The Week in Social: LinkedIn prioritizes diversity, Facebook expands its "hidden-likes" test, and ad news galore

Reddit upgrades its video ad offerings

Following the initial launch of video ads on the platform last summer, Reddit announced that it will be improving its offerings in this area. The biggest update is the introduction of a new mobile landing page experience which a provides users with a seamless viewing experience while allowing companies to additional branding. Reddit is also adding new aspect ratios allowing advertisers to leverage cross-platform video assets without the need create content specifically for the channel.

Read more at Reddit Blog

 

Facebook follows Instagram, starts hiding likes

Following several tests of hiding likes on Instagram earlier this year, Facebook is planning to do the same on its own platform, starting with users in Australia. The rationale is the same; the company wants to reduce the emphasis being placed on the number of likes on both platforms in an effort to combat some of the negative behavior and effects that emphasis can cause. This move by Facebook has quickly become one of the most discussed topics in social media this year as the world waits to see whether or not the move becomes permanent.

Read more at TechCrunch

 

LinkedIn dials up the diversity & inclusion

At this year’s Talent Connect conference, LinkedIn will host 4,000 HR leaders from around the world to discuss the latest trends, news, and tools around recruitment and hiring. The primary focus of this year’s event is inclusion and diversity. According to LinkedIn, 70% of professionals get hired at companies where they already have a connection. Based on that insight, the company is introducing the “Plus One Pledge” which asks users to share their time and connections with people outside of their networks in order to level the playing field when it comes to recruitment.

Read more at LinkedIn

Instagram Adds Branded Content Tags for IGTV

Instagram has expanded its branded content tags to now include IGTV content. This new feature will make it easier to work with influencers to promote their products in this still developing channel within Instagram’s ever-expanding platform. This will also give influencers more ways to create content and monetize their channels.

Read more at Social Media Today

Google expands video ad options on YouTube

Google announced last week that it was expanding its range of ad offerings. Google is adding TrueView ads to YouTube’s Home Feed giving advertisers the ability to engage their audiences at deeper level and hopefully drive higher rates of conversions. The other addition is “Video Reach Campaigns” which allow companies to upload various video content and Google’s systems will determine their placement. The company cites Ford’s success in lowering its campaign costs by more than 20% through the use of this new feature.

Read more at Google Blog