By Lane Ellis

Twitter Re-Opens Public Applications for Profile Verification
For the first time since November, 2017 Twitter has begun allowing users to apply for verified profile status. As the new option is rolled out, a verification application option will appear within a Twitter user’s account settings, allowing brands to seek a blue check-mark, the firm recently announced. Social Media Today

Google Ads Has New Smart Bidding Features
Google has launched new eligible search campaign recommendations, along with target impression share simulators — two of several new updates of interest to digital marketers that have been rolled out to the firm’s popular Google Ads offering, the search giant recently announced. SEO Roundtable

U.S. Ad Recovery Continues To Soar, Surges 52% In April
April 2021 advertising spending was up 52 percent in the U.S. year-over-year, the biggest increase in more than a year, and this recovery has also been seen in more ad spending categories than previous months, according to recently-released ad spending index data. MediaPost

LinkedIn introduces Event Ads and “boosted” posts
LinkedIn (client) has made new post promotion features available from brand pages and rolled out a slew of new event advertising and analytics options, including custom streaming and mobile page analytics, the Microsoft-owned platform recently announced. Search Engine Land

What B2B Firms Use Marketing Agencies For
31 percent of B2B firms utilize marketing agencies for brand mission, vision, and values initiatives, while 22 percent use agencies for brand purpose strategy — two of several statistics of interest to online marketers in newly-released survey data. MarketingProfs

Instagram now shows creators how well their live videos and Reels are doing
Facebook-owned Instagram has launched an update that reveals more data about the performance of live videos and short-form Reels content, with shares, saves, likes, plays, and comments among newly-available metrics data, the firm recently announced. Engadget

Twitter Tests New ‘Super Followers’ Display Ahead of Program Launch
Twitter has begun testing more visible integration of its forthcoming super followers feature — which allows creators to offer subscription-only bonus content on the platform — with a new super follower count likely to appear alongside traditional account follower numbers, the firm has announced. Social Media Today

Havas Finds Growing Consumer ‘Cynicism,’ Only 25% Of Brands Even Matter
Some 39 percent of brands are trusted by U.S. consumers, while consumers say that they don’t care about 75 percent of brands, a slight decrease from 2019’s 77 percent, according to recently-released brand meaningfulness survey data of interest to digital marketers. MediaPost

Analysis: Google’s Starline shows promise and perils of 3D chats
Google launched its Project Starline 3D videoconferencing offering recently, its latest foray into the mixed reality communication realm, and Reuters has shared a look at some of the early impressions of the Google project. …read more

Source:: Top Rank Blog