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The Week in Social: YouTube image ads, Insta kills DM app, and new Snap ads report

20 May 2019 Majed Alnahwi

Instagram is updating the Explore tab

Instagram has tweaked the Explore page to give more focus to IGTV and e-commerce features. The updated layout removes the preview images and makes the IGTV and shopping pages more visual with larger tiles. Following those two tabs are each user’s specially tailored topics & channels.

YouTube expanding ad offerings to include images

In an interesting move, YouTube is adding a new ad option called Discovery Ads, which allows advertisers to use still images in their marketing efforts on the platform. The move looks to simplify ad creation on the platform as an simpler way to tap YouTube’s 1.8 billion active users.

Snapchat’s new report on ad frequency

Snapchat’s just released a new report on optimal ad frequency. The report shows that the sweet spot for lift in ad breakthrough is an exposure frequency of twice per week, with diminishing returns after that point. Diving deeper, Snap found that longer campaigns were most effective with a target frequency of 1 per week while shorter campaigns benefited most from 2 per week.

Instagram is shutting down its DM app

This week, Instagram has announced that it will be shutting down its standalone direct messaging app. The majority of the app’s 1.35 million installs come from users in global markets outside the US, like as Italy and Turkey. With the app never reaching critical mass and Facebook looking for ways to consolidate messaging apps across all of its platforms, it was only a matter of time.

Twitter tests a new live streaming feature

Twitter is testing out a new option that allows users to invite audio-only guests to their live stream. The move is interesting as the feature would replicate the functionality of (Twitter owned) Periscope. It’s unclear what Twitter’s long term strategy is, especially with the duplication in features.