebook May Have Finally Successfully Cloned Snapchat

Facebook’s Instagram is stepping up its features to better compete with the dancing ghost. Yesterday, Instagram announced live video in Instagram Stories and ephemeral photos and videos for group and one-on-one messages. Now, there's little to differentiate the two platforms for marketers, according to Justin Celko, our own Associate Director of Social Media at BLITZ. To him, the difference lies in Instagram's history. One more reason to skip Snapchat.

  • November 22, 2016

Facebook Vows to Be More Transparent About Metrics After Admitting More Miscalculations

Facebook is opening itself up to more third party measurement in a bid to stop the spread of negative sentiment among advertisers that’s building in the wake of its admission of more miscalculated metrics. Concerns that the social network can’t continue to ‘mark its own homework’ have come to a head after trust in it appeared to have been knocked following this week’s revelations. A problem not Facebook's alone to solve.

  • 1 min read
  • November 21, 2016

Facebook Is The Most Powerful Force Online — And These New Numbers Prove It

The social network is absolutely crushing the competition online, new information from the Pew Research Center shows — in case you needed more evidence. Seventy-nine percent of American adults who use the internet are on Facebook, and 76 percent of them say they use it every day. The next-largest social network is Facebook-owned Instagram, with 32 percent of online adults. Welcome to Facebook's internet.

  • November 11, 2016

Facebook Plans to Reduce Censorship, Show More Offensive But Newsworthy Content

Facebook will soon display more graphic content including violence and nudity that would normally violate its community standards as long as they’re newsworthy or important enough. The move comes after criticism of Facebook’s temporary censorship of the famous “Napalm Girl” nude photo of a child from the Vietnam War, which was shared by a Norwegian journalist and later by the newspaper he works for. The art of sex and war.

As Facebook Turns Fickle, Publishers Focus Again on Search

Whether they’re anxious about being at the whim of Facebook’s endless algorithm changes, eager to game Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages initiative or just recognize they can’t leave a stone unturned when it comes to drilling for traffic, publishers are turning to search, again. Looking good, search.

Facebook is Testing a Clone of Snapchat Stories Inside Messenger

Facebook has a long, fairly embarrassing track record of trying to clone Snapchat's features and core appeal. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, is actually doing a pretty decent job at it, but Facebook has been through a number of failed attempts over the last several years. It's not giving up, though. The company has quietly launched another effort to clone a big element of Snapchat's formula: stories. Yes, with filters.

  • 1 min read
  • September 30, 2016

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