NEW INSTAGRAM MAPS UPDATE
On the photo-sharing platform, Instagram has launched a new feature that will provide users with a live, searchable map. A new Maps experience that will enable users find tagged locations and places close to them became live globally earlier this week. Users may use the tool to filter out locations by selecting their top picks from a list of categories that includes cafes, beauty parlours, restaurants, theatres, and more. Prior to this, Instagram’s map feature only displayed tagged posts. However, with this new upgrade, customers will now have access to a number of nearby options to visit.
The new feature, according to the Meta-owned platform, will provide users with a more dynamic experience when identifying well-known locations and companies nearby through tagged posts, guides, and tales.
Source: Instagram
REELS SCHEDULING NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH CREATOR STUDIO
Through Meta’s Creator Studio app, all users may now schedule both Facebook and Instagram Reels. Before this update, Instagram users could not schedule Stories or Reels but only stream posts and videos through Creator Studio.
The most recent change also enables users to optimise and reframe their horizontal videos for improved performance as Reels. Meta first offered an in-app video-editing tool that allowed users to shorten existing clips into Reels back in June. It is now simpler to batch video content and schedule postings around other posts because social media administrators can upload, edit, and schedule Reels directly from their PCs.
GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE’S VIDEO INDEXING REPORT NOW LIVE FOR ALL
The video indexing report in Google Search Console displays the number of indexed pages on your website that contain one or more videos as well as the potential indexing rates for individual videos on those sites. According to Google, the report can show you how well your videos are performing on the search engine and show you where they might need to be improved. Here is a screenshot of the Google Search Console report for one of my websites:
Source: Google Search Console
PINTEREST INTRODUCES HOSTED CHECKOUT FOR MERCHANTS
Shopify is the first platform to offer hosted checkout, which makes it simpler for customers of Pinterest advertisers and merchants to complete transactions. The new functionality should streamline the present purchasing process, resulting in a rise in conversions and a decline in cart abandonment. Before, businesses and advertisers who used Pinterest to sell goods had to tag those goods on their pins. When consumers click that link, they are taken to a page where they must add the item to their cart and complete the purchase procedure.
With the Shopify platform, retailers can now advertise and sell goods without ever needing customers to leave their page. When a customer finds a product, the process is as simple as entering payment and delivery information.
Source: Pinterest
AMAZON TESTING TIKTOK-STYLE FEED ON ITS APP
According to reports, Amazon is developing a TikTok-like feed on its app. With this, the online retailer joins other businesses looking to capture customers’ attention by releasing replicas of the well-known social platform. According to Watchful Technologies, an Israeli artificial intelligence company that tracks app usage and has observed the feature, the e-commerce giant has been testing a feed on its app that lets customers to scroll through TikTok-like images and videos of products uploaded by other users.
The feature is reportedly referred to as Inspire. Customers will be able to like, save, and share product-related posts as well as buy items right from the feed.
MICROSOFT IS NOW PUTTING ADS IN OUTLOOK MOBILE
Users’ reactions to Microsoft’s decision to start displaying advertising in Outlook on iOS and Android have not been positive. Users of Outlook have two options for setting up their inboxes. You have two tabs: one for everything else and one for “focused” mail. Users are now beginning to see advertisements in the “focused” inbox as well, although before Microsoft had only placed them in the “other” tab for free subscribers. The “Focused inbox” function can be enabled by free Outlook users if they only want to see adverts in the “Other” inbox, according to a statement sent to The Verge by Microsoft spokesperson Caitlin Roulston.
Source: Microsoft