Instagram Will Begin Hiding Total Like Counts for US Users from Next Week
Instagram is slated to start hiding the number of likes that posts have acquired in a forthcoming test. In areas where it’s already been tested, total Instagram like counts have dropped, study data has shown. Social Media Today

Female marketer leadership at ‘all time high,’ says ANA study
The number of women holding leadership marketing jobs may be at an all-time high, according to recently-released study data from the Association of National Advertisers. Women accounted for 52 percent of senior-level marketers and 47 percent of CMOs among ANA member firms, the study showed. Campaign US

Brands are linking influencers and Instagram Checkout to drive sales
Instagram Checkout has proven popular among some brands using influencers to drive more seamless ecommerce experiences, and the availability of Amazon Pay is also playing an increased role in recent stronger Instagram Checkout results. Glossy

Facebook Expands Access to Brand Collabs Manager, Adds New Insights to Creator Studio
Facebook recently broadened mainstream access to its Brand Collabs Manager influencer discovery and connection database, and has rolled out new tools that will show if a brand’s page meets qualification minimums to use the expanded set of features. Social Media Today

Nielsen Will Split Into Two Companies Following Strategic Review
In 2020 leading data and measurement firm Nielsen will split into two new companies, the 96-year-old business recently announced. One company will house analytics and market research while another will focus primarily on media measurement, the firm announced. Adweek

Mixed-Reality App Installs Forecast To Hit 10 Billion By 2024
The mixed-reality market that includes immersive augmented reality has shown swift growth, with consumer app installations expected to jump from 3 billion in 2019 to 10 billion by 2024, and associated ad spending forecast to climb from $2 billion in 2019 to $11 billion in five years, according to newly-released data from Juniper Research. MediaPost

Amazon Drives 115% Rise in Ecommerce Ad Spend During Q3
Amazon’s eCommerce success helped power a strong 115 percent increase in third-quarter ad spending compared to last year, up 51 percent over last quarter, with search click volume also up some 14 percent, newly-released report data showed. MultichannelMerchant

Local mobile, social ad sales to near $45B by 2024, forecast says
Social media and local mobile account for rapid digital advertising revenue growth that has outpaced that of traditional channels, with digital ad revenue set to increase by 13 percent next year to $66.9 billion — some of the results of interest to digital marketers in newly-released forecast data. Marketing Dive

Google plans to give slow websites a new badge of shame in Chrome
Google is testing plans that will brand certain websites viewed in its Chrome browser with a visual indication denoting slow-loading content, a part of other forthcoming features the search giant recently announced at its Chrome developer event. The Verge

Brands Recognize That Respect for Data is Critical in Securing Customer Trust
Respecting customer data topped the list of brand priorities to build trust, new report data showed. Personalized communication, transparent and secure data practices, and following through on promises were the other top trust-building brand priorities in the report, which tapped a variety of senior decision-makers. MarketingCharts

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:

A lighthearted look at KPI overload by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist

Vinyl record has secret hidden Commodore 64 program — Geeky Gadgets

TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Susan Misukanis — What’s Trending: Find Your Center & Regain Balance — LinkedIn (client)
• Lee Odden — SMXL Milano 2019: un concentrato di formazione dal respiro internazionale — Web In Fermento (In Italian)
• Lee Odden — A Training Plan For Your Content Marketing — Kristin Jones
• TopRank Marketing — 44 Content Marketing Agencies Defined by 65 Marketers — Miles Anthony Smith
• Lane R. Ellis — 10 Changes that will Transform your Small Business – If Done Correctly — Small Business Trends
• Lee Odden — Content Marketing Fitness – 10 Exercises to Build Your Marketing Beach Body [Global Marketing Day Video] — SEMrush
• Lee Odden — Blogging Media: How To Make Your Marketing Succeed [Research] — Heidi Cohen
• Lee Odden — Getting Started with B2B Influencer Marketing? 5 Things You Should Know — Lee Odden

If you have your own favorite B2B content marketing or digital advertising stories from the past week, please let us know in the comments below.

Thanks for taking the time to join us, and we hope you’ll come back again next week for more of the latest top digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news. Also, don’t miss the full video summary on our TopRank Marketing TV YouTube Channel.

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